The magical bookshop by Katja Frixe

Mrs Owl owns the magical bookshop where Clara and her friend Lottie spend their free time until Lottie and her mum move away to put some distance between Lottie’s dad and “Smelly Toes” his girlfriend. 

Clara finds comfort in the book shop and the characters that inhabit it, but when an antique dealer claims that the talking mirror, Mr King, is actually his and plays dirty tricks to get the mirror, Clara must join forces with her new friend and find a way to save the bookshop and ensure that Mr King stays with Mrs Owl. 

This book focuses on Clara and the feeling of loss that comes from a friend moving away, she finds comfort in the bookshop and spend more time there especially once school starts and she discovers that her new teacher, Sophie Rose, is the one person she blames for all her unhappiness, and then there is the new boy who is sitting in Lottie’s seat. Leo helps to make things better and slowly a friendship develops and they join forces to work out a solution to help save all her bookshop friends. 

This book is a lovely read with the characters showing real emotions and what happens when we allow ourselves to accept change and be open to new friendship opportunities.  The story feels real, dealing with loss and bullies and new friends and the unsavory elements of any community and learning to move through anger and betrayal to find the positives in a situation and working together for the greater good.  All of these are included in this book without being too overt or feeling like a lecture.

This is a beautifully told story that has been translated from the original German version, that is the first in a series.  I hope that they translate the other stories as I loved this book and can see it being used in a classroom or family home with equal enjoyment from its readers.

Themes: Friendship, Divorce, Magic, Books, Bullying, Community, Change.

Mhairi Alcorn