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A sweet and endearing middle-grade story about love and longing, as seen from the POV of a sensitive bear, a motherly fox, and a competent but grumpy cat.

Set in an imagined post-crisis New York City, the story teems with witches, and magic-competents – some good, and some as evil and nasty as one can expect.

When Olaf (the bear), released into the streets and separated from his much-loved zoo keeper guardian, Wendy, is befriended by Essex, a tv-watching fox who desperately wants to learn how to read, the two chums do their best to survive, staying away from the increasingly-hard-to-understand humans, and keeping an eye out for the ever-present witches.

As Olaf and Essex, together with their no-nonsense friend Baby, a white cat, come upon a (human) baby in distress, and Mabel Blackthornudder, the self-proclaimed most powerful witch in New York, their lives will be changed forever.

A tale that will tweak the full gamut of emotions, this story is charmingly augmented with line drawings, and creatively plotted — a treat for lovers of fairy tales and fables, underlined with magic and a heart-warming message.

A great big thank you to #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.