Customer Reviews

The Pictish Child: Tartan Magic, Book Two

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought this book was enchanting. The way she wrote it made you want to read more. The way she described the pictish child was very specific. This book was magical and exciting. It was not the kind of book with all describing and no adventure though. She managed to include both. I enjoyed the way she put the glossary in the back of the book. It helped me understand the books Scottish words, and it was fun to say them and nobody would know what I was saying!

When I started to read this book I thought that by the cover and how they describe it that it would be great because I love magic!! Yet I was bored to DEATH by this book. Only two parts that interested me in the least, where the "THING" is chasing after the children and when the women who runs the old home tries to take over the powerful "witches". The rest of the book was a big disappointment and hardly any real links or clues were found to connect the whole story. I mean it took them about two minutes to figure out what they had to do and then the book was over. I wouldn't waste 5 bucks on this flimsy little book that has a horrible ending that isn't even interesting because the girl just goes back to her own time and thats that . There was no real mystery at the end like a struggle or another attempt to get the stone, nothing like that. If you do like a book that solves things quickly and easily, that has some interesting chase and mind games, I recommend this book. But if you are the type that likes Lord of the Rings forget this book.

This is the second book in Jane Yolen's Tartan Magic trilogy, and picks up soon after the events in The Wizard's Map. In this book, Jennifer, Peter and Molly, three American children on vacation in Scotland are taken by their Scottish grandmother to visit three sisters living in a home for the elderly. But, there's strange magic at work here, and when an ancient amulet brings to life a Pictish child that died some 1000 years ago, the children are in for the ride of their lives. An ancient wrong needs to be set right, and a modern wrong needs to be averted.

My thirteen-year-old daughter first introduced me to these books, and I must say that I enjoy them as much as she does. Jane Yolen does an excellent job of bring Scotland to life for the American reader (please remember that there is a Scottish glossary at the back!). In general, the author does not spend too much time on character development (outside of the children and their grandmother, the characters are very two-dimensional), but for many young readers, this will not prove a problem.

So, let me just say that my daughter and I both enjoyed this book, and we highly recommend it to you!

This wonderful story is one of three (so far) chronicling the adventures of three American children on vacation in Scotland, visiting their grandmother. They have come to realize that Scotland is filled with the magic of centuries, and the magic lives in 13-year-old Jennifer. However, there are others working magic in Scotland, and the children soon find themselves caught up in a magics both new and old!

This is a great story, harkening back so clearly to ancient folk stories. I especially liked the traditional idea of women as possessors of ancient wisdom and power, beyond men and their science. This is a great book that I recommend to everyone with children, especially girls.

The Pictish Child
By Jane Yolen
Book reviewer: Hilde

The Pictish Child is a very good book. It takes place in Scotland, and according to Gran "There's electric-and there's power. Americas got the electricity and Scotland has the power."
Sixteen-year-old Jennifer, sixteen-year-old Peter and four-year-old Molly came from America to visit their Grandmother (who they call Gran) in Scotland. Where rain that in America would have canceled Baseball games, was (for Scotland) nothing more than a slight drizzle.
While Da (Their Grandfather) is at work, Gran decides to visit Eventide Home and her friends there. "A young woman in a plaid skirt, white blouse, and blue cardigan sweater greeted them at the door. She had a foxlike face, long and sly looking. A metallic name badge identified her as Fiona, and she wore a pair of tiny silver scissors around her neck on a ribbon."
Jennifer, Molly and Peter discover the past when a giant, gray mist comes to swallow up all of the past that had escaped when a mean sorcerer came through a small rip that he had created in time. They also found out how delicate the balance between good magic and evil magic is in this thrilling and scary-at-times book.
I was really quite glad that there were no pictures in this book. For I think that pictures would have absolutely ruined it for me. Because I loved imagining what was happening and what the characters and things looked like.
I think that the way Jane Yolen used words was really quite descriptive and powerful. Like she wielded a sword made of words with discipline and imagination that is a treasure in any book.
I think that this book is an appropriate read-aloud book for children from five to seven. But to fully understand it I think that you have to be eight or over.

The second book of the "Tartan Magic" series trips back through time, space, and lots of evil witchery. Following up on the first book (which you should read to fully understand the plot of this one), this is an excellent second entry.

