Customer Reviews

Wonderful magical adventure - By: Davina, 18 Sep 2008
I bought this for a 10 year old prolific reader, who devours books faster than they can be published, because I saw that it was newin print. I read it before I gave it to him.
It is wonderful - a fantastic, fabulous & magical adventure of a boy, Tom Scatterhorn, who becomes involvedin an old, ramshackle, family-owned natural history museum. It quickly becomes apparent that there is more than meets the eye - the animals on display, created by a master taxidermistin the last century, can come alive. Tom finds a portalin the museum, which enables him to travel back & forthin time, between the modern day & the yearsin which the museum was created, & he becomes an apprentice to the master taxidermist. He finds out that the taxidermist has discovered an "elixir of life". But Tom isn't the only one travellingin time, & there are other, not-so-nice people looking for the rumoured elixir...
It is beautifully written, & very exciting. Highly recommended, I'd say for 9 - 12 year olds. My 10 year old loved it, read it practicallyin one go, & wants to know when there will be more (it is called "Book 1"). I hope there will be more!