Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria by L.M. Wilkinson

Title: Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria

Author: L.M. Wilkinson

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin/Albert Street Books

Published: 3^rd September 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 192

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: An epic Tail of Adventure! Can one gallant mouse find the Heartstone and save her homeland from destruction?

A fully illustrated and brilliantly readable adventure full of magic and prophecy, quests, heroism and loyal friendship – the world of Bravepaw will hook young readers until the very last page. This is the stuff of legend.

Titch has always longed for adventure – just like the gallant mouse hero Bravepaw in all her favourite stories. But she is the smallest mouse in her family, living in a peaceful little village where nothing exciting ever happens . . . until DIRE TROUBLE comes to the Plateau!

Titch and her best friend Huckleberry must set out on a DANGEROUS QUEST to take the Heartstone to repair the crack in the heart of Alluria before the whole world breaks apart.

Can Titch ever hope to live up to the legend of Bravepaw?

~*~

Titch, or Tithonia Proudleaf is a mooseling who lives on the Plateau with her family and all the other mouselings. They live a life of safety in their peaceful village, where nothing happens, and all Titch’s mum wants her to do is collect pufflings. But Titch has heard all the stories about legendary mooseling hero, Bravepaw. She’s out playing with her best friend Huckleberry when a strange, flying creature appears – Prince Vetiver, followed by dire trouble – angry, dark wormy creatures that are trying to stop his quest.

But what quest? Well, the trouble all starts when the monsters start to attack the village, and Prince Vetiver asks the mouselings to help repair the Heartstone. But it can only be repaired in the heart of Alluria, and has to be done before the entire world is ruined. So, Titch and Huckleberry set off to take the Heartstone to Alluria – and along the way, are set to face obstacles and bands of creatures who have a taste for mouselings and want to stop them. Titch is aware of the dangerous stories of the world, but she’s always been able to face them ensconced in the safety of her home village. But now that she’s out in the world on a real adventure, Titch isn’t sure if she’s brave enough to be the next Bravepaw or wield the Heart of Alluria.

Bravepaw and the Heart of Alluria kicks off an exciting new series by the fabulous Lili Wilkinson, best known for her young adult fantasy novels. In her new series aimed at middle grade readers, Lili has created a world populated by animals and magic. This is a world where there are many possibilities, but a distinct storyline running through the first book, and that will lead into the second book. Quest books are always fun and filled with adventure that captures our imaginations as we follow characters like Titch in their quests. Fantasy quests are epic in many ways, even the ones with the smallest heroes like Titch.

There’s something unique and special about Titch, whose determination dances off the page. I liked that she was realistic – she was allowed to be scared and doubt herself as she went along the quest. When she was caught, she didn’t have to be brave all the time. She was allowed to get help from Huckleberry and allowed to take the lead from him. They were a team, and played off each other effectively. This worked well, illustrating the power of friendship and teamwork on a quest and how important it is to help each other and help characters grow. Titch and Huckleberry face fears in this novel as they begin their quest, and hit their first obstacle. Of course, no quest is complete without some good obstacles, and I loved seeing how this played out, knowing that Titch was capable of doing more than what she had been told she could do.

The beginning of this series is exciting and sets readers off on a fabulous quest that looks to be exciting as Titch makes her way to Alluria to save the Heartstone and the world.  It will be exciting to see what Titch has to do next to get to Alluria and how long it takes her to get there.  Bravepaw is an excellent opening to a fabulous new series that I can’t wait to explore further, and see what else Lili Wilkinson comes up with for her characters, and I am especially eager to see where Bravepaw goes.