Katrina Nannestad (text) and Cheryl Orsini (illustrator), Mim and the Vicious Vendetta (The Travelling Bookshop #5), ABC Books, March 2024, 240 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780733343117
This most recent instalment in Katrina Nannestad’s middle grade fiction series, shows just how consistent she is as a writer. The whimsy, magic and kindness dials are all still on the same setting for book #5 as they were for book #1 in the series.
For those not yet familiar with the series, Mim lives in an old wooden caravan that doubles as travelling bookshop, with her dad Zeddy and younger brother Nat. The caravan is towed by Flossy the horse and wherever it stops is the right place for them to be. The family (along with all their pets), see the bookshop magically transform into a location-inspired store that seems to know just what the customers will need.
In this story, the bookshop is in Venice and Mim gets to see the canals and gondolas and experience the cuisine. She also meets some of the people and learns of particularly tense rivalry between the Magnifico and Forte families. She witnesses a battle between gondoliers, an opera singer who gets a bucket of dirty water dumped on her head, and a stolen pet cat. Fortunately, the answer to these feuding families is the books from the magic bookshop.
Of course I adore Cheryl Orsini’s illustrations. She’s long been one of my favourite Australian illustrators (exhibit A: the family portrait she did for us that hangs in our dining room). I’m thrilled we get to see her images, and as I’ve said before, I wish they would have been in colour. I don’t know what can be done to convince publishers that colour images enhance the reading experience so much for young readers and are worth the additional expense when printing.
The series is not one that progresses or ages as the series continues (ala Harry Potter), and they can definitely be read out of order. This is great for librarians who can suggest the series without having to ensure the reader has read book #1. So long as the reader has the skills, it could be enjoyed independently by children as young as 8 years old.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
