Customer Reviews

The Talking Parcel

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I can remember my head teacher reading this book to me in his class 17 years ago and am now revisiting it as literature for some theatre workshops with year 6 children. The colourful characters, language and visual images must be passed down to the next generation. the parrot with lumbago, the pheonix and the screaming mandrakes were just a part of the books appeal. It definately ranks with its predecessors like C.S.Lewis, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear and a must for any child(or adult!!) who has read Lemony Snickett, Artemis Fowl or the Harry Potter books. Of course thats only my opinion so id recommend that you read it yourself!!

I read this book as a young child, and absolutely fell in love with it. I checked it out of my home town library many, many, many times. I truly wish it was still in print--I would buy it for my home and the libray I am director of. The characters are charming, funny, scary, loveable, and very imaginative. The story draws you in, and makes you wish there was a sequel so you could read some more. Would highly recommend to someone else.

my teacher read this magical book to us in year 6 and me and my friends have never forgotten it. it is written in a way that really captures the audience. I've been trying to find it as i now want a copy to always have with me and maybe someday read to my children. it is such a fantastic book anyone that is around this age should really concider this book!! it is truely magical!!

This was one of my favourite books as a child, and the class knew me for it. Even if you aren't into mythological creatures, you have to love the characters, and the mission to overthrow evil is one we can all relate to. The book is so endearing, the plot engaging, characters so witty, and some of the mythological creatures, such as the dragon and the mermaids, challenge your preconceived notions. I was pleased to hear it is being republished under the more exciting and descriptive name, "The Battle for Castle Cockatrice." It would be nice to have a sequel. How about it?

This book is fantastic, my mum used to read it to me as a kid. then she lent it to some one and they never returned it (bummer)
The whole story is brilliant, i just loved the moon calves. with the current interest in fantasy books is there not some way of persuading a publisher to reprint it?

I first read this charming book almost 9 years ago when I was given an early copy of it at age 10. I instantly fell in love with it & you can imagine how disappointed I was when I lost it 6 years ago. I have been searching for it ever since & now I can't even find another copy of it anywhere. I am a young aspiring director & I'm hoping to turn it into a screenplay one day (with the correct permission ofcourse). I don't understand why the title has been changed or why this fabulous story is nolonger being printed. BRING IT BACK!!!!! I say

Take care :O)

DOLPHIN!

The first book my dad ever bought me ( I was seven years old and have read it at least once a year since - and I'm now thirty!) If you want to teach your children how to use their imaginations - get your hands on this book - by hook, by crook or by any means necessary!

A blaze of colour, a masterpiece of imagination and a real bloody shame it's out of print. If ANYONE knows a cartoonist - PLEASE get them to animate this story!

It truly is a shame it is out of print, but definately worth ordering. Parrot's determination to keep words exercised, phoenixes, and Ethelred the Master Spy toad, Tabitha, and more.
Try to take this book from me and I will fight you with every breath I have! :)

This is a MARVELOUS book. Don't be fooled by it's title. This is a masterful work of fantasy literature! It all starts when a small group of children find a small box while on the shores of Greece. Inside the parcel is an eloquent parrot and a sulky spider. The children learn of a mysterious plot in the land of Mythologica where evil cockatrices plan to take control. Along the way, they meet a taslking train, mermaids, griffins, a dragon, and a sea-serpent who wants to be a chef. What's gonna happen next? I just guess you'll have to read it to find out!

......too bad it's out of print

I read this over and over from when I got it as a present when I was a kid and into adult life. In recent years I discovered that someone somewhere had made an animated movie but I never saw it, and it probably would have spoiled the experience for me, being just line-drawing animation which would have been a pale imitation of the imagery I could produce in my mind. Mythologica itself is quite a place: Griffins who forge gold, Mooncalves which leave a plastic substance as a snail trail, and the evil Cockatrices all live in a place with grass that only grows to a controlled height, rain that only falls at night, and delicate iridescent flowers that are hardy enough to take root and grow anywhere, all directed by a benevolent old wizard. With the special effects today, they could probably make a movie version of it that would rival the Harry Potter pictures, but that's not the point.
Though it resembles the Harry Potter stories in the common elements of a parallel world with different rules and features than our "normal" world, the ruling old white wizard, and a special train to take people part of the route there, this is a very different kind of story. It is a tale of ordinary young people with no special powers who are brought into Mythologica and its battle quite by accident by the afore-mentioned talking parcel, which turns out to be The Parrot, and his spider housekeeper Dulcibelle. They use their own resourcefulness and ingenuity and the resources of the unique environment provided to them in Mythologica to save the peaceable magical kingdom from fantastical creature bad guys.
Like the Harry Potter books though, this story mentions and draws some inspiration from some _genuine_ books of occult lore and a Mediaeval bestiary called Topsell's Histories of Foure-Footed Beasts. I was so inspired by having read The Talking parcel to keep my eyes open for the (real) books mentioned within it that years after my first reading of The Talking Parcel, I was overjoyed when I found a modern edition of Topsell's Historie of Foure Footed Beasts in an academic library...and I immediately read it from cover to cover!