Title: Anyone But Ivy PocketSeries: Ivy Pocket, Book 1
Author: Caleb Krisp
Illustrator: Barbara Cantini
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Ivy Pocket is a twelve-year-old maid of no
importance, with a very lofty opinion of herself. Dumped in Paris by the
Countess Carbunkle, who would rather run away to South America than continue in
Ivy's companionship, our young heroine (of sorts) finds herself with no money
and no home to go to ... until she is summoned to the bedside of the dying
Duchess of Trinity.
For the princely sum of £500 (enough to buy a carriage, and possibly a monkey), Ivy agrees to courier the Duchess's most precious possession – the Clock Diamond – to England, and to put it around the neck of the revolting Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. It's not long before Ivy finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, mayhem and murder.
Illustrated in humorous gothic detail by Barbara Cantini, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is just the beginning of one girl's deadly comic journey to discover who she really is ...
For the princely sum of £500 (enough to buy a carriage, and possibly a monkey), Ivy agrees to courier the Duchess's most precious possession – the Clock Diamond – to England, and to put it around the neck of the revolting Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. It's not long before Ivy finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, mayhem and murder.
Illustrated in humorous gothic detail by Barbara Cantini, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is just the beginning of one girl's deadly comic journey to discover who she really is ...
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Series: Ivy Pocket, Book 2
Author: Caleb Krisp
Illustrator: Barbara Cantini
Publisher: GreenWillow Books
Illustrator: Barbara Cantini
Publisher: GreenWillow Books
Release Date: May 31, 2016
Genre: Children's Historical Fiction, Mystery/Suspense
Grade: Middle Grade Age: 8-12
Are you ready for Ivy Pocket? The wickedly funny,
completely unreliable maid of no importance returns—this time as a coffin
maker’s daughter—in this action-packed sequel to Anyone
but Ivy Pocket. School Library Journal says, “Fans of . . .
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Ivy Pocket’s zany
adventures.” Featuring extensive black-and-white interior art by Barbara
Cantini throughout.
Everyone seems to want a piece of Ivy Pocket. Her adoptive parents keep trying to get her to clean the funeral home, even though Ivy’s certain she’s already the picture of a perfect daughter. A beautiful heiress named Estelle wants Ivy to uncover the dark truth behind her brother’s death. Her new friend, Miss Carnage, keeps asking Ivy the most curious questions (the poor, clueless dear). To top it all off, Ivy must protect the Clock Diamond from the evil Miss Always, who seems to be lurking around every corner! A fast-paced and hilarious follow-up to Anyone but Ivy Pocket, which Booklist praised as “a droll chapter book with a Victorian setting and a one-of-a-kind protagonist.” This is the second of three books about Ivy Pocket!
Everyone seems to want a piece of Ivy Pocket. Her adoptive parents keep trying to get her to clean the funeral home, even though Ivy’s certain she’s already the picture of a perfect daughter. A beautiful heiress named Estelle wants Ivy to uncover the dark truth behind her brother’s death. Her new friend, Miss Carnage, keeps asking Ivy the most curious questions (the poor, clueless dear). To top it all off, Ivy must protect the Clock Diamond from the evil Miss Always, who seems to be lurking around every corner! A fast-paced and hilarious follow-up to Anyone but Ivy Pocket, which Booklist praised as “a droll chapter book with a Victorian setting and a one-of-a-kind protagonist.” This is the second of three books about Ivy Pocket!
- Ivy Pocket is a child genius with a degree from Harvard. This is a slight exaggeration in the sense that Ivy isn't a child genius and doesn't have a degree from Harvard.
- During the year before the events of Anyone but Ivy Pocket, Ivy worked for a family called the Midwinters, who live in London. During that time she broke five priceless vases, lost four cats, injured three butlers, insulted two great aunts, and misplaced half a governess.
- Ivy never met an aristocrat she couldn't offend. This is on account of the fact that Ivy has a gift for offending snobbish aristocrats, government officials, and anyone who may be sitting next to her on a train.
- Ivy once ate twelve raw potatoes and a bucket of oats in one sitting—she did this because she was shockingly hungry and who hasn't snuck down to the kitchen late at night and eaten a dozen uncooked potatoes and a bucket of horse food? Don't judge, it's plain bad manners.
- Ivy can speak French, understand German, and read Spanish—but only all at the same time, which isn't terribly helpful.
- There is no evidence that Ivy Pocket has ever been lost for words.
