Olaf and Essex | Patti Calkosz | Book Review
Ooh, the joy of this story! It pulls you in, shakes you about, tugs hard on your heartstrings and makes you long for more.
My rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐| Must read 🏆
Synopsis
A fox and bear take on bumbling witch kidnappers and the NYPD’s Chief Magic Detector to protect a magical baby and the witches of New York. In an alternate New York City, Olaf, a bear living in Central Park, accidentally scares away two witches. They leave behind a baby, whom they’d kidnapped to force the father—the NYPD’s Chief Magic Detector—to stop harassing the magical community.
Olaf’s mother died when he was just a cub, so his natural instinct is to protect the child. When he and his best friend Essex, a fox, find the presumed parents and attempt to return the baby, they witness the female witch, in a fit of pique, turn her husband into a frog. Now Olaf and Essex must keep the baby safe, find the real mother, keep the magical baby away from her Magic Detector father, and avoid getting turned into frogs.
My Review
Dear Patti Calkosz,
Where have you been all my life? I could've used a lovely story like Olaf and Essex when I was a child! What a fantastic world you have built here! From the ridiculous machinations of babynappers Harvey and Mabel Blackthornudder to the touching bond between Olaf the Bear and Essex the Fox, not to mention the whirlwind of shenanigans throughout the course of the story, you have made me not only care about the characters, but I was invested.
*****
While the aforementioned characters are just the main cast, in the wings are the NYPD's dastardly Chief Magic Detector Damon Thomas (also the father of the 'napped babe!) and his team who seek to wipe out all of the magically-inclined citizens of New York. But our brave duo is not so easily swayed from their quest to return the misplaced baby, whom they doting name Football, to her rightful parent.
Backed by their own team of witchy human allies--notably one who caught me off-guard to my delight--Olaf and Essex are able to reunite mother and daughters in a wonderful albeit heartrending conclusion to the story.
*****
I love the characters, but their individual and layered stories that impact the decisions in this tale wound my heart around the bear and fox paws. Olaf and Essex isn't just an adventure story. No, it's an emotional one to boot.
Ms. Calkosz played the mournful songs of grief for the duo using my heartstrings. The amount of respect for the losses of a mother and a partner are evident in the emotional labor of those left behind. Even their cat friend, Baby, finds her heartbreak healed by the end.
As a parent and a lost child, these themes resonated with me in a way I wasn't expecting, much less ready for. This would be an amazing story to share with a younger child as a read-to parent-child bonding moment, as it's laid out with a natural flow, the language a dance across your tongue.
You will not be disappointed, and I for one will be looking forward to more delights from this author.
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