‘Rumblestar’ by Abi Elphinstone

Genre: Fantasy, set in the Unmapped Kingdoms.

What’s the book about? The book’s main character is an eleven year old boy who accidentally finds himself in ‘Rumblestar’, an Unmapped Kingdom. Together with a girl from Rumblestar, our hero has to save the kingdom from its foes.

Which Hatcher Reading Level is this book? This book is at level 63. In the extract I analysed, I found words such as ‘pathetic’, ‘ploughed’, and some made-up words such as ‘mudgrapple’. The made-up words do tend to follow consistent orthographical patterns. The sentences used in the book do tend towards the more complex, and I found d one that was 62 words long.

Interest level: 9+

I read this book with a student, at the end of our lessons, and found it quite difficult to retain the plot from week to week. I would recommend this to a child who is able to read independently for sustained chunks of time, or to a parent who can read a few chapters aloud each evening.

Is the book part of a series? Yes, there are two more books in the series, ‘Jungledrop’ and the ‘Crackledawn Dragon’ (affiliated links)

If you’d like to get a copy of the book, it’s here (affiliated link)

If you enjoyed this, try: firstly take a look at the other books in this level, and if you didn’t struggle to read this book, take a look at the books in the next few levels.