Description
From the bestselling author of How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once comes an out-of-this-world new adventure ...
K2 O'Hero is a seemingly ordinary boy - after all, he and his twin sister Izzabird have been sworn to keep their family's magical history a secret. Not even their infuriating stepsiblings, Theo and Mabel, know that magic exists. They believe K2 to be the most hopeless person they have ever known.
But K2 has a secret gift: he draws maps of worlds that are beyond the wildest of imaginations. Worlds with six hundred moons, burning rivers and dark, twisty jungles alive with plants that hunt by the smell of fear. But what K2 doesn't know, is that the maps he draws are real.
When their baby sister Annipeck is kidnapped, the warring stepsiblings will have to use K2's gift to find a crossing point into one of those worlds and embark on a daring rescue mission. With a terrible beast and a petrifying robot assassin in their way, they must learn to work together quickly - because the future of their family is at stake ...
'a pacey, thrill-packed, highly imaginative new series that should pull in the most reluctant readers' The Times Children's Book of the Week
About the Author
Cressida Cowell was the Waterstones Children's Laureate (2019-2022). She is the author and illustrator of the bestselling The Wizards of Once and How to Train Your Dragon books series, and the author of the Emily Brown picture books, illustrated by Neal Layton. The Wizards of Once series has been translated into 38 languages and has been signed by DreamWorks Animation. How to Train Your Dragon has sold over 8 million books worldwide in 42 languages and is a major DreamWorks Animation film franchise, as well as being made into a TV series on Netflix and CBBC. Cressida is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency, a Trustee of World Book Day and a founder patron of the Children's Media Foundation. She has won numerous prizes, including the Gold Award in the Nestle Children's Book Prize.
Reviews
'A new Cressida Cowell series lifts the spirits as autumn damp descends...A witty, rip-roaring battle of good and evil, secrets and lies, monsters and magic ensues, illustrated with Cowell's signature black and white sketches, and underpinned by an ecological message. FAB-U-LOUS. -- Sally Morris * The Daily Mail *
'a pacey, thrill-packed, highly imaginative new series that should pull in the most reluctant readers' * The Times Children's Book of the Week *
This rollicking story never lets up in energy, inventiveness and...good humour... Cressida Cowell is a genuine one-off.... Started 25 years ago, this story now forms the cornerstone for what looks likely to be yet another wildly popular series still to come. -- Books for Keeps * Books for Keeps *
[T]his thrilling, past-paced adventure will whisk you away on a fascinating journey of imagination. * The Week Junior *
Embraces the philosophical while also being huge fun. It has laughs, silliness, seriousness, a diverse blended family, a shy boy with a secret gift, an environmental message, magical maps of other worlds, monstrous beasts, a robot assassin, a pacey plot and Cowell's trademark riotous drawings. * The Sunday Times *
Readers are dragged straight into a thrilling adventure story from the very first page with Cressida Cowell's ultra welcoming text and inviting illustrations. They are the kind of illustrations that are beautiful but also super unintimidating, the kind that make kids want to get out a pencil and draw their own pictures. This fits so well with the story, which is at its heart about the power of children's creativity and imagination -- BookTrust * BookTrust *
'In my opinion, this is the best story the author has written.'
Without a shadow of a doubt, this will be one of the best reads of the year. The story strikes a quirky balance of wild and outrageous storytelling that only great authors can dream up. It is full of brilliant characters, dialogue, and a daring rescue mission with terrible beasts and a robot assassin.... Dream BIG and travel well.
Which Way to Anywhere is such a fun novel...a fun, thrilling many-worlds fantasy with magic and technology and a whole lot of heart. * www.bookwormhole.co.uk *
Toppsta children's reviews:
'We have loved all of Cressida Cowell's books and 'Which way to anywhere' is no exception! I love how the beautiful line drawn illustrations that covered the pages of her Wizards of Once series have continued in her new book as I really feel they give another dimension to the story. If you love adventure stories and magic then you'll love this book! I really hope it is made into a series.' Stjohnsyear6
'Amazing, amazing, amazing!
Two families are thrown together by marriage and, they don't like each other very much. However, a number of strange and wonderful things happen that mean that they have to work together and put their differences aside if they are to save the world.
I loved this book as it was epic and fast paced and crazy... I especially loved the toothbrushes!' 9 year old The-face
'I have always loved Cressida Cowell's books, and this wasn't an exception. It says at the back of the book that it may become a series! I really hope the next one will come out soon and that I can get my hands on it to read. This book is very enthralling adventure story and is just as good as How to Train your Dragon and The Wizards of Once. It is very bad for bedtimes, if you read it at bedtime like I did; you don't notice it getting later and later and you may be very tired the next morning! This book has also got brilliant grey drawings, they make me laugh because they have little features that are similar with the characters in the author's other books. I liked these similarities because I could even link all her book's characters as descendants of each other and all of them fitted together to almost make one story.' Dragonrider age 10
Magical worlds as only Cressida Cowell can. Just like The Wizards of Once series, this first book in the Which Way to Anywhere series is incredibly imaginative while this time linking into normal daily life and family matters with a blended family struggling to get along.
There is also an environmental thread where humans have been the key in driving a beautiful species to near extinction. But they also may have the answer to bring it back to its full potential.
The characters are all quirky in their own way, my favourite being K2 who has always been overshadowed by his loud, feisty twin sister Izzabird. All he wants is to prove himself, and he finally gets an opportunity to do something none of his siblings can - help save their baby sister.
An out of this world, exciting, funny, gripping and magical adventure!
I have missed 'The Wizards of Once' so much since the series ended, and 'Which Way to Anywhere' fills that black hole inside of me where 'Wizards' once occupied. The hallmark Cowellisms are present, with enough creativity to carve its own path in children's literature and make me excited to read more in this world. This is the perfect balance of silly and sentimental, with scenes in the third act worthy of tissues. Characters are alive and imperfect, providing a truly fantastic trajectory of growth and learning that readers will learn and grow from themselves. I can always rely on Cowell's characters to do the impossible, all the while reminding us that we can do the impossible ourselves if we only try.
A truly exciting and fast-paced plot that not even my two kittens could distract me from, the illustrations also fed my imagination. Cressida Cowell's stories are my comfort reads, and 'Which Way to Anywhere' deserves its place in Cowell's iconic bibliography, as it soars just as high as 'How to Train Your Dragon' and enchants us just as much as 'The Wizards of Once'.
The depths of our Children's Laureate's imagination knows no bounds in this action-packed adventure about a boy who can create maps to transport himself into imaginary worlds... With a colourful cast of goodies and baddies, this is an epic start to a new series * The Bookseller *
Wild magic, Cowell's trademark bonkers humour, rich environmentalism and the complexities of family love are woven deftly through the first book in a fabulous new series -- Imogen Russell Williams * The Guardian *
'A new series by Cressida Cowell is always an event.... a highly imagined roller-coaster of a fantasy, written with the author's familiar panache...The story - illustrated with Cowell's familiar, scratchy sketches - has everything that her fans have come to expect...[A]s with all the best fantasy there is skilled balance between humdrum drama and high thrills...a joyously anarchic story which addresses the theme of childhood loss with real psychological acuity. And at the heart of this modern fantasy a very modern message: that those who appear to be worlds apart often have more in common than they assume.' * The Telegraph *
Wild magic, Cowell's trademark bonkers humour, rich environmentalism and the complexities of family love are woven deftly through the first book in a fabulous new series. -- Imogen Russell Williams * The Guardian *
Book Information
ISBN 9781444968194
Author Cressida Cowell
Format Hardback
Page Count 464
Imprint Hodder Children's Books
Publisher Hachette Children's Group
Weight(grams) 780g
Dimensions(mm) 156mm * 236mm * 36mm
