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Barkbelly #2
Snowbone
One pale wooden girl stands on the shore of Black Sand Bay, where the sea meets the sky and the wind meets the water. But Snowbone knows that she and her wooden friends can't stay here forever. Something is happening deep within the forest. Something—someone—that must be stopped. Determined to save the Ashenpeakers from a dark destiny, Snowbone leads her gang of wooden tiddlins on a perilous chase—on the heels of human slave traders. They encounter feathered flying machines, a mystifying ancient prophecy, a looming volcano, and hungry cannibals. Snowbone, strong and courageous (and a bit stubborn), urges them on, while learning what it means to be a good leader.
In a companion novel to Barkbelly, Cat Weatherill weaves another magical tale about the world of Ashenpeake and its lovable wooden heroes.
In a companion novel to Barkbelly, Cat Weatherill weaves another magical tale about the world of Ashenpeake and its lovable wooden heroes.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2006
2 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 13, 2015
This book touches you, its one of those special once in a library finds. Themes of slavery, death, childhood, motherhood, leadership, gender are all quietly woven into this truly magical book. Its not trying to beat a lesson over your head nor is it trying to draw attention to anything in particular, its just a beautiful adventure for children with deep emotional undercurrents.
Mild story introduction spoilers:
Snowbone in short is about the Ashenpeakers - a species and stroke of genius by author Cat Weatherill. They are wooden people, born from eggs that lie dormant until you set them on fire, they grow and mature at a speedy rate, they can hardly be hurt or injured and they don't tire easily. They also sadly make excellent slaves.
The story revolves around Snowbone, a bright and charismatic leader of a party of wooden people trying to make their way in the world and to find who they are. As I said in my Barkbelly review, the world of Ashenpeake and beyond is truly, truly marvellous to behold, its roamed even further in Snowbone you'll be glad to hear. Beautiful, colourful, stark, secretive and lively - not everything is laid out clearly in this world and some things remain a mystery for me. Action is wonderful in this book, its not laid on too thickly, one of the highlights is actually how the book is introduced in the first few pages!
Snowbone is just a wonderful character, in fact the whole party of characters are explored in their own time - some more than others, but Snowbone takes he cake. I have never read a story aimed at children to teens with a female leader role, its so satisfying.
Whilst Barkbelly, its predecessor, is more of a children's book, I am tempted to almost push Snowbone into YA territory. I would say young teens and tweens would eat this book alive if they enjoy innocent fantasy like Harry Potter, not so much for people who like their gritty teen drama.
The ending is just... wow.
Please, I beg you, give this to your book hungry young daughter if you have one - she'll thank you later.
Mild story introduction spoilers:
Snowbone in short is about the Ashenpeakers - a species and stroke of genius by author Cat Weatherill. They are wooden people, born from eggs that lie dormant until you set them on fire, they grow and mature at a speedy rate, they can hardly be hurt or injured and they don't tire easily. They also sadly make excellent slaves.
The story revolves around Snowbone, a bright and charismatic leader of a party of wooden people trying to make their way in the world and to find who they are. As I said in my Barkbelly review, the world of Ashenpeake and beyond is truly, truly marvellous to behold, its roamed even further in Snowbone you'll be glad to hear. Beautiful, colourful, stark, secretive and lively - not everything is laid out clearly in this world and some things remain a mystery for me. Action is wonderful in this book, its not laid on too thickly, one of the highlights is actually how the book is introduced in the first few pages!
Snowbone is just a wonderful character, in fact the whole party of characters are explored in their own time - some more than others, but Snowbone takes he cake. I have never read a story aimed at children to teens with a female leader role, its so satisfying.
Whilst Barkbelly, its predecessor, is more of a children's book, I am tempted to almost push Snowbone into YA territory. I would say young teens and tweens would eat this book alive if they enjoy innocent fantasy like Harry Potter, not so much for people who like their gritty teen drama.
The ending is just... wow.
Please, I beg you, give this to your book hungry young daughter if you have one - she'll thank you later.
July 27, 2020
I read this book for the first time when I was around ten. I loved it then and fifteen entire years later, I still love this book. I'm always a little hesitant to reread books that I loved when I was younger because I'm worried they won't be as good as I remembered. Luckily, this book was just as good as it was when I read it for the first time as a ten year old.
It's honestly a little bit tragic that no one seems to even know that this book even exists. It takes place in an incredibly imaginative and whimsical world. The characters are all so wonderful and unique. The story itself is touches on some dark themes but is done in such an amazing way. Honestly, what else could you even ask for in a book at that point?
