The Rising

This is a beautiful book, from the arresting cover with the owl's talons homing in on the voles beneath, to the story inside peopled with very black drawings by Simon Mendez. It is obvious that a great deal of thought has gone into the making of this book, which make it a joy to handle. The story inside does not disappoint. It follows on from The River Singers, but does stand alone, and the references to the first story are slipped in so that the reader has the information easily and digestibly. The story tells of the siblings Kale and his sister, Strife, water voles living with their mother Aven. All around them in the Wetted Land, the water is rising because of the incessant rain. Then comes the arrival of their uncle Sylvan who tells their mother and Fodur, the rat, that Sinethis, the Great River, is calling to him but what she is saying he does not know. Unbeknown to the adults, Kale and Strife are listening and this news awakens a calling in Kale. He sets off, followed in desperation by Strife because she does not want to be left out, whom he will not tell where he is going and why. The young voles are followed by Sylvan and Fodur and encounter Sinethis whose levels are rising and flooding the land. Their journey is fraught with danger from all around, but then Sylvan meets Fern his sister again whom he thought dead. In a moving piece Fodur confronts three weasels who kill him, but not before he has enabled Strife to escape, and the small group left make their way back to the Wetted Land and home, uncertain of what they might find because of the rising water. These small creatures are beautifully characterised; Kale the quiet one who lets his actions speak for him, Strife the one who never stops talking, Fodur the Rat scarred by previous experiences who finds his moment of great courage, and Sylvan, the big brother whose encounter with the sister he thought lost is touchingly told. Tom Moorhouse has created a whole world for his animal characters, whom one can see reflected in the human world, but the animals do not lose their identity as animals, particularly as so many details of their life are clearly described. Each page has the lovely drawings by Simon Mendez which add immeasurably to the story, and help to make it accessible to this audience of eight years plus, for whom very few books are written in this genre and with real depth. It is interesting to note how many of the really great children's books involve a journey and this is no exception, in this case a journey of great danger for the water voles which they undertake with courage and some fear. 256 pages / Ages 8+ / Reviewed by Janet Fisher

Suggested Reading Age 9+