Grace Ella Spells for Beginners by Sharon Marie Jones. Is one of those books I will always remember reading to my own children. Here is a quote from my reading pebbles blog:
We loved reading Grace Ella together, the characterisation was spot on. My son loved that it featured a cat, he is cat crazy. My daughter loved the magic and that Grace Ella found an inventive way to deal with a girl that was bullying her. We had discovered another read aloud, which was great to read to children of different ages. My daughter enjoyed it so much she said: “Is there another Grace Ella story?” The enthusiasm we got from attending this event lasted long into the Autumn term (2016).
Melissa Jordan From my readingpebbles.co.uk blog post June 2017
Books Ambassadors
In this post Nancy and Arden from year 4 at Dry Drayton Primary school in Cambridgeshire are back again. This time interviewing each other about Grace Ella Spells for Beginners, with some intriguing questions.
Grace Ella Spell for Beginners: talking about the story
A: It’s got a very interesting plot, it’s different from most witch stories. There’s a book of rules and I found that rule No.6 was very interesting.
N: What are the characters like?
A: Some are mean, some are nice but you can always picture what they look like and when you turn the page you are right.
N: Where is it set? Do you like the setting?
A: I like the setting because it is at a school for girls and that’s the type of setting I like.
N: What stories do you think of when you read this?
A: It’s particularly unique but I do think of the book Carbonel.
N: Who’s the bad guy, if there is one, and what does he/she do?
A: There isn’t really a bad guy, there’s just a bully who does horrible things but in the end Grace – Ella gets even.
N: What’s the main plot of the story?
A: That Grace – Ella is a witch because her cat told her so.
N: How can you tell a witch apart from a normal person in this story?
A: They have two left feet and a glittering green star on the palm of their hand. There’s also something wrong about them that you can’t put your finger on.
Grace Ella Spell for Beginners: talking about the front cover and the blurb
A: Does the book sound interesting from reading the blurb?
N: Yes, it sounds much better than most other books with witches in that I have read.
A: From the interview with me does it sound more or less interesting?
N: It definitely sound like a book I would like, but it’s going to get more exciting because there are more surprises to come.
A: If you read the blurb from The Witches by Roald Dahl and the blurb from this book, which would you find more interesting and why?
N: I like one better from the other in different ways. The Witches sound like a really made up story and really funny. Grace-Ella seems like it could be real apart from her being a witch. They both sound right up my street.
You can find out more about the publisher Firefly press and some other great reads here
The next book in the Series is: Grace-Ella Witch Camp and it’s even better than the first book.
The author Grace-Ella Spells for Beginners has created some great resources for both books. You can download them here.