It's honestly a little bit tragic that no one seems to even know that this book even exists. It takes place in an incredibly imaginative and whimsical world. The characters are all so wonderful and unique. The story itself is touches on some dark themes but is done in such an amazing way. Honestly, what else could you even ask for in a book at that point?
November 22, 2015
I remeber reading this when I was small. And it had appealed to me at the time.
October 11, 2021
În acea după-amiază, galionul naviga singur pe oceanul de un albastru sidefiu. Doar că nu era singur. Nu mai era. Deoarece nava ciudată care îl urmărise zile întregi, rămânând pe linia orizontului ca un lup mare şi cenuşiu, se apropiase.
― PIRAŢII! zbieră straja, clănţănind din dinţi. PIRAŢI LA ORIZONT! CÂŞTIGĂ TEREN!
Ofiţerul secund năvăli ca o furtună pe puntea de la pupă, doborându-i pe marinari din cale ca pe nişte popice.
― Căp’tane? rosti el cu răsuflarea tăiată. Ce o să se întâmple? Căpitanul Kempe, care privea prin telescop, nu părea îngrijorat de turnura luată de evenimente. În timp ce echipajul se agita în jurul lui, el rămase neclintit. Calm, imperturbabil, arătos ca întotdeauna. Dar frica, frica rece îl prinse totuşi în mrejele ei. Parcă o simţea cum îi răscoleşte stomacul, ca o vietate.
― Căp’tane!
Secundul se uita la micul muşchi care pulsa pe ceafa căpitanului.
Căpitanul Kempe continua să privească. Vasul pirat era un bric1. Nu putea să-l distrugă. Dar era hotărât să încerce.
Închise cu o smucitură telescopul.
― Să le arătăm din ce suntem făcuţi, rosti el. Flynn, înainte, cu toată viteza de care suntem capabili.
― Să trăiţi, Căp’tane!
― Şi, Flynn ― pregăteşte tunul. În caz de nevoie.
― Da, domnule, răspunse Flynn, mijind un zâmbet. Amândoi ştiau că Speranţa e condamnată. Căpitanul Kempe îşi întoarse din nou privirea spre ocean. Vasul pirat se grăbea să-i ajungă, spărgând valurile ca un demon al furtunii. Cu un oftat, îşi scoase sabia ce-i atârna la şold, rece şi gata să ucidă.
Privi din nou prin telescop. Vasul era aproape de ei. Atât de aproape, încât putea să-i vadă flamura de pirat din mătase neagră fluturând în briza oceanului şi pe piraţi ocupându-se calmi de treburile lor. Spre deosebire de oamenii lui, care alergau de colo-colo, cu ochii măriţi de groază şi mormăind rugăciuni, palizi de frică, trăgând, ridicând şi poziţionând tunul, şi încercând să-şi închipuie că puterea lui de foc îi va putea salva.
BUUUM! Vasul pirat deschise focul. Speranţa se clătină violent când o izbi prima ghiulea.
― FOC DE RĂSPUNS! strigă căpitanul.
BUUUM!
― PIRAŢII! zbieră straja, clănţănind din dinţi. PIRAŢI LA ORIZONT! CÂŞTIGĂ TEREN!
Ofiţerul secund năvăli ca o furtună pe puntea de la pupă, doborându-i pe marinari din cale ca pe nişte popice.
― Căp’tane? rosti el cu răsuflarea tăiată. Ce o să se întâmple? Căpitanul Kempe, care privea prin telescop, nu părea îngrijorat de turnura luată de evenimente. În timp ce echipajul se agita în jurul lui, el rămase neclintit. Calm, imperturbabil, arătos ca întotdeauna. Dar frica, frica rece îl prinse totuşi în mrejele ei. Parcă o simţea cum îi răscoleşte stomacul, ca o vietate.
― Căp’tane!
Secundul se uita la micul muşchi care pulsa pe ceafa căpitanului.
Căpitanul Kempe continua să privească. Vasul pirat era un bric1. Nu putea să-l distrugă. Dar era hotărât să încerce.
Închise cu o smucitură telescopul.
― Să le arătăm din ce suntem făcuţi, rosti el. Flynn, înainte, cu toată viteza de care suntem capabili.
― Să trăiţi, Căp’tane!
― Şi, Flynn ― pregăteşte tunul. În caz de nevoie.
