"A modern classic in the making – original, full of encouragement on how to face your fears"
August 2022 Book of the Month
Lily, our heroine, got sick a while ago, and now she just wants things to go back to how they were. This is complicated by the fact that Lily’s parents are just about to have another baby, so Lily is sent to her grandmothers to live whilst the baby arrives. Lily will not stay – and runs back home to find her parents have been replaced.
Lily has one night to defeat the replacements and find her parents again – and make everything ‘right’. In this she is helped by some fascinating animal companions – Mouse, Mole, Crow and Snake have a wonderful humour, as well as providing the magic needed in every child’s story.
Written with reference to our folk tale past – where talking animals often represent elements of human character, this is a delightful story you want to devour again and again.
The story is supported and enhanced with Gravett’s dark illustrations; the writing is so visual the illustrations would be hugely missed. Gravett has used shadow and greyscale to create the wonderful characters, and an atmosphere that just oozes off the page as we read.
This is the work of two masters of their arts – both can create wonderful reading experiences but joining them together makes for an unforgettable book that will find its way into many small hands now and long into the future.
| Suitable For: | |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Brilliantly illustrated throughout by Emily Gravett, ‘Locked Out Lily’ is an eerie tale.
Lily wants things to go back to how they were before. Before she became sick…before her mum became pregnant. So when she has to stay with her grandmother- Granny Squeak- whilst her parents go the hospital, Lily is determined to return home. To her horror, she finds that her house is not empty as she had expected, but is inhabited by people who look like her parents, but are not. Unexpectedly, she finds help from some very unlikely companions- a snake, a mouse, a mole and a crow- who help her to face her fears and drive out ‘The Replacements’ before it’s too late.
Similar in some ways to Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, Locked Out Lily is an eerie tale about a little girl confronting her demons.... Read Full Review
This book helps you to dive into a world of talking crows and ancient keys.
Locked Out Lilly is about a young girl who feels abandoned by her parents but when she tries to return to their home she finds ‘The replacements’ there instead! With the help of a mole, a snake, a crow and a mouse will Lilly have the strength to defeats the strangers in her home before the night is over. This book was quite a slow starter but once I got into it then I couldn’t stop reading it. I think that this novel had a perfect ending which makes a book really memorable.... Read Full Review
