Review: The Search for WondLa - Tony DiTerlizzi

Eva Nine has never seen the actual sun before, or walked outdoors.  In fact, she has never even seen another living person in all twelve years of her life.  That changes when a marauding huntsman destroys her underground home and sends her fleeing for her life.  She is desperate to find someone else who is like her, and a single clue gives her hope: a crumbling picture of a girl, a robot, and a human with the word WondLa still visible on it.

The Search for WondLa begins a trilogy whose imaginative text and breathtaking illustrations are sure to inspire dreams.

The search is just the beginning . . . .

WondLa Series:
The Search to WondLa
Titles for further books in the series TBC

Visit Tony DiTerlizzi's website or the WondLa website for further information

Review:
Eva Nine has spent her life in her underground home being raised by robot Muthr, she has never seen another human and has never even been outside.  Muthr has been training her for life above ground so that she can search for others like her but her training is cut short when they come under attack.  Forced to flee from everything she has ever known Eva soon realises that nothing above ground is what she expected.  Can she survive long enough to find other humans?

The Search for WondLa is a great science fiction adventure story for children, I can see it making great bedtime reading for families or being enjoyed by slightly older children who have discovered the joy of reading for themselves.  The illustrations throughout make this a treat to read, they are beautifully drawn and really help to bring the wonderful array of characters to life.  I would love to have just half the imagination and drawing ability of Tony DiTerlizzi!  You can also find additional information and interactive features on the website that just add to the reading experience.

Eva is a likable character she has led a very sheltered life but is extremely brave and caring.  Although life above ground is nothing like what she was expecting she quickly adapts and soon begins to make friends.  I loved her relationship with robot Muthr who is the only mother figure she has ever known, Muthr can be overprotective like any mother and there is friction between them at times but they care deeply for each other.  Another favourite character was Otto, I'm not going to say too much about him but he is like an adorable puppy and I want one.

The Search for WondLa is a real treat for kids of all ages (even grown up ones!) and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback

Foyles Event with Tony DiTerlizzi and Chris Riddell - 22nd September 2011

Back in September I was very excited to go to an event at Foyles with Tony DiTerlizzi and Chris Riddell.  I met up with Liz (from My Favourite Books) before the event and we both had a brilliant evening.

Tony DiTerlizzi & Chris Riddell

Tony DiTerlizzi wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles with Holly Black based on sketchbooks he drew as a child, more recently he wrote and illustrated The Search for WondLa which is the first book in his new children's science fiction series.  Chris Riddell is an illustrator who has worked on numerous children's books and illustrated Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.  His most recent book Muddle Earth Too (the sequel to Muddle Earth) was written by Paul Stewart with some of the story ideas and the illustrations drawn by Chris.

I have to confess that I was so busy listening to Tony & Chris speaking and watching them draw that I forgot to take notes, I did take plenty of pictures though so this write up is going to be more visual than written.  They were both very funny and wonderful to listen to with the humour bouncing back and forth between them, I just wish my brain wasn't so frazzled and I could tell you more about what was said.

This first slide show shows Tony and some of the drawings he did throughout the evening.  First both authors were asked to draw a self portrait of themselves as a child and then it was turned over to the audience to make requests.  I had to laugh when a child in the audience asked Tony to draw the Gherkin (a building in London that is shaped like you guessed it - a gherkin lol).  As Tony had never seen the building he had to make a guess at what it could possibly look like and I have to say he didn't do a bad job of it!  Tony also drew a picture of Chris as he was talking to us and a picture of Rovender, one of the characters in The Search for WondLa.

The next slide show is of Chris, the drawings he did and a sneak peak of some of drawings from his sketchbooks.  He'd brought a few sketchbooks with him that he passed around the audience so we could all get a look at them, they were full of some amazing drawings and I could have spend hours just looking through them.  You'll also see the self portrait Chris drew of himself as a child, images of the bearded bookbinders he had a crush on at college and a cycling fish!

After the event finished Liz and I had been lucky enough to be invited to dinner with Tony, Chris and some of the Simon & Schuster team at The Groucho Club.  Let me just say we were treated to some amazing food, probably a little too much wine and some fantastic bookish conversation.  A minor panic did ensue when I glanced at my watch and realised it was nearly 11pm - neither of us had a clue what time our last trains were so we had to make our apologies and do a mad dash back to the train station!  After getting lost in Soho and taking way too long to get back to Charing Cross luckily we both managed to catch a train home so neither of us ended up stranded in London for the night.

I'd like to say a massive thanks to Foyles for organising the event and to everyone at Simon & Schuster for taking us out to dinner afterwards.  It was lovely to meet both Tony & Chris and I'm really looking forward to reading the books I bought (can you believe I've never read the Spiderwick Chronicles?  I bought a beautiful hardback containing the whole series that Tony signed and even drew a fabulous dragon in for me!)

Who was there?

Simon & Schuster - website

Tony DiTerlizzi - website

Chris Riddell - website

Liz - My Favourite Books