Pandora: The instant no.1 Sunday Times bestseller

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For confident and super-confident readers it is important that books are matched appropriately to their emotional maturity. For thisreasonPandora Books collate specific book collections for confident readerswhereextraemphasis is put on the contentbeingabsolutely spot on and not inappropriate for their chronological age whilst the book band level is higher. Twenty-one-year-old Pandora “Dora” Blake lives and works in her late parents' antiquities shop in Georgian London. Her parents had been renowned antiquarians specializing in Grecian artifacts and had made their living excavating tombs in South-Eastern Europe. Their untimely death in a mishap during an excavation twelve years ago left Dora orphaned and under the care of her unscrupulous and corrupt uncle Hezekiah Blake who promptly took over the shop and is responsible for its present state of disrepute, dealing mostly in forgeries and objects with not much historical significance. Dora aspires to be a jewelry designer and spends time honing her craft with her faithful pet magpie Hermes by her side, despite the constant beratement and ridicule of her uncle who would rather be rid of her. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. There is a sudden sigh, a hum, a fluttering. It comes not from behind but in front of her, from within the vase, and Dora hears all at once its siren call, its darkling plea. It is the hush of wind, the whisper of waves, the music of grief, and she cannot help it, she cannot resist. Dora lifts the lid.”

All of it is written in the third person, focusing on the three separate perspectives of Dora, Edward, and Hezekiah. This worked well and brought a good degree of contrast, with the tone of Hezekiah's chapters noticeably darker than the others and providing more of an insight into his motives. Also, the storylines of Dora and Edward compliment each other nicely as they are both enduring difficult lives until they meet. The book bands philosophy has not changed and at its heart is the opportunity it gives schools to use a mix of reading scheme and ‘real’ books from a range of publishers whilst maintaining a consistent and appropriate challenge for pupils. Using banded 'real' books, children are able to choose books freely from within a structured range of books making reading more independent and enjoyable. When I read about jewelry design in the first chapter, I immediately thought that there should be female solidarity towards the end. In such books, the heroine's ally suddenly becomes the most unpleasant female person. So, this will also happen: Uncle's lover, the maid Lottie, who has been treating her for twelve years, suddenly becomes inflamed with friendly feelings. And one duchess there, literally from the first hour of acquaintance, will become on a short leg with our cutie. This was a superb debut, easy to read and not overtly historical-heavy. Dora the explorer (look someone had to say it) made for great reading and I’d jump on another release from this author. Many school suppliers, including Pandora Books, are offering banded ‘real’ books to widen children’s reading experiences and to promote reading enjoyment. The levelling is done in a ‘best fit’ way, meeting the criteria as much as ‘real’ books can, allowing for the non-contrived way they are written. Why Use Book Bands?

Indeed, Cornelius is an entertaining character to read and it was a shame that he did not receive a happy ending. He is sharp-witted and in front of an oblivious Edward, never makes any attempt to hide his jealousy towards Dora, creating many of book's lighter moments. Lady Latimer was also highly memorable; haughty in the extreme and with an enormous sense of entitlement, yet not without the occasional hint of generosity.

