[attach id=263666 size="medium"][/attach]

Audrey Friggieri, Avventuri mill-Klassi ta’ Miss Ambrożja Pulis Kiftaranipenġini. Merlin, 2013. 125 pp.

When I was younger, I remember very clearly that one of the authors who got me into reading was Enid Blyton. While I realise that nowadays her books are not the epitome in political correctness (although I understand that there have been some adaptations), as a child I really couldn’t care less about that sort of thing.

What happened was adventure, action, fun characters, intrigue...and boy, did Blyton deliver them all. Today’s kids, if they’re so inclined towards mystery, magic and adventure, can also enjoy them in our mother tongue, thanks to Audrey Friggieri’s creation – Miss Ambrożja.

Miss Ambrożja, as the title of the book she stars in suggests, is certainly as adventurous as any of Blyton’s creations. Oh, and there’s also the added advantage that she is a witch. Only, of course, this must be kept a secret – particularly as her powers seem to have landed four of her students in trouble.

Given that we have computer games to blame for the considerable decline in reading habits, Friggieri’s book is a very crafty way of attempting to circumvent this

This Merlin publication comes with a colourful cover. The protagonist, Miss Ambrożja, is not only a witch but also a teacher. However, this shouldn’t put any of the younger ones off, as she is definitely not your traditional teacher.

The book’s layout is intriguing. Illustrated by Jose Louis Ocana, it targets curious, easily-bored young minds both with the illustrations themselves and with the ample use of upper case, fun fonts and so forth. A far cry from what we were used to when I was younger. In a day of computer graphics it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep a child’s nose glued to plain paper and font.

As for the plot itself, I found it to be an original take on the usual fantasy offerings, one that younger ones are likely to appreciate – and maybe, secretly wish to star in in reality.

Because Miss Ambrożja’s powers are very particular. Lessons with her are guaranteed to be boredom-free, as the teacher has a very surprising way of ensuring that her students learn their lesson: students are sent to a cyber reality depicting a desert island. Here, they have to learn how to cope with the various dangers and creatures.

The genius of this book is that it tries to emulate the settings of your typical action computer game, translating it to print format. Given that we have computer games to blame for the considerable decline in reading habits, Friggieri’s book is a very crafty way of attempting to circumvent this.