The Snow Spider

“Keating’s reading of the tale is flawless. He easily ranges from the boy’s excitement and anticipation to the wavery voice of his eccentric grandmother…[Keating’s] mastery may well convince readers that this fictional world is real.” —Publishers Weekly (starred audio review)

“[An] enchanting tale…Swiftly paced and cleverly plotted, Nimmo’s novel fluidily fuses fantasy, suspense, and drama.” —Publishers Weekly

“From the opening music to the first note of narrator John Keating’s beautifully accented voice, the listener is transported to the Welsh countryside…With narration like this, it is as if John Keating were himself the snow spider, spinning richness into Jenny Nimmo’s tale.” —AudioFile

“Nimmo weaves elements of Welsh folklore into a story that combines magical elements with a realistic modern setting…[An] adventure story with likable characters that are deftly, succinctly portrayed.” —Booklist

“Harry Potter fans have reason to rejoice. A new young magician has arrived from the UK with exciting adventures…Beautifully written.” —Children’s Literature

HBThis atmospheric fantasy starts with a boy, Gwyn, receiving five unusual gifts from his grandmother, Nain, on his ninth birthday. Thus begins a quest to find out whether he has inherited the gift of magic that returns once in every seven generations to his family and to discover what happened to his sister, who vanished mysteriously four years earlier. This new production is a worthy successor to a previous 1988 recording, as Keating's deep, rich voice, rolling musically over the Welsh words and phrases, effortlessly unravels the intricately descriptive sentences. Fans of Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence and Nimmo's own Charlie Bone will find themselves swept up instantly in this first volume (winner of the Smarties Prize) of the series. KRISTI ELLE JEMTEGAARDHORN BOOK - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006(NOTE - This is a review of the AUDIO, not the BOOK)Read by John Keating.(Intermediate)This atmospheric fantasy starts with a boy, Gwyn, receiving five unusual gifts from his grandmother, Nain, on his ninth birthday. Thus begins a quest to find out whether he has inherited the gift of magic that returns once in every seven generations to his family and to discover what happened to his sister, who vanished mysteriously four years earlier. This new production is a worthy successor to a previous 1988 recording, as Keating's deep, rich voice, rolling musically over the Welsh words and phrases, effortlessly unravels the intricately descriptive sentences. Fans of Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence and Nimmo's own Charlie Bone will find themselves swept up instantly in this first volume (winner of the Smarties Prize) of the series. KRISTI ELLE JEMTEGAARD —