Three American kids -- twins Peter and Jennifer, and younger sibling Molly -- are still in Scotland, while Da and their parents are away. During a "dreech" day, Gran takes the girls to a nearby nursing home, where three old ladies -- a coven of sweet old witches -- play a card game and dote on Molly. One of them gives her a little stone with an engraving. It turns out to be a talisman -- one that soon calls a Pictish girl to the present day.

The little Pictish girl, Ninia, is not the only visitor. Just after her arrival, a mighty Pict warrior appears, and a sinister dark mist begins following them. Gran can hold it off for a short while. But why is Ninia in the present, how can she go home -- and what evil presence wants to destroy her?

This is a really charming little book, full of twists and turns and the occasional odd comment ("American has electricity. Scotland has power"). There's also a little educational value in this, which parents might like; Yolen is too talented to let this info on the Picts and their civilization be boring, and it is very vital to the plotline. The pace is snappy and full of Scottish words (there's a guide to them at the back of the book, if you want to know what "dreech" means), and descriptions that cause images to pop into the mind.

There's a little more comedy in this book than in the last: we have the smart-alecky talking dog, who trades barbs with anyone who will respond. Also, there is Peter's turn as an early teenage driver, which will elicit winces from any parents who read it. The menace is, possibly, even better than the wizard Michael Scot -- you probably won't even be able to guess who it is.

Delightful little story, really charming. A must-read for any lovers of magic or Scotland.

I enjoyed "The Pictish Child" well enough until the last few pages. The story is similar in tone to Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series, but seems to be aimed at younger children with short attention spans who like Disney movies. The banter (including a poop joke or two) by talking animals left me cold, but then I'm not eight years old. The ending was disappointing. While other parts of the plot were explained clearly enough, the denouement was vague and hurried. I suspect that an editor might have required a less famous author to explain what she was trying to say.

Here we are at the second of three books in the Tartan Magic Series and we rejoin Peter, Jennifer and Molly still on vacation in Scotland with parents (visiting their grandparents). With just Gran and the kids home for the day...and what with it being a typically rainy Scottish weather, Gran and the kids set off to visit some of her friends at the Eventide Home for the Elderly. Returning in this volume is the dog and horse from the first book, both serve largely to provide humor in the story line and I've come to love that cranky, sarcastic old mutt!

While the group is visiting Gran's coven, Molly (the youngest) is given a talisman which sets them off on yet another magical adventure to save the world from a power hungry villain! The group joins up with Ninia a Pictish girl from the ancient past who is being chased by an ominous dark mist and it's up to the kids and their Gran to solve the mystery, get the girl back to her time and foil the villain!

This is a wonderful little story for young readers (I'd say 8-14 is the ideal range here), while there's not much to the character development, it's got great pace and a fair amount of suspense and with the proper attention, readers can figure out "who done it" just before it's revealed. I'm a bit disappointed to see that Peter is still portrayed as a brooding, moody and somewhat prone to temper tantrums (he stalks off from the home) and the focus of this story, as in the first, is on Molly and her emerging magical skills. Since they are twins, it would be nice to see a more even development of the characters. Overall, I give it a B, it's fast paced, suspenseful, magical, and just plain fun!

(...)

I think the theme of the Pictish Child is magic. Like people disappearing, Dog and Nina are magical creatures. Dog is a dog and Nina is the Pictish Child. Any cold metal or iron will burn them. Jennifer and Peter, the twins, and their little sister Molly are three Americans in Scotland for the summer to visit their grandma and grandpa.
Their challenge was trying to keep the sinister fog out of the house by putting pots and tools around the house. Peter was tricked into opening the door, thinking it was their mom, dad and grandpa. Read the book to find out who was really at the door!
I did not think that the Pictish Child was the best book I have ever read. I think that it was confusing because people are disappearing and the book does not tell where they go. Also the Scottish dialect was confusing too.
I would recommend this book to kids 10-15 but if you are someone who is eight like me and can understand magic unlike me then you could read it.
There are no illustrations but I can say they would be helpful.
It is the second book in the series and you can read it in any order.

I thought this book was enchanting. The way she wrote it made you want to read more. The way she described the pictish child was very specific. This book was magical and exciting. It was not the kind of book with all describing and no adventure though. She managed to include both. I enjoyed the way she put the glossary in the back of the book. It helped me understand the books Scottish words, and it was fun to say them and nobody would know what I was saying!