Brodie McHaggis and the Secret of Loch Ness |
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Helen Campbell
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Pages: 170 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0955138604
Pub: Chloe Publishing
Pub date: 2005-12
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 337788
Reader Reviews:
I fell in love with Brodie McHaggis! (2/2 people found this helpful)
"Brodie McHaggis and the Secret of Loch Ness" - the very title made me want to read it. After all, who really knows the secret of Loch Ness?
The "haggisen" description in the prologue, "ginger-red cotton wool balls running around on three matchsticks" tickled my fancy and I can't believe it; this little haggis has captured my heart and imagination! Me, who has never even read the great H.P., and couldn't get to grips with Lord of the Rings, falling in love with a little hairy haggis! Maybe it is the fact that although he has an inquiring mind and is so brave, he also comes across as very vulnerable.
Helen Campbell's vivid imagination gives us some wonderful descriptions of the world of "haggisen". For instance, in her introduction to Angus McMail she tells us that "he knew of no other speed - stop, or go like the fur on his bottom was on fire" made me laugh out loud.
There are also poignant moments as when Brodie and his Dad Jock are having a serious conversation at the lochside about the existence of people and kelpies amongst other things and Jock is trying to blow a yellow butterfly off the end of his nose. His round eyes cross as he watches the butterfly cleaning the pollen from its feet. The butterfly seems too content to move on, so Jock finally brushes it off his nose with his finger, trying not to damage its delicate frame. So sweet!
The meeting between Brodie and Erin is brilliant; he is so frightened at first but quickly becomes trusting of his new found friend when, on releasing him from the safety of her fleece he realised "Erin's body had the warmth of his mother's embrace and he had felt somewhat at ease".
Brodie goes through many adventures with Erin; he even attends a Burns Supper in Urquhart Castle!
There is Noremac the white witch; the Ghillie Dhu; Gertruda McNorris - the witch whose sister has signed up to anger-management classes; there are the Dryads, nymph-like creatures who ask Brodie to sing for them, "the most enchanting of musical sounds, likened to a few people playing the bagpipes a long distance away, combined with a choir of the sweetest angels singing."
There is so much in this book that will appeal to "children" of all ages and I am looking forward with impatience to the next one. After all, this book ends with the words "what had he done?"
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Toys & Games -> Children’s Books -> Fiction