From Publishers Weekly
Delightfully packed with Briticisms, this clever import launches the Fabulous Fantoras series in high style. Geras's (Pictures of the Night) cordial narrator is the cat Ozzy, self-proclaimed "Keeper of the Files" for the eccentric Fantora clan of Manchester. With obvious affection, Ozzy (short for Ozymandias) introduces his family. Auntie Varvara, a vampire who has turned vegetarian "on account of her soft heart," can "move things about the place just by thinking about it"; mother Rosie mixes up magical potions and is able to fly; and patriarch Eddie can make anything grow anywhere ("palm trees in the bath... grapevines on the bookshelves"). The equally talented children include mischievous Bianca, who brings toys and furniture to life; absentminded, aspiring poet Marco, who can become invisible; and Francesca, whose gifts range from useful (changing the weather) to risky ("starting fires when she's extremely cross"). Perhaps the most intriguing is grandmother Filomena, who predicts the future by interpreting the colors and patterns of her knitting?"transforming the threads of the past into a fabric that forms the future." Geras puts her characters' rare talents to diverting uses: when boys bully Marco, for example, Bianca visits their art class and animates their paint supplies to wreak vengeance; for the school fund-raiser, Rosie bakes biscuits that enable the children who eat them to "float and drift and hover, about a foot and a half above the ground." Jolly good fun. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-The narrator of this story is an omniscient talking cat named Ozymandias, and he is by no means the only unusual member of the Fantora family. Rosie (the mother) is a magical cook and potion-concocter, Eddie (the father) can grow absolutely anything, Bianca (age 10) brings inanimate objects to life, Marco (age 9) can make himself invisible, and Francesca (age 5) can start fires and alter the weather. Filomena (the grandmother) can read the future in her knitting and Auntie Varvara is a vegetarian vampire. After their turreted old mansion burns down, they all move into a nice suburban neighborhood where their assorted magical talents save a neighbor's wedding and smooth the children's transition to a new school. Ozzy documents his loony family in a straightforward and slightly long-suffering manner that brings to mind Jack and his talented, hilarious relations in Helen Cresswell's "Bagthorpe" books (Macmillan; o.p.). Unlike that family, though, the Fantoras all tend to get along, even using their magical powers in harmony with one another. Children will cheer when Eddie finally achieves his dream of growing a fruit-salad tree and will be delighted when Aunt Varvara meets the man (or rather, werewolf) of her dreams. Suitably wacky drawings add to the zaniness.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
