Archie Greene And The Magician’s Secret

Meet the book whisperer

Release Date: 4 September 320 pages | £ 9.99 ( hardback)/ ebook (£ 3.43) Author: DD Everest Publisher: Faber & Faber

Bearing more than a whiff of Harry Potter, this perky children’s book is an entertaining magical romp with a cheeky central character.

Young Archie Greene receives a mysterious book for his twelfth birthday, discovers that magic is real, then is sent to stay with his cousins Bramble and Thistle just as a nasty plot comes to light to unleash dark spells upon the world. There are secret magical libraries, pop- up spells that jump out of books, and a bad guy who says things like “Fool! You think you can disobey me?”

Nothing’s particularly new, but it’s all delivered with admirably heartfelt gusto. Jolly good fun. Jayne Nelson DD Everest lives in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. Pooh creator AA Milne lived there too.