Review: Just adorable!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 13, 2013
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was never my favourite story. I thought it was rather odd as a child, and when I learn that the piper symbolized plague, I thought it was horrible. So, I was really looking forward to reading a retelling of the story by Ilana Waters, whose Diana Wynne Jones-esque novel The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt made me wish I was a kid again! Needless to say, I loved Paying Piper (or What Happened in Hamelin Town.)I'm sure many people who are, like me, just children at heart will love this story just as much as I did. The quirky, conversational tone of writing reminded me of my childhood favourites, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl! The story has the kind of playful humour a child may like with the talking rats and the constantly irritated people and a subtler wit that makes it a lot more than just another children's story. Ilana has a way of describing things so well that you wonder if you're actually watching the story, in this case a Disney cartoon; very apt and very imaginative. She has given the story a pleasing twist, making it about kindness and second chances. What I loved is how it never seems like a retelling, but a tale that she came up with herself! The people in the story have so much character and so do the rats, which must have been hard to do, because most of the Grimm stories that I ever read were full of stock characters; here, even the stout miserly mayor seemed more than just that!Among other things, this story will also be your chance to try a new author before you move on to her longer works. And I'm certain, as soon as you've finished this, you will find yourself rushing off to buy The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt!