Raven Child and the Snow Witch by Linda Sunderland & Daniel Egnéus

Raven Child and the Snow Witch is a dark and magical fairytale written by Linda Sunderland , illustrated by Daniel Egnéus and published by Templar Publishing.

High in the snowy mountains and in the shadow of a glacier lives Anya and her parents. As spring starts to arrive, Anya’s mother heads up to the glacier to fetch the special blue flowers of the season, but all is not well. Anya hears a message in a dream telling her that her mother has been taken prisoner by the Snow Witch. With the help of her loyal friends, the ravens, Anya and her father set off to find her. Can Anya save her from the Snow Witch’s evil clutches? Are the powers of friendship and love greater than the cold magic of the glacier?

Linda Sunderland has written a truly enchanting tale that will have young readers gripped. The language used is deliciously descriptive and immediately sets a mysterious and magical scene that draws you in to the story:

“If you walked for one hundred nights and one hundred days across the frozen Lonesome Lakes, over the Shimmery Mountains… and through the Forest of a Thousand Eyes… you would come at last to the Snow Garden.”

The illustrations are as powerful and dramatic as the story with bold dark colours set against the vast white of the snow and ice. The use of perspective highlights how small Anya and her father are against the imposing glacial mountains and there is a real sense of anticipation surrounding the Snow Witch.

When she appears she is illustrated bursting through a soft cloud of snow but with striking, jagged features. The story builds up this folklore character, who is still shrouded in mystery even when we see her, it has really sparked my four-year-old’s imagination and he likes to revisit this particular image to see what the Snow Witch looks like.

This is a perfect winter story, great for reading in the new year when the excitement of the holiday period has died down but we are still in the depths of winter. Anya’s connection to nature, the snowy landscape and her friendship with the ravens is weaved through the story beautifully.

A hauntingly powerful story that is full of drama and mystery, a perfect picture book that children of all ages will enjoy.

This is the first book from author Linda Sunderland, you can find out more about her work on her website here. There is a fabulous description of her work on her homepage.

You can see more of Daniel Egnéus’s striking artwork on his website here.

Buy Raven Child and the Snow Witch from Wordery.

Many thanks to Templar Publishing for sending a free copy of this book for review.

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