The Book of Story Beginnings [Hardcover]

Kristin Kladstrup (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Kristin Kladstrup's wonderfully transporting fantasy - featuring a ship full of orphaned pirate children, a pair of warring royals, and plenty of magic potions - is sure to thrill all those who dare turn its pages.

Oscar Martin was fourteen when he mysteriously disappeared from his Iowa farmhouse home in June 1914. His sister claimed Oscar had rowed out to sea - but how was that possible? There is no ocean in Iowa. When, nearly a century later, Lucy Martin and her parents move from their city apartment to that same farmhouse in Iowa, it is not long before Lucy discovers the strange and dangerous BOOK OF STORY BEGININGS. And it's not long before Oscar reappears in a bizarre turn of events that sends the two distant relatives on a perilous journey to save Lucy's father.

This remarkable debut fantasy novel is a thrilling page turner as well as a tribute to the writer's craft.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-When Lucy Martin moves to the house in Iowa that her father inherited from his Aunt Lavonne, she hopes to solve the mystery of Lavonne's brother's disappearance in 1914, when he was 14. He supposedly rowed off in a boat on a magical ocean that lapped at the garden gate. When Lucy finds the Book of Story Beginnings and writes in it about a girl whose father was a magician, her father becomes a magician who has invented a transforming potion. He turns into a crow and flies away from the cat, who then becomes Oscar, the long-lost boy. Lucy and Oscar then have to find a way over the magical ocean to bring back Lucy's father, who has flown to the land invented by Oscar when he wrote his story beginnings in the magical book. The characters are well rounded and interesting, and Oscar's plight when he is transformed back into a boy and discovers that his entire family is dead is sympathetically and realistically portrayed. While sections of the story at the beginning and end are exciting and even thrilling, the middle section moves slowly and the adventure drags in places. Still, this is an interesting investigation into the power of writing and story, along with a warm and believable look at the relationship of two young people from different eras who become family to one another.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. When 12-year-old Lucy and her parents move to the farmhouse where her father's family has lived for generations, she hopes to solve the mystery of her great-uncle Oscar's disappearance in 1914, when he was 14. Soon she discovers Oscar's notebook, the mysterious "Book of Story Beginnings," and even Oscar himself, who has returned from another world and, still a teenager, finds his parents gone and his community incomprehensibly different from when he left. Realizing that by beginning a new story in the enchanted book she has placed her father in deadly peril, Lucy enlists Oscar's help to take her into that otherworld where their stories have come to life not in dreams but as cold, hard reality. Accented by a fine description of an ocean magically appearing in the Iowa countryside, Kladstrup's first novel offers mystery, adventure, and fantasy, as well as reflections on family dynamics, time travel, and the structure of stories. If that sounds like a plateful, it is, but many readers will find something here to their liking. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; First Edition edition (March 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763626090
• ISBN-13: 978-0763626099
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,226,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Harry Potter!, March 11, 2006

By 

Danielle - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Story Beginnings (Hardcover)

This is a page-turning story for all ages that is a must read! I am not a die-hard fan of fantasy...I confess I only read a few of the Harry Potter books...but for me, The Book of Story Beginnings is one of the most fun and creative stories I've ever read. The author has a special talent for weaving together many exciting adventures for the young characters and we are fortunate enough to be brought along for their journey. Not only is the book entertaining, but I am convinced that it will inspire many youngsters to think about stories in a new way and write their own Book of Story Beginnings!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantasy Must Read!, March 25, 2006

By 

Ann (Des Moines, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Story Beginnings (Hardcover)

I purchased this book for my children, but ended up reading it for myself. It was fabulous! The characters are wonderfully described and the events of the story draw the reader in so intensely that it is impossible to put the book down. I can't wait to read more books by Kladstrup.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tell me a story, sing me a song, April 9, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of Story Beginnings (Hardcover)

