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The Clockwork Crow
by Catherine Fisher
Handed a parcel at a railway station, orphan Seren arrives at a Welsh house at Christmas where a boy has vanished and nobody will say how.
A story about children and magical creatures, spooky and epic in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Frightening scenes
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
Sent to live with unknown relatives at a bleak Welsh house one winter, orphaned Seren is handed a mysterious parcel that turns out to contain a bad-tempered clockwork crow — and together they must solve the disappearance of the family's young son, stolen away by the fair folk. Catherine Fisher writes a beautifully atmospheric winter ghost story: frost and firelight, an empty house full of secrets, and a genuine chill of the uncanny, all in gorgeous, spare prose. The talking crow provides sharp comic relief against the eeriness, and the peril, though real, is pitched for the age rather than genuinely frightening. For a nine- to twelve-year-old who likes a spooky, wintry mystery with folklore woven through it, it is a wonderfully absorbing read — short, elegant and shivery — and the first of a series. A perfect book for a cold, dark evening, and a lovely introduction to a fine storyteller.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Odd and the Frost GiantsNeil Gaiman
ClockworkPhilip Pullman
Frost Hollow HallEmma Carroll
The Iron ManTed Hughes
The Monsters of RookhavenPádraig Kenny
Amelia Fang and the Barbaric BallLaura Ellen Anderson
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.