Alphabet Resort is the fourth in the Elastic Island Adventures children’s book series for children aged 7 - 12. Kiri, Jed, and twins Emma and Ethan, discover an ‘elastic’ island that sends them pinging across the ocean to a variety of destinations.

 

The children are excited to be going to the wedding of King Shiny and Princess Topaz. Love is in the air, especially when they encounter Wombo the Wombat, a bachelor looking for love, who they decide to help. But then Princess Topaz is kidnapped, and everyone begins a frantic hunt to find her. Will they find her in time for the wedding, and will Wombo the Wombat succeed in finding love?

 

Movie/TV rights optioned by Chrissy Metge Ltd

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NZ Herald pick for one of the best children's books for 2020!

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'Miss Eight and I had been looking forward to reviewing this book for so long - she was already a firm fan of the series and could not wait to see what the four children and her personal favourite, Blong the Cat, would be up to this time round. There is a nice sense of familiarity when a book is part of a series. The main characters are like special friends; their personalities are already known, so you can go straight to the story proper. 

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Near the beginning of the book is a list of the 26 authors who have given their names to the various buildings in Alphabet Resort. I was amazed at how intrigued Miss Eight was by the listing. I had thought she would skim over those two pages after reading the first two entries, but I had to read the entire list to her so she could comment on each entry. She was familiar with around 50% of the authors, a lot more than I had expected. Of course, some of them were not "real" authors but that did not matter to her. She loved the whole idea and said she hoped one day someone would name something after her too! 10/10' KIWIreviews.nz

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'This is a delightful and entertaining book for 7 to 11 year olds with well drawn characters moving along at an agreeable pace and extending their imagination into a healthy, imaginary fantasy world.' Flaxflower reviews

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'Like the other books in this series this new Elastic Island Adventure story is well told with Karen McMillan’s usual quirky sense of humour and would be a jolly good read for 6-12-year olds.' Grownups.co.nz

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'In this story, that easily stands alone, they have been invited to the wedding of King Shiny and Princess Topaz. Their accommodation is the Alphabet Resort where each holiday house is named after a children’s author complete with information about them and their books. I think it’s great when children’s stories reference other authors and books as it will inspire wider reading. Then Princess Topaz is kidnapped and the children help in the hunt to find her in time for her wedding. It’s made more difficult with a set of cryptic clues to decipher and that Princess Topaz has been rendered invisible. The characters are amusing and quirky, especially Mrs Quokka with her mixed-up idioms known as Quokka logic. RECOMMENDED.' Read NZ Te Pou Muramura

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'Alphabet Resort sticks with the lovable cast of characters readers know and love from its predecessors. The four young children in the story are well defined and likable, each with their own quirks and strengths. The relationships and interactions between the four characters - and indeed with the minor characters - are realistic and perfectly pitched for the intended audience of children aged between eight and 12 years. Fans of Blong the cat and Mrs Quokka will be pleased to know both characters appear in this story, and are fabulous as usual - with a great setup for one of them in the fifth book hinted at within the pages of Alphabet Resort. Alphabet Resort takes readers on an exciting and creative journey. With a cast of quirky characters and plenty of action, it makes for a great read.' NZ Booklovers

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'Alphabet Resort is the fourth book in the Elastic Adventure series. Kiri, Jed and the twins Emma and Ethan have been invited to a wedding. They don their backpacks, packed with their good clothes and snacks, ready for the trip to Alphabet Resort. Along the way they meet Wombo the Wombat who needs their help to find a partner. It gets complicated when bride Princess Topaz is kidnapped. Will they find her in time for the wedding? Will they find a match for Wombo? And will the wedding still go ahead? For children 8-12 years old who like adventure stories. The story has themes of friendship, helping friends in need, and bravery.' Kidsbooksnz Blog

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Feedback from children:

‘My favourite character is Blong because he is a special cat and does BLONG-A-GRAMS and I like reading them. I have read all the books so far and I really love them.’ Abigail

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'I like king shiny because he is a good man and is a good ruler and kind. I also like the frivals because they are so graceful and a little naughty especially Flynn the frival.’ Minu

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'I like Emma because she looks pretty and loves reading books just like me. She always tries to solve problems like in book four. When either Kiri or Ethan say something mean to each other then Emma always tries to change the subject.' Miriam

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'I really like Blong the Cat because he is funny and playful and he can spit out Blong-a-grams.' Kaelan

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‘I like Jed because he's sporty like me and because he's cool and I love your books great ideas and you went to my school.' Hemi

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'Emma is my favourite character because she is shy but loves to share ideas and although she doesn't mean to she still makes me laugh.' Eva

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'I like Jed, because of his caring nature and how he looks out for others.' Cole

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'Hi Karen, i have recently just finished reading all of the ELASTIC ISLAND ADVENTURES And am absolutely obsessed they are so fun , family friendly and are such a good series to settle down to at night . MY favourite character is Definitely Blong the cat 😆 And overall my favourite book is definitely ALPHABET RESORT it has such a fun vibe and has a mystery to solve which i am very interested in! HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT and thank you for writing these books!' Kotai