A book that deserves to be read.

Just over a year ago my friend, Teika, asked me if the girls and I would be interested in reviewing a book that she was considering publishing with her small independent publishing company, Mother's Milk Books.  Knowing that Teika has extremely high standards, I was very keen and K & M were happy to give it a go.
 
The book, Oy Yew, did not disappoint.  If you read this blog regularly you will know that I read to my girls frequently.  There are many books that we enjoy and a lot of which the girls ask for 'another' each time I finish a chapter, but books that they keep asking for (rather than just giving an enthusiastic yes if I offer to continue with it) later that day or the next, are much rarer and Oy Yew was one of these.  The girls' first question on finishing the book was 'Can we read the next one?', unfortunately, although the answer is yes, we will have to wait until next year for the second of the trilogy.

The world that the author, Ana Salote, conjures up is vivid and compelling and the title character intriguing.  Most of the characters are either from the ruling Affland, some more sympathetic than others, or waifs from Poria, badly treated children who have to serve the Afflanders until they reach the height that earns them their freedom.  Oy, however, is different, he isn't from either of those places and we don't really know much about him, since he doesn't know himself, but as he begins to find out so does the reader.  The baddy, Master Jeopardine, is one of those villains that you really love to hate, with his sinister hobby of bone collecting.  The waifs, kept hungry and worked half to death, take comfort from each other and together gradually find ways to fight back against their miserable existence.

Last weekend, K, M and I went along to Lowdham Book festival and attended a very interesting talk with Teika Bellamy, the publisher, Ana Salote, the author and the illustrator, Emma Howitt.  They spoke about the process of 'bringing a book to life' from the author's brain to the bookshelf.  There's a lot more to it than you might think!  Emma's cover is absolutely perfect in the way it fits the atmosphere of the book and portrays an important incident in the story, although the girls and I weren't quite so keen on her picture of the waifs inside.

You can read the first chapter of Oy Yew here, and it gets even better.  Please do consider buying this book for a couple of reasons.  Firstly it is a fantastic book (and it deserves to be read by lots of people), and secondly it would be supporting a brilliant little independent publisher that brings some really beautiful books to the world.  (You might also like to consider buying Musings on Mothering, a truly beautiful anthology that would make the perfect present for any mum, new or otherwise.  You can read some reviews and some excerpts here.)

It's not often I say this, in fact I don't think I've ever done so before, but please do share this post.  The more people who hear about this book (and hopefully buy it of course!) the better.