Book Review - Great New Children's Books: Christopher Collin Adventures

If you're on the lookout for a super adventure series for young kids, check out the "Christopher Collin and the True Okemus" books by Enelle Lamb. Well-known for her articles, support group website for parents of ADHD children, and a recently re-published self-help book, Enelle is now about to publish the second book in her engaging adventure series.

Inspired in part by her son's fascination with Pokemon trading cards, Enelle developed her idea into a series of children's adventure stories. This exciting series challenges the young reader's imagination, drawing them into an exotic world of magic and mystery from the very first pages, with hints of intriguing developments just waiting in the wings.

The stories in the serialized adventures revolve around a young, highly imaginative boy. A bit of a loner, Christopher Collin tends to struggle a bit with life, like most kids his age - particularly with school and being the child of a single parent. He doesn't particularly like school, and compensates for his sometimes stressful everyday life with an active imagination, and highly developed fantasy life.

As well, he and his best friend, Jesse, are avid collectors of trading cards. The boys know each of the characters on the trading cards, each one's special powers and abilities. Every time the boys find a new card, they avidly pore over it, to learn the character's special powers and its ranking in the world it inhabits.

Most kids will recognize these right away as similar to the popular Pokemon trading cards, where the characters on Pokemon trading cards also have powers and ranking. Any similarity begins and ends there, but it will be enough to give the young reader instant entree into the world of the adventures, though they will find many unexpected twists and turns.

One fateful day, a seemingly ordinary day, as these things usually unfold, Christopher Collin's mother finds some new cards at a flea market, and, when the card magically pulls the boy into its world, Christopher Collin's adventures truly begin.

The boy finds himself cast in the role of savior to a crew of strange new beings - his card characters have come to life, complete with their powers and quirky personalities. The first one he meets, Teek, is "a small, fuzzy green creature with a forked tail." Teek befriends the frightened boy and introduces him to the many worlds of the "Kemus spheres" - the worlds each true Okemus inhabits according to its personality and needs.

Christopher Collin can hardly wait to share his discovery with his best friend, Jesse, and during a sleep-over, the two boys attempt to free their new friends. As Christopher and Jesse are drawn deeper into this fantastic new world, they realize that what started out as a lark, to them, is serious business indeed for their new friends.

Christopher is not at all sure he is ready to be anybody's savior, let alone go toe-to-toe with the powerful "Nin" (wizard) who imprisoned his new friends, but he and Jesse reluctantly agree to help.

In the course of helping out, the boys learn about about true friendship, and discover some truths about themselves, including unsuspected and heretofore untapped inner strength.

The author's style is fast-paced and engaging, her characters believable and endearing, but never "cute" or cloying. She never stoops to editorializing, or letting her own agenda speak obviously from her character's mouths. Her dialogue is crisp and each character speaks with a clear, individual voice. The vocabulary is well within the grasp of the readers' age range, but this writer's highly visual, strong descriptive style will challenge and enrich the reader's word usage.

The stories unfold mainly from the point of view of our young hero, Christopher Collin, and he is completely believable as a young boy finding his feet in a sometimes bewildering, grown-up world. He is bright and funny, but no goody-two-shoes - he has his own ideas, likes, and dislikes, and doesn't always see eye-to-eye with his mother.

His friend and partner in adventure, Jesse, is his best bud, and a true friend. He will stick with Christopher Collin through anything, but will also be the first to speak up when he feels his buddy is in danger of going too far. These fun-loving boys make a great pair - the level-headedness of the one nicely balances the spontaneity of the other, though they both show a strong streak of sheer, boyish love of adventure.

The second book in this series certainly lives up to its designation of action adventure. "The Wizard's Surprise", catapults the reader straight into the action from the very first page.

Jumping in exactly where we left off, the boys must first escape a clever trap before they can learn more about the plans of "Nin" Teddo, the evil wizard who imprisoned the True Okemuses.

Christopher Collin and his friend, Jesse, meet even more wonderful creatures and learn more about their personal Kemus spheres. The wizard's plans turn to "dealing with those meddling children," leading to some narrow escapes for the boys, causing them to question their ability to help their new friends.

The writing is as taut and clean in this second adventure as in the first, and the characters as engaging. The plotting is clever without being overly contrived. The overall feel in this second book in the series is refreshing, and entertaining - kiddies' lit at its best. Enelle Lamb is a talented writer - she has a rare gift of creating a story that engages both her young readers and their parents alike.

I am certainly looking forward to future volumes in this series, along with many young readers who are fast becoming fans of the continuing adventures of Christopher Collin. These books are tops on my summer reading list of great children's adventure books.