#30TubeReads: The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell
I wish I had books like this growing up!
We're finally back to #30TubeReads—sorry for the small hiatus. But don’t worry, I've been reading all along; just need to catch up with the reviews.
On an Overground train sometime last month, I came across a father and son with their heads bent over a copy of The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell. It was a cute sight and gave me such a wave of nostalgia for when my mom would read books to me. She's the reason I have such a love for books. Before I even knew how to read letters, my mum would read books aloud to me so many times that I could recite the stories without even understanding. I’ve been told that I knew exactly when to turn the page.
My reading journey started with picture books about a naughty monkey named Bubbles. Until I was about 10, a corner of my toy cupboard was dedicated to the entire collection of Bubbles. (At some point, my mother got rid of the books, and I still remember being absolutely heartbroken about it.) I soon graduated to a steady stream of Enid Blyton books. I went on adventures with the five adventure junkies, solved mysteries with the Secret Seven, devoured every Mallory Towers book, and read everything else in between. It was a logical progression to Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. It's always been a mystery to me exactly how many books were written in this series, but I’m pretty sure I made my way through 70% of them. I was a Nancy Drew junkie, and the old man at my library would constantly try to maintain the supply to meet my demand.
I made my way through all the children’s classics. I think I fell in love with the idea of being a writer when I read Little Women for the first time, and I remember devouring A Wrinkle In Time.
You do have to listen to the stories, for stories always mean something. The question that worries me is: WHAT exactly do they mean?
Around this time, I was introduced to the magical world of Hogwarts. I grew up with the Golden Trio; I would vividly dream of receiving a letter from the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I even remember penning short stories about the adventures of Diti in the world of magic spells, butterbeer, and flying brooms. I returned to my habit of rereading the books over and over until there was a point where I could look at a paragraph and tell you the book it was from. It was an obsession! (That has been tainted by J. K. Rowling’s opinions, but I try not to think about it very often.) My obsession has followed me into adulthood because one of the first things I did upon reaching London was to visit Platform 9 and 3/4, and my day at the Wizarding World Experience in Watford was definitely one of my most memorable birthdays.
I've always been a fast reader, which means I finished the 7-book series really quickly and was left with a void. Suddenly, I couldn't find a book to fill the gap left behind by the Harry Potter series. The Percy Jackson books briefly kept me entertained, but I was a little too old when introduced to Rick Riordan’s world of Greek and Roman gods. I remember asking my librarian for books that would scratch my Harry Potter itch, and even the man (At 11, I believed he had read every book ever published.) could not solve. He redirected me to the world of teen fiction, and my love affair with Jacqueline Wilson’s bibliography began. (I'm not complaining here at all!)
This is the problem with adventures. They bring out parts of you that you never even knew were there.
However, I really wish I had Cressida Cowell’s works at that age. I could totally imagine 12-year-old Diti loving the world that she has created in this novel. It is the right amount of goofy and magical, the humour is cute but smart, and the snappy language just hits the right spot. The Wizards of Once follows a Wizard boy, Xar, and a Warrior girl, Wish, who were raised in a world where they were taught to hate each other. Wizards and Warriors do not mix! And it's the story of the extravagant, fantastical adventures the two go on when their worlds collide.
Surely, just because SOME Magic is bad, it doesn't mean that ALL Magic is bad?
Cowell's imagination is just *chef's kiss*. If the Narnia series introduced me to a world of creatures and characters unlike any I’d read about before, this book takes it to another level. There are creatures, big and small, that are interesting. Each species has a well-fleshed background, myth, and lore. The forests are filled with mysteries and thrills. There's an Evil Queen, extinct (but maybe not really) species, and magic objects that often have minds of their own. It’s all brought together by Cowell’s sarcastic wit, which fits perfectly with the tale she's telling.
She’s a queen and a mother and it’s a mother’s job to be scary,” said Wish.
“Well she’s very successful at her job,” shivered Bodkin.
Cowell is also the author of the How To Train Your Dragon books. I haven't read the series, but even seeing the books made me realise that the world of children’s books is so much broader today. The child in me may be a little jealous, but it also makes me happy that I can revisit my childhood every now and then by reading books like these. Additionally, I have to mention the illustrations in this book. The fun and unique sketches just add to the tongue-in-cheek humor of the novel.
I think this blog is already liberally sprinkled with my favourite books from my childhood. Each one of them has made me the reader and writer I am today. They've captured my imagination, and I've spent many nights reading under blankets with these literary companions. I really hope the little boy on the Overground train found the same kind of comfort and joy in The Wizards of Once.
It's fun to see the absolutely wide variety of books I’m reading because of #30TubeReads. I'm hoping to get back to regularly reviewing the books I read for the challenge.