Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria, originally published in Australia in 2024, is the first in a darling and adventurous series for younger middle-grade readers by author L.M. Wilkinson and illustrator Lavanya Naidu.
Mouseling Tithonia Proudleaf daydreams of adventure, often at the expense of her chores. While her mother wants her to shepherd pufflings from pasture to pasture, Titch wants to practice "being a warrior." Although their village on the Plateau has been safe for "over a hundred years," she loves the stories of Bravepaw, "the BRAVEST mouse who ever lived," and wants to be like him. Her mother tries gently to remind Titch that "there are lots of ways to be brave" and "life isn't all about swords and battles."
Moments later, a "warrior" hare in a glider lands on the Plateau, chased by many somethings "twisting and wriggling in the sunshine, like eels made of smoke." Titch, accompanied by friend Huckleberry, helps the warrior. It's a surprise to everyone when Titch grabs the hare's magical staff and can use its power to fend off the curseworms. When the "shadowy" creatures return, Titch again uses the staff, this time to lure them away from the Plateau. Titch lands safely in the Forest, where it becomes clear that Alluria is facing a danger that only Bravepaw can defeat. Titch might not be Bravepaw, but she can be brave, and so, accompanied by Huckleberry and Dollop, one of her pufflings, she sets off into the woods to do what Bravepaw would: protect Alluria.
Wilkinson, who also writes as Lili Wilkinson (Unhallowed Halls), doesn't shy away from the darker elements of fantasy stories and places her characters in real peril. Naidu (Bread Is Love) creates expressive and action-filled digital black-and-white illustrations, describing the movement of tails, whiskers, and clothes. The formatting of the book adds both heft and whimsy to the story with its brilliant balance of text, illustration, and white space: the text shifts size and weight to emphasize certain words or phrases and Naidu's art wraps in and around the words. Caretakers who want to share the joys of classic fantasy adventures with children too young for Lord of the Rings and Redwall will likely be as delighted by Bravepaw as their young readers. --Nicole Brinkley, bookseller and writer
Shelf Talker: Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria launches the first of a darling and adventurous illustrated series for younger middle-grade readers that pays tribute to classic fantasy stories.