![]() ![]() She is helped by new friends she finds on the way, including a young pick-pocket with almost superhuman powers and other children working in a circus. Young Vita in search of a stolen necklace on a trip to New York has first to outwit a powerful crook plus his murderous henchman in order to succeed. Such was Enid Blyton’s heady and cheerfully undemanding fantasy formula in her Famous Five stories, and so too, surprisingly, is it found in Katherine Rundell’s approach in this novel. Unnaturally clever pets often play a crucial part here while their young masters and mistresses forge ahead, drawing on sometimes quite extraordinary skills of their own while leaving their parents in the dark until the last chapter. ![]() But there are also other more flattering but basically escapist stories where child characters are shown overcoming all obstacles however fearsome on their way towards an idealised ending. At its best, this genre feeds children’s wildest fantasies while also reminding them every now and again that their powers particularly when up against dangerous adults often remain very limited. Stories where children entirely on their own still manage to solve various serious problems, often including crime, have been a staple part of children’s literature ever since Erich Kāstner’s superb Emil and the Detectives. The Good Thieves Author: Katherine Rundell ![]()
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