Calling all Jake Cassar’s fans! The wait is over. Two new ‘book-episodes’ have just landed! For all those who are eager to discover how Jake and Mel’s adventure continues, Merlin Publishers has just published two new books in this popular series by Clare Azzopardi: Jake Cassar u l-Istorja tar-Regina x-Xiha (7) andJake Cassar u r-Regina Fidelja f’Bocca tal-Hgieg (8).
In these two new books, as in the rest of the series, Jake and his sister Mel take us into a world of fantasy and magic. They meet many strange creatures in the various kingdoms they find themselves transported to - ir-Re Pankrazju, l-Uditi, Teodoro, Furun, Popototos, Defdemola, l-Izdingati, ir-Re Vonxkup, l-Istorduti, ir-Re Fellambrozja, l-Imgennbin and ir-Regina x-Xiha. They all gradually become Jake’s friends, with the notable exception of the super-villainous Regina Fidelja .Her intent is to destroy what is good and beautiful in Jake’s world and the various kingdoms, and never gets tired of being as nasty as possible.
Intertwined with the fantasy element are episodes from the reality of children’s daily life, such as quarrels with siblings, fear of exams, the mother who worries about her children ... It is this perfect blend that makes it easy for children to identify with the stories. And this is only one of the ingredients that made the success of the Jake Cassar series.
In fact Jake Cassar has fast become the most popular series in Maltese amongst children of 8 years and over, and books in this series have won the National Book Prize as best children’s literature, so there is an assurance of high quality reading in Maltese. Other factors contributing to this success are: the beautiful presentation of the book; the high-quality production throughout; the impeccable and flowing writing, which is informal and also humorous at times; the chapters are kept short and the words are visually styled according to what is happening in the story (the words move around on the page, become larger or smaller, turn white on a black background, twist onto themselves or form into a circle). And of course, the cherry on the cake, there are the wacky illustrations by cult artist Mark Scicluna.
No wonder Azzopardi has managed to convert children who do not usually read in Maltese into Jake Cassar fans.
Moreover, the Jake Cassar series has, unprecedentedly, also been published in the huge Indian market in three different languages.
The series will come to a close with the tenth book, so there are only two more to go! Look out for them in 2014.
All of the Jake Cassar books out so far may be purchased from all leading bookshops, or directly online from www.merlinpublishers.com