Friday 22 June 2018

Marge and the Secret Tunnel by Isla Fisher and Eglantine Ceulemams (Children's, 7 years +, 10E/10E)


May 2018, Piccadilly Press, 144 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Book summary
ZOOM! WHIZZ! MARGE IS ON THE MOVE!

Life with Marge is NEVER boring! She has rainbow hair, goes skiing in the middle of summer and is the best babysitter anyone could wish for.

And maybe - just maybe - Marge can help Jemima and Jakey work out who (or what) is at the end of the secret tunnel. 


Nayu's thoughts
I was extremely pleased to review another Marge book, and also very sad because this is the last in the series. I'd hoped it would go on for more than 4 books, but it's not to be. It made reading this final instalment bittersweet. Thankfully it's as good as the other books, more so because of where Jemima and Jakey end up travelling to. 

Marge whisks them away on an adventure which I caught elements of truth in what happened, especially at the end. The whole concept of Marge taking the siblings places and doing things their parents wouldn't let them do is one I'm sure all readers will love as much as I do. Like Jemima at times I sometimes wondered how their antics get cleared up before her parents return home because Marge may be in charge but she can create quite a mess. Yet with a bit of what seems like magic Marge keeps being rehired to babysit Jemima and her brother

I've enjoyed how the series has taken ordinary life events and made them amazing - these including and aren't limited to travelling on a train, going to a pool (or a beach, can't quite remember which), being stuck with a baby/toddler who is a brat, going to a wedding, and tunnel exploring. It makes them less daunting with Marge there to create havoc, something Jemima in particular appreciates because like me she likes to do things right and not get into trouble. Her brother is a bit more carefree, something she learns too thanks to having Marge in their life. Marge's home life must be fascinating - she is royalty (sort of), and must have an amazing collection of items in her home, wherever that is. 

More so in this last book I saw how who Marge is and what she does with Jemima and Jakey is mostly imagination fuelled, with little hints left in chapters indicating what probably happened was less exciting than the imagined goings on. Knowing that didn't pull me out of the book's spell, if anything it draws me in more because I like how clever the writing is, how Isla weaves the tale around ordinary things into something that's interesting, and how Eglantine draws Marge and her charges having the best time of their lives (almost always) which compliments Isla's writing so well. I really hope both Isla and Eglantine will get to work on future books together! Do check this series out in the suggested read area below.

You can see more of Eglantine's work on her website, which is in French (She is from Belgium).

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