The Bookshop at the Back of Beyond

By Author / Illustrator

Amy Sparkes

Genre

Magical Realism

Age range(s)

Publisher

Walker Books Ltd

ISBN

9781529505665

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-01-2023

Synopsis

Adventurous, magical and brilliantly funny next book in the House at the Edge of Magic series. Nine and her friends have cured the house's hiccups and are off to the strange and utterly unpredictable Back of Beyond in search of Professor Dish - Spoon's best friend and partner in all things alchemy. When they find Dish trapped by the greedy witch Ophidia in the basement of a particularly marvellous shop, it soon becomes clear they're going to need something more than Flabberghast's dicey magic and Nine's quick thinking to triumph this time. What they really need is a rather clever witch - one particularly good at curses... A new instalment in the brilliantly funny, magical series for readers age 8+.

See also: The House at the Edge of Magic (book 1); The Tower at the End of Time (book 2)

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Reviews

The Bookshop at The Back of Beyond is the third instalment in The House At The Edge of Magic series. Amy Sparkes has delighted us with a book that is fabulously funny and is crammed full of magical surprises and mischief. We are reintroduced to the characters of Flabberghast, Nine, Eric and Spoon at the point where the last book ended and the curse on the house has been lifted. The house is now on the move and in search of Spoon's partner - Professor Dish. They are travelling to 'Beyond', a place where they think Professor Dish is being held against her will. When they reach the realm of Beyond, it becomes clear that Flabberghast has not regained his magic. Nine is also acting suspiciously, she is being secretive because she wants to find the safekeeper and find out what her mother wanted her to know, without telling the others.

Beyond is no normal place and finding Professor Dish becomes a shopping challenge in itself. Whilst out shopping, Nine and Flabberghast discover they are not the only people looking for Professor Dish because Ophidia the Unpredictable and Gazillion the Unstoppable are both seen in the streets of Beyond. So now they must rescue Dish as quickly as possible and bring her to the safety of the house; to leave her in the hands of Ophidia would be a danger to her life. When, after much searching and a few surprises, they arrive at the Bookshop at the back of Beyond, the magical mayhem begins.

This book is brilliant. It is full of magical surprises but also entwined with the themes of love and friendship. I would truly recommend that this book be used for story time. This story would be a pleasure to read to your children at the end of the day; as a class story it would celebrate the love of reading.

256 pages / Reviewed by Hayley Summerfield, teacher