Imagine that your mother suddenly starts packing a suitcase for you and tells you that the time has come and you must hurry.  She is sending you somewhere, but she doesn’t tell you where.  She tells you that this place is unlike anywhere you have ever been and when you get there you must call yourself a different name.  She gives you a locket that you should never remove from around your neck.  The next thing you know, you are standing in the snow in a strange land – a land that only you can save.

When the Bloodtree loses its last leaf, there will be no more stories in the Silvering Kingdom …The Silvering Kingdom is the home of fairy tales but the kingdom and all those within are in danger of vanishing because the Bloodtree – the source of all stories – has been poisoned. ‘Sanspell’ is a story that has been cursed. It is up to Abigail (Spindale) to enter the fairy tale world and save the story-tree. Together with Flint, whose mother Trinket is being held captive by the evil Rackenard, they set off on a journey: three drops of Trinket’s blood is what is required to save the tree. The race is on …but can they survive the wicked Zezmena’s spells?

Elizabeth Pulford emerses readers in her fantastic story of the Silvering Kingdom in Sanspell, the first book in her new series, Bloodtree Chronicles.  This is the sort of book that you just want to curl up with on a Winter’s day, wrapped in a blanket with a hot drink.  Elizabeth really makes you feel like you’ve been transported to the snowy Silvering Kingdom with Abigail.

Abigail loves stories and uses books as an escape from her life.  She doesn’t have many friends and is bullied at school, so she feels far from special.  However, when she is transported to the Silvering Kingdom and the Sanspell story she discovers that she is incredibly important and it is up to her to save the Bloodtree and the characters that inhabit the story.

Like Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart series this is a story about the magic of stories.  I love the way that Elizabeth Pulford has created the story within the story.  The story of the Silvering Kingdom is written by Abigail’s aunties and there is a visual record of the story on the walls of their house.  As the story changes, the illustrations change.  The aunties are so used to creating the story that when Abigail takes the story in her own direction they are not sure what to do.

Special mention needs to be made of Donovan Bixley’s stunning cover and design.  His cover is one that will catch the eyes of young readers and make them want to read this wonderful book.  The silver foil catches the light and highlights different parts depending on how you look at it.

Sanspell has me hooked on the Bloodtree Chronicles!  I can’t wait for Elizabeth Pulford to take me to Bragonsthyme and Thatchthorpe in the next two books in the series.