Travis Seitler

My best book of 2006 dates clear back to April: THE BOOK OF STORY BEGINNINGS by Kristin Kladstrup. Nothing else has come close since then. —Mary Lee @ A Year of Reading

Like Inkheart and Inkspell, it delves into questions of self-determination and whether characters have lives independent of their creators, although it’s lighter than that series. —Sheila Ruth @ Wands and Worlds

It seems many childrens’ books these days are written about books. In other words, it’s as if writers are trying a last-ditch effort to revitalize reading among youngsters by writing books that are all about how wonderful books are. Tales like the aforementioned Inkheart, specifically, focus on the “magical” way that books “come to life” by having books within the tale literally do so. Such is the main theme of The Book of Story Beginnings, but unlike Cornelia Funke’s trilogy this book takes a theme that is nearly bursting with potential and downgrades it to a simplistic plot device. What could have led the reader to ponder our ability to “create” and to what degree a creator can claim ownership over his creation… was used merely as the rabbit hole for Alice to fall down.

And while I’ve read Lewis, Tolkien and Rowling, I’m not a big fan of sorcery and magic, so some of the key story elements in the book made me a bit uncomfortable. Reminiscent of the final pages of Blue Balliet’s Chasing Vermeer (and unlike the Harry Potter series), Kladstrup’s tale treats elements of sorcery and witchcraft as real—which is to say, characters employ them exactly as sorcerers and witches “in the real world” would. Because of that, while I enjoyed the story as a story, I would have trouble recommending it to the younger audience it was intended for.

(This is the first of many posts intended to replace Squidoo lenses I’ve created… so if it looks familiar to you, that’s probably why.)