This was pretty intriguing for me and nicely finished up the threads of the storyline till the end. I am recommending it. I could keep going on but this book just had everything: it had the mystery, the atmosphere, the intrigue and just the right amount of romance. I enjoyed the history and myth telling, and the talk of “curses”. I received an audio copy of this novel from the publisher, Harper Audio, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction & Pandora did not disappoint in that regard. It is a wonderfully descriptive novel in terms of the settings, characters, their mannerisms & costume (particularly Lady Latimer who is a small character with a big personality!).Children progress through the banded colours as they gain confidence, and because of the breadth of choice available in each colour band, they should be able to find books that appeal to them at each stage. This allows teachers to provide the opportunity for children to read for pleasure even at an early stage in their reading journey. Many schools will offer decodable phonics books in the early stages and move onto book bands when children's reading is more fluent. Ongoing reading assessments will establish which level children are reading at and whether they need to move up to the next level to maintain the right level of challenge. I also love books with a central female character who doesn’t bow down to men & stays focused on bettering herself against the odds, especially in a time when women were expected to do as they were told! Again, Pandora lives up to my expectations in this regard. I was hugely invested in Dora’s story & was intrigued to discover the truth behind her uncle’s underhand dealings. Having finished school Dora now focuses her ambitions in designing jewellery, so when an ornate vase arrives at the shop, her interested is piqued immediately. Not because this treasure is a thing of beauty and mysterious, but she is able to take inspiration from its rare qualities and designs, when designing her own jewellery range. However, her interest only grows in a different direction when the secrecy, value and historical reference attributed to this piece of antique comes to light. That is just one example of how the writing is simply outstanding. The author's prose is a delight to behold, as sentences are weaved together with such beautiful refinement and lyricism, including lots of similes and personification. It is this more than anything that makes you want to keep reading, and for a debut author that is seriously impressive. Those issues aside, the plot as a whole is brimming with depth and all the topics it covers from jewellery to mythology to antiquities, have been impeccably researched. It takes some unexpected directions as certain characters are introduced and you always look forward to finding out what is going to happen next, especially as Edward learns more about the origin of the pithos and Hezekiah grows increasingly desperate to uncover its contents.

There’s a small part of me that was uncomfortable reading about the colonial aspects of plundering and acquisition even though that was historically correct. I hate element of British history, our museums are still full of antiquities that are not ‘ours’. An atmospheric story set in Georgian England that combines elements of Greek mythology, with age old treachery, deceit, and greed. A wonderful story full of suspense and intrigue but also charming and delightful, as we take a trip into the fascinating world of antiques. This historical adventure is inspired by the story of Pandora as Edward and Dora attempt to learn more about the history of an ancient vase and an unopened chest that has brought them both together. An unlikely pairing except for their love of antiques. After the tragic death of her parents during an archaeological excavation, Dora Blake is now living with her uncle, Hezekiah, in her parents’ antiquities shop. But Hezekiah does not have the interest in antiquities her parents had and he is slowly destroying her parents’ once loved business. Dora is desperate to escape from her uncles’ care, and is hoping to turn her love of drawing and jewelry making into a career, giving her the independence she craves. When her uncle imports a Grecian vase, one so old that it predates time itself, Dora feels an immediate connection. While anyone else who touches it or means it harm is instantly cursed, Dora continues to be the only one to open it and she uses its Greek inscriptions and drawings as inspiration for her jewellery. But Hezekiah has darker plans for the vase, and even darker plans for Dora, and when Dora realizes the true importance of the urn, her life is put at greater risk. The story is pretty interesting and engaging, i love the Georgian atmospheric vibe and the mystery element in the book but in my opinion the characters are pretty bland and the plot is slow… there are also a lot of unnecessary conversation and I think the book can be shorter, however I’m pretty much enjoyed this book and think this is such a great debut from the author What she was not expecting was the number of revelations and questions that the pithos and its discovery brings up.The table below displays each book band level and their equivalent reading age. Most children will work through the levels during the year, so for example, in most schools, a reception child, working at expected levels would end the year on yellow. I obviously especially LOVED all of the Greek myth and Greek history references throughout this book. This book satisfied my un-dying love for them. Even though I went into this novel hopeful, I have to confess that I didn’t have very high expectations. I have a serious weakness for anything inspired by Greek mythology, but I also can’t seem to help but judge said inspired stories a bit harshly, as well. And I’m just starting to get into historical fiction, which has always been a very hit-or-miss genre for me. But Pandora was recommended for fans of The Essex Serpent, which made me even more hopeful. My expectations were not only met, but exceeded. I can’t definitely see why it was compared to Sarah Perry’s work, and I can’t wait to get a physical copy to shelf next to The Essex Serpent. While not quite as philosophically profound, Pandora definitely scratched the same itch. all readers will progress at different speeds and may have spurts at varying times How do you Book Band real books?