Amelia Fang: My New BFFL

Two in one week, aren't you lucky?

   Today, I am here to talk about my new Best Friend For Life: Amelia Fang. Detailed in Laura Ellen Anderson's Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball, Amelia's life seems hella exciting and to be perfectly honest, I am jealous of this small, fictional vampire.
   Right from the off, we are informed that these vampires do not eat/drink blood, so as adult reading that to a child, you can let out a sigh of relief, and save the 'some mythical creatures eat humans, it's kind of like cannibalism, because they look like humans, but they're dead or whatever' conversation for another time.

I got this image from Google, please don't sue me. Also just look at Squashy. Aw.

   I personally love this kind of children's book - the gothic girl vibe (not to be confused with Goth Girl by Chris Riddell, that another post for another year). The colours and illustrations are always incredible and have such a distinct style that you could spot it anywhere. Also, it is just so lovely seeing a kind-hearted female character. I'm not necessarily saying that these are a minority but it still overwhelms me when there are just lovely stories for kids out there. This passion can be brought to any job in the publishing biz, so just comment the job offers below. Anyway, I've been inconsistently blogging for a while now, so you guys all know where this love of the gothic kids book vibe stems from: my literary mother, Winnie the Witch. Moving on.

   The impossibly thin waists, the crazy hair (see I Don't Want Curly Hair, another of Anderson's classics) and the CUTEST CARTOON PUMPKIN YOU EVER DID SEE are just a few of the iconic quirks of Anderson's illustrative style. The pages have ORANGE edges (is there a technical word for this that I do not know about?) and it's just so exciting. I love colour. I am a child. Give me all the colourful books. I can't wait for the PURPLE edged book (I hope?) Amelia Fang and the Unicorn Lords, arriving March 2018. Preorder it here. 

Taken with my diePhone... I mean iPhone. Ha.

   So like the English Lit kid that I am, I made some notes while reading this book so that I could blog about it because I am a real hashtag blogger now: 

1. The visual aids. The map at the start is very A.A.Milne/Toilken (whoever did it first) but really important in allowing kids to create a 3D image of things in their head (Over-analysis? Has this been discussed before?). I love the character profiles at the start as well. Really easy to introduce characters if you already know their 'deal'. 

If you cannot see the text in these pictures clearly, please go and buy the book yourself and stop scrounging off of me.

2. The subversions of 'norms'. Unicorns and glitter is all the rage these days - kids love it and this 22 year old child is no exception. BUT, in Nocturnia (amazing), these things are BAD. Being called a unicorn-face is a straight-up insult, it is taught that glitter is very harmful despite a complete lack of casualty reports, and fairies are small devils, flying around, supposedly eating people. In terms of the  language that Anderson uses, the horrible and gross become normal. A personal favourite is Amelia's parents calling each other "darkling" instead of "darling"... incredible. Will this catch on in my house? Probably not, but I will eventually have children to embarrass so stay tuned. 'Endearing' terms such as "my little sweat gland", "my awful little germinoid" and "dearest belch-breath" are just hilarious and should be slipped into everyday conversation - but always said in a loving tone. Even 'nightmares' become "daymares". 

   There are a few things in there that may go over the kids head but isn't this the BEAUTY of children's books?! For example, Grimaldi Death Reaperton's diePhone or the issue of people spoiling t.v. shows that you are yet to catch up on, which Amelia gets with 'The Great Gothic Gravestone Carve Off' - very relatable. Also Frankie is clearly a lil Frankenstien, but she's a know it all so we don't care about her.
   Even the pages are sometimes black with white font: LITERALLY SUBVERTED. There doesn't even seem to be a rule for it, like when Wooo, the ghost butler, appears - he appears on white-background-black-font pages. Keeps you on your figurative toes, I guess.

Wooo, my favourite character. I bet he solves crimes in his free time. 

3. Florence. This bea- I mean, rare breed of yeti (that's only funny if you've read the book) is a big clumsy character and her speech is very different to the other characters on the page. I think this is really effective, especially if there are children reading this book themselves - they can read tone/volume through the capital letters, which also allows her character to come through. Also helps adults who have to remember which accents they started doing - Florence is the loud one who also may be a bit Cockney, I'm not entirely sure.

4. River Styx. As an adult who knows Lots of Things, I love seeing references in children's books that need explaining. It makes reading more social at a young age, because there are certain words or phrases that children need help with, encouraging curiosity and learning. This is the precise reason I loved Lemony Snicket's writing style - it gave definitions and explanations within the context of the story and meant that I didn't need to stop reading to go and ask my parents what a word meant - social interaction eliminated. Brilliant. But in Amelia Fang, there are a few things that can either go over a child's head, or spark that curiosity and engage the social side of reading. An example that springs to mind is the name of the river that flows through Nocturnia: Styx. Us mature adults who know Things know that Styx is the name of the watery boundary between Earth and the Greek Underworld. Some kids may not care much, but children learning about Ancient Greece at school (depending on their age - I don't remember learning about the Greeks, but I do remember the Egyptians in Year 3) may recognise the word or even teach the adult they are reading with all about the river. I think I am reading too much into this again so please excuse me.

   This is just a gorgeous little book about how sometimes the mean people in our lives are lonely, so you should always treat everyone with kindness, yadi-yada. Standard lesson there, but dressed up in a deliciously Halloween-y costume.

   In conclusion: buy this for the children you know because I Said So. Shall I start doing a rating system? Like a button rating, if you will. Ok, I shall. Thank you for the feedback.

BUTTON RATING:

Thank you for reading this far and stay tuned for next week/month/year's episode of Alice-Over-Analyses-Children's-Books.

Bye x

P.S. Egmont published this beauty.

Buy Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball by Laura Ellen Anderson from Waterstones or Amazon.