Book Title: Eumundi and Friends: Hot Air Ballooning
Genre: YA Middle Grade Adventure
Pages: 34
Author: Stuart & Kristen Anner
Date Published: 5 November 2014 (E-Book)
Synopsis:
Hot Air Ballooning is the first book in a series of children's books about the adventurous and fun-loving Eumundi Mouse and her friends.
Meet Eumundi, (You-MUN-Dee) who is no ordinary mouse. She is an adventurer! In today’s adventure, Eumundi is so excited because she will fly high into the sky in a hot air balloon. Join her as she meets new friends, Julia and Hammy and together they take the ride of their lives.
How do the friends meet?
Who is flying the balloon?
What adventures do the new friends get up to on their journey?
And how will they get down?
Ideally suited for children aged 7 to 9, however will also suit younger children when read to by an adult.
Review:
Eumundi And Friends: Hot Air Ballooning: The Adventures Begin by Stuart AnnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
This is the first book in a children's adventure series. I loved it!
Eumundi (pronounced You-MUN-Dee) is a wonderful character. She is a mouse who loves to go on adventures. I found her to be incredibly brave, impetuous and determined to have fun.
I was contacted by the author to see if I would be willing to read the book and, because I am mentoring reluctant readers at a local school, I thought I would give this a go and get their feedback too.
I really love the illustrations which accompanied the story. The pictures drawn by Cristina Birtea brought the characters and story alive. I love the detail that has gone into them.
I started to read this book with one of my students and, although she is nine, she has a younger reading age and struggled with some of the words. And, because she is a reluctant reader, she also found the going hard so became restless and bored after a few pages. I therefore stopped reading it with her. However, I decided to read this on my own later. I found it to be a fun, enjoyable story.
Eumundi is joined by two other characters on her hot ballooning adventure. They are: Julia, a very posh mouse and Hammy, a hamster who stows away in the picnic basket. The story takes the reader on an exciting adventure through the skies in a hot air balloon. I have always wanted to do one of these trips, but after my sister went up in one and didn't recommend the landing, I decided not to. However, I digress - back to the review.
Although my student struggled with the words (especially Eumundi's name pronunciation amongst other things), I am sure that young readers who are not reluctant at reading will enjoy this tale as much as I did. Being as I am an adult and not the intended age group for this book, I did find some of the things Eumundi did (like throwing out the sand bags for instance) a little counter-productive. I get that to get lift in a hot air balloon you need to get rid of weight, but you would need weight to act as ballast when wanting to return back to the ground surely? Ugh! Physics was never my strong suit at school. But, having said that, children wouldn't consider this strange. The story ends happily and I would definitely consider reading more of Eumundi's adventures in the future. I am just sorry my reluctant reader was not able to finish it as I am sure she would have enjoyed it once she got into it. I will keep trying.
Stuart Anner & Kristen Anner are father and daughter and have written an exciting adventure story for young middle grade aged children. I love their writing style, which is fast paced but not rushed, and the flow was wonderful.
I highly recommend this children's adventure books to children aged 7-10 and to adults who love reading YA middle grade adventure stories. - Lynn Worton
View all my reviews
Stuart Anner began writing Eumundi stories after his daughter Kristen found the cutest toy mouse at Eumundi Markets in Queensland, Australia. Eumundi immediately became her favourite toy and has travelled everywhere with her ever since!
The tales of Eumundi’s adventures grew out of Stuart’s love of life, and his strong belief that a person can do anything they set their mind to. Wanting to encourage a spirit of adventure in Kristen, he wrote of all the amazing adventures Eumundi and her friends had.
In creating the Eumundi stories, Stuart uses a combination of real life adventures and holidays that he and his family have had together, while other stories have originated in the imaginations of Stuart and Kristen.
Kristen was four when Eumundi came into their lives and the adventures began. As a young child, she was fully engaged in these exciting stories and would ask many questions which have helped shape the stories. As she grew older, Kristen has helped fill in the details of the adventures and even writes her own Eumundi stories…. And she still loves a good Eumundi story to be told to her!
Stuart and Kristen know there are other children and families who would love to join Eumundi and her friends on their great adventures. So it’s with great joy that they have set about creating a series of books from the many stories they captured on paper through the years.
Come and join Stuart and Kristen as they take you on an adventure with Eumundi and Friends!!
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