Yarn Quest 1: The Search for the Story Realm (Brooke Scobie, illus Jade Goodwin, Penguin)

Brooke Scobie’s debut series, Yarn Quest, begins with The Search for the Story Realm (with the next two books in the series releasing concurrently) and introduces friends Sibyl and Tane who enjoy adventures in the Australian bush. This particular adventure, though, is a magical one set to change their lives. Enter Fable, an impish young Story Spirit who strayed from their parents back before invasion (when ‘those first big ugly boats came’), and who needs help completing the telling of a yarn in order to return home to the Story Realm. The adventure encompasses positive lessons, such as when to ask for help and the value of truth-telling. Though the human characters are a little underdeveloped (even for a short beginner-reader novel) and the mix of a direct fairytale tone with an informal spoken register doesn’t always land comfortably on the page, there is plenty of imaginative heart (echoed in Jade Goodwin’s cartoonish illustrations) and there is potential for growth in subsequent books. The language is strongest in the lyrical description of the bush and Fable’s magical body, composed of nebulae and stars. Scobie and Goodwin are First Nations creators, and the series is supported by the Awesome Black creative social enterprise, which exists to develop original First Nations talent and storytelling. A lively and magical journey for readers aged 8+, The Search for the Story Realm is a great stepping stone for children starting to read fantasy.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a freelance editor and writer, and a bookseller at the Hobart Bookshop. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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