Cover Image: A New Adventure

A New Adventure

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Member Reviews

This was a super fun adventure story! The Magical Faraway Tree series was some of my favourites as a child, so it's lovely to see the series being continued. There was magic and adventure and all sorts of fun characters and creatures. Brilliantly done!

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This was a lovely adventure story about three children who go on holiday and discover a magical kingdom of Fairies, elves, unicorns and allsorts of other creatures in an old, enchanted tree. The older children learn to believe in magic again and the family have a variety of different adventures together.
The original Magic Faraway Tree was a favourite of mine as a child and this certainly lived up to the expectations!

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this children’s book.

It was so great to be back in the world of the magic faraway tree. I devoured these books as a child but have not read them for 30+ years. Although Enid Blyton is a hard act to follow, I do believe that Jacqueline managed to successfully capture the magic and essence of the original books with some unique and imaginative worlds for the children to visit. I will definitely be recommending the book to the pupils I teach.

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Admittedly I haven’t read the original series by Enid Blyton so I went into this book without any expectations. I think there was a lot going on and I did like that sexism was addressed in this book, but I just wasn’t blown away by it. I would still recommend Jacqueline Wilson books to younger readers but I think this one would suit younger children.

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This brought back memories from being a child. I love the magic faraway tree so reading this was nostalgic and I really enjoyed it.

What fascinates me as a teacher is that children today love this story and the fact it’s been rewritten to an extent is brilliant and one I will be purchasing for my classroom library for all my readers.

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Oh far-away tree, I want to discover you and climb up your branches to the magical clouds, sadly though I think as much as my mind wants this if such a tree exists I would need either a tree lift or a nice burly fireman to carry me up (would you believe I’m only in my 30s but my body thinks it’s 100).

I was completely captivated reading this, it feels so set in a faraway time . It reminded me of books that my Nan would read me when I was very young that she had also read to my mum when she was little.
It felt very innocent and I thought it was very very sweet.
Being written by Jacqueline Wilson piqued my interest when I saw it on netgalley. After watching the Enid Blyton series with the wonderful Helena Bonham carter I absolutely detested the woman it portrayed and have never read any of her books but this book definitely captured the period of Blyton.

This was a really enjoyable, delightfully innocent and fun read that I would recommend

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Fun read which young readers will love!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to the book in exchange for my honest feedback.

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This was such a lovely read, I am so glad that a new generation of readers will know and love this author just as much as I did growing up. Such a great world and characters, would definitely recommend!

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A New Adventure is a cute new adaptation of the much loved faraway tree books which will open up the magical world for a whole new generation to fall in love with.

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This one was a lovely read. I really enjoyed reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me

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This is the fourth instalment in The Magic Faraway Tree series, originally penned by Enid Blyton and continued by Jacqueline Wilson.

I grew up with this book series and it holds a very special place in my heart, which is why I was so eager to see it continued and adapted for a new generation of readers. I enjoyed my return to the whimsy of Blyton's original creations but found the overall story arc a little less exciting than I had predicted.

This featured smaller adventures, with journeys there and back into other lands often completed in just one chapter. Perhaps this would highly appeal to the younger target audience it is aimed towards but I did not find this preferable to the longer and singular adventure I anticipated this would feature.

I loved the return of a beloved cast of fantastical characters as well as the new family introduced, and am eager to see where else Wilson will have them venture.

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Had this on my @NetGalley shelf too long. The Faraway Tree stories were childhood favourites and it was a bit like going to watch a film when you loved the book! As it happens it held true to the original feel [with a gentle dig at gender stereotyping!]
#RfP @FansofJWilson

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Three kids, Milo, Mia and Birdy, are on a countryside holiday when they wander into an Enchanted Wood. Among the whispering leaves, there is a beautiful tree that stands high above the rest. The Magic Faraway Tree is home to remarkable creatures including a fairy called Silky, her best friend Moonface and more. Birdy is delighted to find that fairies are real.

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The story follows siblings Milo, Mia and Birdy on their summer holiday in the countryside, and like their predecessors before them, explored The Enchanted Forest and discovered the magic of The Faraway Tree. From the magical sounding The Land of Unicorns and The Land of Bouncy Castles to the quite scary Land of Dragons, it is full of new adventures and magic for a new generation. Featuring old favourites from Silky, Moonface and Saucepan Man to Dame Washalot (who is still chucking her dirty washing water down the tree!) to the Angry Pixie, it's definitely worth a read for younger children and those of us oldies who long for a bit of nostalgia. My only real complaint was it seemed a lot shorter than I remember, though I did as a child read the 3 in 1 omnibus edition, giving it the illusion of lasting forever.

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Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity of reading this.

This follows siblings Mia, Milo, and Birdy, into the Enchanted Wood where they meet a host of characters from Silky the fairy, to Moonface, to Dame Washalot. There’s certainly a lot going on!

