3 Reasons Why You Should Read Frances Bloom #2: Dangerous Days by Katrina Nannestad, Illustrated by Marina Zlatanova

What’s the book about?

Frances Bloom’s dreams have come true. Her grandparents are a honey-coloured bear and a garden gnome. Nasty Ms Thistle has been taken to Harsh Island Home for Unwanted Teachers and Cats. Her class is being taught by a retired pirate and a busker. Her friends are many and her happiness is huge. So why is she troubled?

Could it be the mean cats that are new to the village? The talking bush in her garden? The stolen tricycle? Or the feeling that she’s being followed?

Can Frances work it out before disaster strikes?

Recommended for: 

Ages 7+

Three reasons to read it: 

1. Frances Bloom doesn’t live in an ordinary household, and that’s exactly what makes this book so fun. For starters, her grandparents are a bear and a garden gnome! Instead of a normal, predictable family setup, Frances’s home feels magical, warm, and a little bit strange in the best way. It made me curious about what it’d be like to visit her house, where even family members feel like they belong in a fairytale rather than a regular neighbourhood.
2. Even though Frances’s life is full of happiness, something doesn’t feel quite right, and that’s where the excitement builds. Strange things start happening around her village that don’t make sense at first. There are mean cats that suddenly appear, making the village feel a bit unsettled. A talking bush in her garden adds an even stranger twist. On top of that, a tricycle goes missing, which adds a real sense that something is very wrong. Worst of all, Frances has the uneasy feeling that she’s being followed. All of these storylines make the book feel like a mystery that needs solving.
3. This book is full of playful ideas that make it feel lively and unpredictable. The characters are designed to surprise you, often in funny and slightly mischievous ways. The humour comes from how unusual everything is, from the situations Frances finds herself in to the people and creatures around her. Nothing feels ordinary, so even small moments can turn into something amusing. This kind of storytelling keeps the tone light and entertaining while still giving readers plenty to think about, making it the kind of book where you might find yourself laughing a lot.

Buy a copy of Frances Bloom #2: Dangerous Days here.

About the author:

Katrina Nannestad is a multi-award-winning Australian author. Her books include the CBCA-shortlisted We Are Wolves, The Girl Who Brought Mischief, The Travelling Bookshop series, The Girl, the Dog and the Writer series, the Frances Bloom series, the Olive of Groves series, the Red Dirt Diaries series, the Lottie Perkins series, The Story Writer’s Handbook: Adventures in Creative Writing, the historical novels Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief, Waiting for the Storks, Silver Linings and All the Beautiful Things, and the picture book A Song for the King.

Marina Zlatanova is a Bulgarian-born designer, illustrator and printmaker living in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. She has illustrated several picture books to date, including Charlie’s Shell, her debut as an author, which won a Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year award. Her style is varied and eclectic, using a diverse range of media — from watercolour and inks to digital illustration and block printing — but her love for depicting the humorous and endearing always underpins her creations.