Harklights

Product Information

Usborne) Wick is determined that Bottletop should not know the worst of Ma Bogey’s regime at Harklights. The two worlds that Wick experiences - the grim world of the orphanage, compared to the rich forest - are both brilliantly brought to life. Characters: Wick is our narrator, named after an item in the headmistress's desk, just like all the other orphans.

Illustrated throughout with simple black and white pictures, this is a lovely tale for children to ignite their wonder in the natural world. But one day he encounters the Hobs, little people who have big hearts and they go on an adventure together, helping one another along the way. There are quite a few unanswered questions by the end, which I'm hoping means there will be a sequel. He only dreams of escaping, until one day a bird drops something impossible and magical at his feet - a tiny baby in an acorn cradle. Through this encounter, Wick overcame some fears and fought against Old Ma Bogey, who destroyed the nature to force the orphans to make matches.

The set up to the main story caught my attention quickly, showing us Wick's life in the Orphanage and the matchstick homes he builds when he's not working packing matchboxes.

During one performance, The Hobbs and fairies convince Old Ma Bogey to release them from their cage. Harklights, despite being very competent and readable, doesn't really do anything new and comes across like a shadow of better books, both past and contemporary. He dreams only of escaping, until one day a bird drops something impossible and magical at his feet - a tiny baby in an acorn cradle.

Wick must prove himself to the Hobs and help them solve a serious problem that is threatening to destroy their homes and maybe even their entire species. Reading this book made me realise even more just how lucky I am to live near a forest, in a town with plenty of fields and country lanes. Unfortunately for Harklights, I read it at the end of a long selection of eco-adventures for young children and I was, perhaps, a little jaded with the genre. It is the story of Wick, an orphan who has grown up in the harsh surroundings of Harklights, an 'orphanage' where the children spend all day making and packing matches for the owner, Miss Boggatt (or Old Ma Bogey, as she is known).