Children's and youth narrative is a fundamental literary genre, cradle of future readers and therefore support of the noble craft of writing. Immersed in a leisure and cultural offer brimming with possibilities, if the habit of reading is not instilled from a young age, it will be difficult to regenerate such a habit when one enters more adult ages. That is why the task to which the author dedicates herself Ana Campoy, like many other cultivators of children's narrative, I find it commendable and fundamental.
The origins of the author, more aimed at the performing arts and the audiovisual, would serve as sustenance for that other creative branch. After all, imagination is a sum of representations, of foci from which to radiate new ideas.
The question is that Ana Campoy is an already recognized writer, with very suggestive proposals for kids to approach reading from adventure, mystery and characters in complete harmony with their thoughts and feelings ...
And the best of all is that Ana already enshrines her narrative ideology with a great cultural background. In many cases it gives prominence to the filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, in team with Agatha Christie. To ramble on these two youthful characters with their potentiality in order to present wonderful adventures is fascinating.
3 recommended books by Ana Campoy
Houdini's great trick
Sometimes the author invites the kids to take a stroll through a recent past full of nuances, lights and shadows, mysteries and an incipient science. The nineteenth-century touch brings that taste for adventure as a way of life.
Summary: Alfred and Agatha, with their inseparable companion Morritos, are enjoying the hospitality of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at his home in the city of Edinburgh. There they learn that a dangerous, unknown-looking thief plans to steal the Koh-i-noor diamond on the train that will take them back to London.
Helped by the great Harry Houdini, a famous wizard friend of Sir Arthur, the children and Morritos will board the train determined to protect the diamond. Although to achieve this they will have to live a journey full of mysteries, disappearances and even surprising magic tricks. A race against the clock in which nothing is what it seems.
The pianist who knew too much
Constant winks to the detective novel, a special pampering towards the involvement of young readers towards solving a case. We awaken the empathy and intelligence of the little ones.
Summary: In this fourth adventure, Alfred, Agatha and Morritos have to face another chilling mystery, this time in New York. Hercules' sister Emma has become very ill while performing in his theater and it is necessary for everyone to travel to America to be by her side.
Upon their arrival in town, Alfred and Agatha run into Harpo Marx, a clever little actor who also works in the theater. However, the kids will not have time for many distractions.
They soon discover that Emma's illness is a strange disease that is annihilating the members of the theater. Some kind of curse. Alfred, Agatha and Morritos will face their most risky case, as the clock will run against them to save the lives of the company's actors.
The chrono gang
Time travel is a topic that always attracted me in any work of fiction. And in a way I have always thought that it is a fantasy halfway between the metaphysical and the childish. A great recent proposal from the author to invite children on a journey through time.
Summary: It is never easy to change institute, much less city. Luckily, JJ has a plan: sneak into an abandoned amusement park at night. And his unexpected new friends, Eric, Alicia and Verónica, do not hesitate to accompany him.
But when activating the mansion of terror ... they are transported thirty years back in time! What happened?! And how are they going to come back ?! The Cronopandilla. The time tunnel is the winning novel of the Jaén Prize for Youth Narrative 2017.
