The Wonderling Kindle Edition

I loved reading The Wonderling and so enjoyed Mira Bartok's creativity, humor and the development of the different worlds in the story. The development of the main character Arthur particularly touched me and I felt his loneliness and despair at not knowing who he was or if he had a family. The orphanage he was in was a place without an ounce of hope and Bartok writes "At night, he comforted himself, as frightened children do all over the world." That is a true statement about the many children today displaced by wars, domestic violence and loss. I paused when I first read that line and thought about the truth in that phrase. But hope is found in the music and one of the keys to healing is music. The fact that this was a story about someone trying to steal all the songs of life and the fledgling, lovable group of groundlings who saved the day was hopeful, profound and fun. Music brings people together and opens hearts and minds to possibility. I think I will read it again.

I have fallen in love with Arthur. The Wonderling is everything I want in a book aimed at middle years readers: read-aloud-ability for the younger ones, pictures to pull transitioning readers in, and an engaging and inspiring story; compelling enough to draw this beyond-the-middle-years reader in too, satisfying to all my senses. I remember transitioning from picture books to word books, and rueing the loss. Young readers at the next stage will love making the leap to this engaging story of an unlikely, one-eared hero. With charming and complex characters, rich vocabulary, delightful illustrations, and beauty and song at its heart, Bartok's book caters to all the senses.

The Wonderling is a middle grade novel written and illustrated by Mira Bartok. I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book because I have three girls in the middle grade range, and I knew this book would appeal to them.Arthur is a young fox groundling (a sort of anthropomorphic animal). He lives in an orphanage with other groundlings, ruled by the cruel Miss Carbunkle, who metes out punishments to maintain order and has placed a permanent ban on music or anything happy. Arthur meanders through his miserable existence, but that changes when he meets Trinket. It is Trinket who gives him his name- before that, doesn’t even have a name and is referred to as Thirteen. Trinket becomes Arthur’s first friend, and she tells him wonderful stories about the world outside the Home. Arthur is terrified by change, but with Trinket’s coaxing, he agrees to escape with her. This proves to be the beginning of an amazing adventure, as Arthur tries to discover his origins.This was an amazing story. It took us awhile to read this one, but the girls were very excited to read a chapter or two every night. I loved the immersive world, and the most fascinating thing is that even though Arthur’s travels took him to so many different places, I feel as though we barely scratched the surface of Arthur’s world. We all loved the camaraderie between Trinket and Arthur; their friendship is certainly one for the ages.It’s hard to determine which part was our favorite because there were so many lovely things that happened over the course of the story. I have to say that I loved the Fagin-like character who takes Arthur under his wing at one point. My girls loved Trinket’s inventions, as well as the incident with the wig. Oh, and the Songcatcher was something of great interest to them too.I would absolutely recommend The Wonderling to middle grade readers. It has a quirky Victorian steampunk motif that adds a rich layer to the overall ambience. The story moves at a fairly quick pace; it seemed as though there was always something happening. We can’t wait to find out what the future holds for Arthur, Trinket, and the rest of our favorites.I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I liked this book so much that I purchased a hardcover book for our personal library.

My reading-averse 8-year-old won't put this book down. She's actively worried about what she'll read when she's through with it. We're hoping beyond hope that it's the start of a very long series.

This story is great! Beautifully written! I read this out loud to my 10 and 12 year old sons. They loved it. HOWEVER!!! The edition I received, published by Candlewick Press, is defective. The book is new (paperback). The problem is that it has pages 1 through 292. THEN, it JUMPS back to pages 261 through 292 AGAIN. THEN it SKIPS to page 325 through to the end. So, there are SEVERAL CHAPTERS MISSING! This was incredibly disappointing!!! The public library does not have this book in any format. We just had to jump ahead and miss out on some important story line.I would love to have the book in complete format!....that is what I paid for.If you order this book, please check to make sure you have the complete book before you start to read it (see above page numbers for reference).

Ouch....No doubt some good thought is in this, but I did find some of the language ruff and wonder what age this was to appeal to.I wanted to read it before giving as a gift...And after reading the book, I will not gift it.I'm sure there is an audience here...but I'm still trying to come to grips with the age this was marketed for??Sorry...I do see some talent here among the pages...the story is Dark.Not to be gifted.

Mira Bartok's The Wonderling invites you to wander within joy. Not only the story lifts the heart in a dark time, but each sentence sings and dances.Her artistry with language is a gift to us in itself. All I can do is thank her, over and again.Jack ridl

A very intriguing and otherworldly fable that follows a one eared foxling 🐶 who lives under a strict and depressing orphanage for wonderlings like him, but he gets a chance for a new life when he makes a new friend 🐦. Arthur's story is one that definitely blends many similar themes found from other children's books. It does drag a bit while leaving the story a bit empty, yet it's still a wonderful tale about friendship and good vs evil. <b>B+ (83%/Very Good)</b>

Full of adventure and hope. Characters that are alive and stay with you. I will be recommending this one to my students.

A wonderful wonderful book that your child will adore. I cannot recommend this book enough, it should be read out loud for all to enjoy.

Love the writing, wonderful style and flow. Enjoyable for my children and me!

A beautifully imagined fantasy adventure. This took me straight back to the age of 8 or so when I first discovered Roald Dahl, what a joy.

Interesting and well-printed.