Children's Book review

Knife

By RJ Anderson

Published by Orchard Books

‘No ordinary fairy tale' says the cover, very accurately. Knife is a faery, inhabiting an increasingly isolated world inside an oak tree on the edge of a garden.

Feisty, independent, fearless but uncertain of her own emotions, Bryony escapes from the confines of the fearful faery world, steals a paperknife from the nearby house, and takes the name which defines her unconventional approach.

Unlike other faeries, she seeks the company of humans, in particular Paul, the recently disabled young man she first saw as an adventurous boy, now electively isolated from his world, but open to the inspiration he gains from knowing Knife.

Anderson's is a fairy story for the twenty-first and every century, well-crafted, exciting and thought-provoking, addressing profound relationship issues.

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Reading age: 9+
Interest level: 11+