As a lifelong Jacqueline Wilson fan I was so excited to read this book but was unfortunately a little disappointed. It felt quite disjointed, although perhaps having the illustrations may have helped me picture it all a bit more (I unfortunately could not see these on my kindle).

Having said that, I’m sure this will be enjoyed by lots of young children who will be swept up in the magical adventure!

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Having grown up loving the original Faraway Tree series, I was slightly concerned upon seeing this revamp that some of the original magic would have been lost (ok, I was worried they'd do an "And Just Like That" on it) but thankfully, this is as magical and engaging as the original .

The gang's all here - Silky, Moonface, Dame Washalot, Saucepan Man, Whatzisname.

The children have slightly more 2022-friendly names than Fanny and Dick - we have Milo, Mia and Birdy. All three are interested in different things, and all three are reasonably likeable - Birdy, the youngest, does kind of talk like a thirty year old but we've all seen the precocious TikTok toddlers so it's not *entirely* beyond the realms of possibility.

There was one part where a dragon mistook Milo for a girl because of the length of his hair and a pink top which I felt a bit unnecessary, but we used it as a prompt at home to talk about how anyone can wear anything they want and have their hair however they like it. Apart from that, there really wasn't a whole pile of difference between the actual stories from years ago and this new one. My two youngest children (both 8) really enjoyed it and have asked if we can get more from the series. I hope there will be more.

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I read and reread the Faraway Tree books over and over again as a child. These stories were an integral part of my childhood. I tried rereading them again a couple of years ago, to my own children. And while we all found them entertaining, the same love just wasn't there any more for me. It was impossible to ignore the sexist attitudes and though the ideas were engaging, the writing seemed dull and old-fashioned and some of the lands and their occupants were a little creepy.

I firmly believe Jacqueline Wilson's reimagining of these stories is far better than the original books and I was blown away by them. It takes a really skilled writer to make a classic their own but Wilson has succeeded. I love how she writes and I love the new characters. It's amazing how effortlessly the enchanted forest and its folk fit into the modern world under Wilson's guidance. The lands at the top of the tree are much more appealing and far less sinister. There is even more comedy from the folk of the free and their interactions than ever before and I love how Wilson has given Dame Washalot a first name (and a friend with an equally amusing name).

It's brilliant how Wilson actively addresses the sexism of the original books and squashes the gender stereotypes. I love how good she is at capturing the child's view of the world and understanding how young people might be feeling. The characterisation is much stronger in these books and all of the protagonists feel far more developed.

I really hope there are more to come and am absolutely thrilled that this series exists so that my own children (and future generations) can explore the Enchanted Forest and fall in love with the Faraway Tree just like I did except with a sensational improved version. Massive congratulations to everyone involved - this is an absolute triumph.

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A joyful updated version, Wilson’s love of the original shines through. Adored this one and cannot wait to read it to my own children when they’re a little older. Retains the whimsy and magic of the original. Love!

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Absolutely wonderful. How enchanting and magical to return to the beloved world of The Magic Faraway Tree. Jacqueline Wilson is, like many of us, a fan of Enid Blyton's wonderful original stories, and has brought her own expertise and beautiful writing to pen this additional tale: A New Adventure. Three delightful children: Milo, Mia and Little Birdie come upon an enchanted wood whilst on a holiday in the countryside. The most beautiful tree stands in the midst of the enchanted wood home to all our favourite magical characters like Moonface and the Faeries. Soon the children are off on adventures to marvwllous places, such as the Land of Unicorns. Unfortunately, they also happe upon the more dangerous Land of Dragons and rely on Moonface to try and help them escape. This is a superb story, every bit as stunning as the original stories. Every child (and adult!) should read this and immerse themselves in another fabulous adventure into the Faraway Tree. I am so thrilled to share more adventures with my own children. A sheer delight from start to finish. In addition, the audiobook has the delightful narration of the stellar Miriam Margoyles. #anewadventure #themagicfarawaytree #netgalley

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The Magic Faraway tree was the book that started my love of reading. The way you could step into a different setting with the turn of a page, the characters were brought to life by Enid Blyton and they jumped into my head, imagination and heart and have remained there ever since. The pictures she planted in my mind are still so very clear today so when I heard that Jacqueline Wilson had rewritten in I knew I just had to read. She was the Author of my Children’s favourite stories so I thought she can’t go far wrong.

It was once again an enjoyable read and it was great to be reunited with my old friends, who despite the years were still exactly as I imagined them.
I felt that the author did a great job considering the PC bridge she had to cross to bring this story to life in a style that was suitable for the modern world. The Magic was most definitely still there and I would like to Thank Jacqueline for breathing new life into it and hope the young children of today and tomorrow enjoy it as much as I did

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