Traditional book review
Winter Pruning
Chris Priestley
Illustrated by David Roberts
By Holly Cooper
Winter pruning is about a little boy called Simon Hawkins who is bored during the Halloween season and decides to play a trick on the blind little old lady who lives in a cottage in his village. His mum says she was just as old and wrinkly when she was a little girl. But when he decides to play a really nasty trick on her, what will be the consequences?
My favourite characters in this short story are Simon's mum and Old Mother Tallow who is the little old lady who Simon plays tricks on. Simon's mum is one of my favourite characters because she tells Simon about Old Mother Tallow and that she knew her when she was a young girl and tells him stories about her childhood. Old Mother Tallow is also one of my favourite characters because she is portrayed as the bad guy and I found great pleasure in trying to work out why the apple tree's were so important., I also liked her because when Simon plays tricks on her she is just plotting her revenge rather than getting angry and lashing out at him in short bursts.
I liked this story because it was moving and unlike some of the other stories in the book it was subtle and left the climax until the very end .I didn't like this story as much as the others because it wasn't very exciting and a bit dull.
I wouldn't really recommend this story because personally it wasn't what I normally read but if you are patient (unlike me!) and like a story that keeps you hanging on a thread I would seriously recommend this book to you.
