If your child is getting a bit bored with children's stories and they've got to that age where they are looking for something a bit darker, something that could scare them just a little bit, then the books of A. F. Harrold are perfect for them. Guaranteed to have them on the edge of their seat and inspire them to take that next step and start reading slightly more grown up books. I read The Imaginary and The Afterwards to my daughter and had some great discussions about the story, alas by the time I got a copy of The Song From Somewhere Else she had stopped me reading to her....it didn't stop me from picking it up and having a read on my own.

This was another fantastic book by Harrold, a story featuring many of the everyday problems a child faces, embarrassing Dads, absent parents, fitting in at school, bullies, trolls and weird creatures from another dimension, I remember all these things from my childhood. Whilst this one wasn't as moving as the previous two books I read it was still a very good story and it was nice to read as the friendship between Frank and Nick developed. To read about all the inner turmoil that Frank was experiencing, the fear she dealt with each time she went near the park where the bullies hang out was awful, it was all the more awful because there are kids made to live like this everyday.

This is a great little book full of amazing illustrations, an incredible amount of detail in the images, I would consider each of these three books a piece of art that would look great on anybody's shelves.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/11/14/the-song-from-somewhere-else-by-a-f-harrold/