I can't tell you how nice it is to pick up a fantasy book of some sort and find that it does NOT say something along the lines of "Part One" or "The First In a Series" or "Book One In the [enter name here] trilogy". For some reason children's book publishers can't even conceive of a worthwhile children's book without wanting to know that there will be at least two more continuing stories in this new "epic". Credit both author Kristin Kladstrup and Candlewick Press then for writing a book that stands perfectly well on its own without relying on an overblown, "To Be Continued" note on its final page. None of this is to say that "The Book of Story Beginnings" may not have a sequel or two to its name someday. But should that happen it'll have to be because people wanted the characters to continue. Not because there's some great overwhelming mystery that requires some 1,000 pages plus to solve it. This is Kladstrup's first novel and as such it's fine. Standing at its own not-sneezable 360 pages some judicious editing would not have been out of place lengthwise. Still, it has its charms and may entice a readership of its own in the future.

Lucy Martin has just found out that she and her family will be moving far far away from everything she's ever known and loved to go live in a little farmhouse in the middle of the country. At first she is less than pleased. Who wants to live next to a field of corn? But the house has a history that fascinates the girl. In 1914 Lucy's Great-aunt Lavonne had a brother by the name of Oscar. One night Lavonne woke up to find that her farmland was buried under a great vast sea and that Oscar was sailing away in a tiny rowboat. Though no one ever believed her story, Lavonne was always convinced that something magical had happened to her brother and she spent her life trying to figure out where he was. Now Lavonne is dead and has left Lucy's family her house and all the clues regarding Oscar's disappearance. But it isn't until Lucy finds a little book called, "The Book of Story Beginnings" that things start to make sense. For you see, every story you begin in the book comes true in the real world. If you wrote a story about a king who loved cats and a queen who loved birds you might find yourself trapped on an island with them. If you wrote a story about a sailing ship full of orphans, you might very well meet them on the high seas. And if you're looking for your long-long Great Uncle, you'd do well to read the story he began and find out what happens when the story you create becomes the story you're forced to live.

Kladstrup is very good at going into the nature of what a story is and how authors must sometimes feel when their characters take on lives of their own. What makes a good piece of fiction? Why does one beginning to a story work better than another? "Story Beginnings" is a wonderful book for any kid who has ever toyed with the idea of becoming a writer. It takes the notion of thinking up magical worlds to its logical extreme. Unfortunately Kladstrup seems to be reining in her imagination at times. The imaginings that Oscar and Lucy come up with, like a king who loves cats and a queen who loves birds, aren't embellished enough when our heroes actually meet them. We have to deal with Oscar shocked that his written world is as detailed and elaborate as it is, but the problem with that is that the world isn't actually all that embellished. Kladstrup is good at characters and plots and themes, but she's not so hot on details. So while it's interesting to think about how real a fictional world that you yourself have created is, "Story Beginnings" kind of fails to bring it all home. The convenience of the magical objects in this book also strains credulity just a tad. For example, apparently Great-aunt Lavonne was able to construct everything from transforming potions to a traveling talisman in her laboratory. These objects work without a glitch but were apparently never used by Lavonne herself to find her long-lost brother. Hunhuna?

None of this is to say the the book isn't a good read, of course. Some people may find an element here or there familiar. The idea of a king surrounded by cats is not entirely new. Just off the top of my head I can say that the Red King in the "Charlie Bone" books by Jenny Nimmo is always followed by three kitties of his own. And the book that "Story Beginnings" will find itself compared to the most often will undoubtedly be Cornelia Funke's "Inkheart". In both stories, books take on a life of their own and become real when mixed with a little magic on the side. But "The Book of Story Beginnings" is obviously its own beast. Actually, the idea of a girl moving into the country where she finds magical occurrences is strikingly similar to fellow first-time author Barb Ulllman's, "The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood". The difference is that while Ullman understands the beauty of being concise, Kladstrup is far more inclined to slow her action down. "Story Beginnings" has a bit of a problem with pacing. It'll jump from scene to scene one moment and then meander about for pages at a time. I have very little doubt that as Kladstrup continues to write she'll produce some books that really knock the socks off her readership. Here's hoping they'll just be a little shorter as well.