Movies Showing Nowhere

By Author / Illustrator

Yorick Goldewijk, Laura Watkinson (Translator)

Genre

Family & Home

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Pushkin Children's Books

ISBN

9781782694106

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

04-04-2024

Synopsis

Mrs Kano's Cinemamovies showing nowhere! Films you won't find anywhere else! Films you've always wanted to see! On the day Cate came into the world, her mum left it. Her dad is often distant and silent, so she keeps herself entertained with kung fu films, her pet rabbit and her photography. Then one afternoon Cate receives a mysterious invitation to an abandoned cinema, and everything changes.

Soon Cate meets the peculiar Mrs Kano and discovers a most unusual kind of movie screen - the kind that lets you step through it into a memory. So begins a wonder-filled adventure through time that will teach Cate the true meaning of love, loss and learning to let go.

'A beautiful, twisty, time-travelling tale' Lisa Thompson, author of The Goldfish Boy. 'This is GENIUS. Brilliant, beautiful and breathtakingly original' Sophie Anderson, author of The House With Chicken Legs.

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Reviews

What a wonderful idea to set a time travelling story with a cinema screen as the portal. Translated from Dutch, this award-winning novel (The Golden Pencil Prize for best Dutch children’s book of the year) tells the story of how Cate - a little bit sad, a little bit angry and definitely a little bit quirky - is introduced to a run-down cinema which can take her back into the past.

Cate's mum died the day Cate was born, her dad is distant and distracted and the person who shows the most interest in her is mean Cornelia from next door. Then Cate meets Mrs Kano and is lead to her unusual cinema and its ability to take people back into the past.

Movies Showing Nowhere is a story about memories, grief and moving on. There are many moments which children will find relatable, such as Cate's feelings towards her 'Interfering' neighbour, but younger readers might find the slightly detached style different from what they are used to.

It is a book to provoke thought and curiosity. Therefore, although the language is simple, I would recommend this to readers at the end of KS2, start of KS3.

256 pages / Reviewed by Rachel Bolton