- When Ivy was seven she built a raft out of coconuts and set sail for Australia in search of adventure. Tragically, she didn't get any further than the fruit market, where she was detained for destroying coconuts she hadn't paid for.
- The last time Ivy admitted she was wrong was . . . wait . . . hold on, I'm thinking . . . there was that time when . . . oh, no that's not . . . okay, fine, it's never happened!
- Ivy Pocket has library cards from eighteen libraries across London. She is banned from seventeen of them.
- When Ivy Pocket found out that there was a trilogy being written about her, she was absolutely furious. “Only three?“ she shouted. “Harry Potter gets seven and I get three? Outrageous!”
Hahhaha. LOVE that last one! Honestly, I sure think Ivy Pocket can do more than the standard trilogy!
Ivy Pocket as a character is just plain hilarious!!! Her overly deluded sense of self-importance and skills, as well as her overactive imagination makes her stories unmistakably fun. We meet Ivy Pocket, a 12 year old maid first in Anyone But Ivy Pocket, and you'll just love her sense of courage and the gift of not seeing the bad in anyone. I guess in modern terms, you can call her naive, since she just doesn't get any of the jabs or sarcasms thrown her way. Even when others have treated her badly, there's no animosity towards them. Her ideas and actions are for the benefit of others, at least according to her. The illustrations by Barbara Cantini just adds to the comedic visuals one can imagine when reading Ivy Pocket. Ivy's adventures, whether in reality or in her head makes this series instinctively reminiscent of the ingenuity of the Harry Potter series and the gothic wicked humor of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I too, like Ivy believes that it warrants more than a trilogy, and like Harry Potter, children and adults will find joy in this. I read the first book out loud, and it was an instant hit. Even in between my snorts and eye rolling, by family enjoyed this as much as I did. Go ahead, give this one a try and be enamored with Ivy Pocket.
Caleb Krisp was raised by militant
librarians who fed him a constant diet of nineteenth century literature and
room-temperature porridge. His childhood was cut tragically short after he sold
his Great Aunt Mabel for a handful of perfectly ordinary pumpkin seeds. Caleb
graduated from the University of Sufferance with a degree in Whimsy and set out
to make his mark in the world as a writer. Years of toil and failure followed,
until, following a brief stint working in a locked box, Caleb moved to an
abandoned cottage deep in the woods and devoted himself to writing about the
adventures of a twelve-year-old lady's maid of no importance. His only
communication with the outside world is via Morse Code or kettle drum. Caleb
has a strong dislike of pastry chefs and certain domesticated rabbits. It is
his express wish that you stop reading this now. TO CONNECT WITH CALEB: website
Week 1:
5/11: Just Commonly - Top 10
Week 2:
5/17: Bookiemoji - Guest Post
5/18: Books Are Love - Excerpt
5/19: The Book Return - Review
I'm always looking out for interesting books for my granddaughter. She's not into reading as much as I'd like her to be so something like these books that I think might pique her interest is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Twitter account and don't plan to get one so that limits my entries a whole lot.
Thanks Gail for dropping by. I think your granddaughter will love this series. It's funny.
ReplyDeleteAs to the Twitter entries, I'll let the coordinators know. From my experience, all it takes is one winning entry with entering and hosting giveaways. =)
These look like fun books. I know my children would enjoy reading these. Thanks for hosting JC.
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun reads.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see your blog on the tour! I can't believe how perfect this series will be for me! I love snarky characters and hope this series grows more than Harry Potter's! HaHa! If they truly are like Lemony Snicket's books, I will treasure them.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest granddaughter would love this book series. She is into chapter books now and loves to read. These books sound funny and scary at the same time. Even I want to read them. Thanks for the giveaway and good luck everyone.
ReplyDeletethis sounds like a fun series! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the awesome giveaway :)
ReplyDeleteThese books sound wonderful, would be a lovely gift for my granddaughter.
ReplyDelete@tisonlyme143
Thank you ladies for dropping by! DEANNE & KIM. They are indeed FUN! Honestly. I read them out loud and I couldn't hold back the laughter!
ReplyDeleteDEBBIE, thanks for being here! I know. They are fun! A great way to have a little family book club! I think it'll be great for any age.
ReplyDeleteCARRIE - O yes. FUN is just the tip of it!
ReplyDeleteEDYE & DOROTHY! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll get to enjoy these!
ReplyDeleteOh I can totally see why you're upset about the trilogy option Ivy...I mean what gives? A boy wizard gets SEVEN and a...a...a talented girl gets three? Gheesh!
ReplyDeleteGINA, I know, right!!??!! Love it!
ReplyDelete