The Wondrous Prune - Ellie Clements

 

Prune Robinson, her mum and her brother Jesse have just moved into the house her grandparents lived in before they died.  It's meant moving away from her best friend and also switching schools.  Things aren't going so well as a group of girls in her class have been bullying her since her first day and she doesn't want to bother her mum about it.  But then things start to get very strange: every time Prune gets upset, her world is filled with clouds of colours that only she can see; and then she discovers that she can use those colours to help make her drawings come to life!  Prune needs to get to grips with her new-found powers whilst keeping them secret, but can she also manage to help her brother who is in danger when his old life catches up with him?

Prune is a wonderful character who is caring and just wants everything to work out.  She finds her power at just the right time and I loved reading about her creations, especially towards the bullies!  I can imagine children having great fun whilst reading the book imagining what they would conjure up and the problems it could cause.  

Bullying is explored as a major theme in The Wondrous Prune and shows that children choose to keep quiet about bullying in school and also shows that talking to teachers and parents is always the best thing to do (although, being able to use a superpower to help is really cool!)

This is a surprisingly different and uplifting story that explores children coping with bullying as well as the idea of settling into a new school and family dynamics.  

Due for release on the 12th May, I think The Wondrous Prune will be a hit in school and I'm looking forward to sharing it with the class.