The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

This book didn't really get going for me until well into its second half. It suffered a failing (design choice?) common to many children's books whereby it felt like just a series of disconnected events. There seemed to be no motive force driving the story, and making me want to keep reading at the end of each chapter.

Maybe it's a deliberate decision, to break the story into small pieces, and to make sure the reader has a place to stop, but to me it just makes the book hard work to get through. I had exactly the same problem with Sword in the Stone last year, and I guess Alice in Wonderland is the prime example.

It only picked up for me once September started to act, rather than merely to be around while things happened. Once the stakes are established, and she takes action to put things right, the book started to feel like a story.

There are some nice ideas, and interesting characters, but all-in-all I don't think there's much for me, here. Kids could do a lot worse, but it doesn't seem to be a book that also works for this middle-aged man, even though I was a kid once, myself. I doubt I'll be back for the sequels. I gave it 2.5 stars.