Konrad loved their family bookshop A Likely Story, where his father would share stories and fill customer’s hearts with wonder as he matched them up with the perfect book. Kon marveled at the possibility of finding a character just like him in a book one day. At least that’s what his dad had told him would happen.

But now dad has gone, leaving Kon and his mum alone. Mum is struggling to keep their book shop going and Kon hasn’t spoken a word now months after his father’s death. Everything is different now. They had to move to a smaller home, Kon can’t muster up the energy to play football any more and his friendships have slid away from him.

Until Kon meets Maya. Kon feels more at peace and closer to his father down on the beach and among the rockpools, and one day Kon finds a girl there. She’s friendly and chatters at Kon, with no expectation of an answer. Her awe in the tiny sea creatures she finds draws Kon into looking too – previously unaware of the wonders at his feet.

At the most ease since losing his dad, he lets Maya in, little by little as she gives him something and someone to look forward to when not at school. He even finds his voice, scratchy at first, then more confident, and they begin to share things about their completely different lives.

One day, Konrad shows Maya A Likely Story, after avoiding it for months. He shares all that his father told him about the wonder of stories, showing Maya a favourite his father used to read him about a dragon long ago…

…and suddenly they are inside the story! At first they are confused and frightened. What happened? How did it happen? But soon they understand what they have to do.

A tale of loss and grief, trust and friendship. Two children, poles apart in lifestyles, come together just when they need one another. Thrown together in a magical medieval storyline, one discovers who she is really meant to be, and one finds the courage to return to his lost life before loss.

Throw in a dragon who is as lost as they are and readers will enjoy this adventure, and journey to truth and confidence, all woven into Polish folklore.

I loved the message from the father in this story –“There is a character just like you in a book somewhere in the world.”

I personally will enjoy the challenge of reading as many books as I can to find them.

Author – Ewa Jozefkowicz

Age – 9+

Find Teacher’s Notes here

(2022, Bloomsbury, Loss, Grief, Mute, Sadness, Bookshop, Bullying, School, New friend, Time slip, Problem, Dragon, Medieval, Bookbinding, Book making, Courage, Anger, Confidence, Singing, Trust, Historical, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Polish)