Robin and the Rainbow

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
author of No Greater Love, her sixth collection of poetry.

This could have been a good story, but it isn’t. It has the potential of engaging the interest of 7- to 10-year-olds, but somehow it falls short. The mixture of reality and magic does not blend comfortably; the characters are under-developed; and there are many unexplored possibilities. In themselves these might be minor flaws, but together they produce a narrative that is not only unsatisfying but also rather silly.

Even youngsters who are happy to suspend the mundane might have a hard time believing the merry-go-round that spins the protagonist off to her adventure. And who could relate to a character named Reem Ember, even one who was always forgetting things? I’d expect to find out more about a mother who could conjure up unicorns and a father who casts spells, but they remain out of focus, which is a pity.

The book is somewhat redeemed by Veronika Martenova Charles’s illustrations.