― Da, domnule, răspunse Flynn, mijind un zâmbet. Amândoi ştiau că Speranţa e condamnată. Căpitanul Kempe îşi întoarse din nou privirea spre ocean. Vasul pirat se grăbea să-i ajungă, spărgând valurile ca un demon al furtunii. Cu un oftat, îşi scoase sabia ce-i atârna la şold, rece şi gata să ucidă.
Privi din nou prin telescop. Vasul era aproape de ei. Atât de aproape, încât putea să-i vadă flamura de pirat din mătase neagră fluturând în briza oceanului şi pe piraţi ocupându-se calmi de treburile lor. Spre deosebire de oamenii lui, care alergau de colo-colo, cu ochii măriţi de groază şi mormăind rugăciuni, palizi de frică, trăgând, ridicând şi poziţionând tunul, şi încercând să-şi închipuie că puterea lui de foc îi va putea salva.
BUUUM! Vasul pirat deschise focul. Speranţa se clătină violent când o izbi prima ghiulea.
― FOC DE RĂSPUNS! strigă căpitanul.
BUUUM!
April 23, 2025
Even though we only read Barkbelly to get to Snowbone, the second book just didn’t grip us with the same intensity. That doesn’t mean that it is not a beautiful one, it is a gorgeous piece of children’s writing, as expected by now from a Cat Weatherill book, and it deals with profound issues like identity, freedom, and consequences of one’s actions – to the point that she is not afraid to kill off characters you would not expect would die in ways you would not expect it to happen in a children’s book. There was simply a bit less of an impetus to keep reading than in Barkbelly, but now I’m thinking it may be because we’ve spent more than half a year now in the Ashenpeake universe and may have grown a bit weary.
March 26, 2021
very good
May 30, 2022
A good book to read with a sense of adventure and imagination.
June 19, 2025
A magnificent story about family, friends, myths and reality, wood and slavery, life and death, yet we're still waiting for part 2.
November 13, 2015
My, oh my, I really enjoyed reading about Snowbone and her group of tiddlins. What is a tiddlins you might ask? A tiddlins is a really young Ashenpeaker. As the young wooden people learn to survive, they also discover that their people are slaves to the humans. And to make things even worse, some humans even cut down the Ashen Trees that the Ashenpeakers transform into when they Move On just for the healing sap pocket that resides in the center of the tree, thereby killing the Ashenpeaker that has turned into a tree. This is quite appalling to Snowbone and she decides that she is going to stop the slave trade, she just doesn't quite know how to go about it.
Cat Weatherill has created a wonderful story with Snowbone and I absolutely loved it. The pace of the story is perfect and the character are very appealing. I especially liked Blackeye and how he supports Snowbone with the decisions she makes. Peter Brown's illustrations, though far and few between, are superb and add a great deal to the story.
What Barkbelly was missing, Snowbone has. Ashenpeakers! Barkbelly was searching for his identity while Snowbone has plenty of Ashenpeakers around her. Snowbone is the perfect sequel to Barkbelly, and I was enthralled with the story. Both of these books are excellent and I highly recommend them. I sure hope that Cat Weatherill creates another story in this world. I hope it is just as good. So, if your child is looking for a fantasy tale that is a little different, Snowbone is the book for them.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
Cat Weatherill has created a wonderful story with Snowbone and I absolutely loved it. The pace of the story is perfect and the character are very appealing. I especially liked Blackeye and how he supports Snowbone with the decisions she makes. Peter Brown's illustrations, though far and few between, are superb and add a great deal to the story.
What Barkbelly was missing, Snowbone has. Ashenpeakers! Barkbelly was searching for his identity while Snowbone has plenty of Ashenpeakers around her. Snowbone is the perfect sequel to Barkbelly, and I was enthralled with the story. Both of these books are excellent and I highly recommend them. I sure hope that Cat Weatherill creates another story in this world. I hope it is just as good. So, if your child is looking for a fantasy tale that is a little different, Snowbone is the book for them.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
October 24, 2019
I fancy this book. I like how it shows the order and leadership and how to become a person that people can count on and show that you can be a person that can help when someone is in trouble.
May 18, 2011
As the fire "spate and clawed like a flaming tomcat ... As the temperature rose, the wooden eggs started to move...Deep inside...things beginning to change... Whatever was inside wanted out and nothing was going to stop it." and so begins the life of a little wooden girl named Snowbone, who eagerness for life, exploration, and rightousness begins.
Cat Weatherill's "Snowbone" is an interesting story. It deals with connecting with others, doubts and fears, reasoning and revenge. It is a story of the humanity that lives inside of all whether human or wooden. Full of adventure and challenges it is a book to be read. althought I did find myself wondering what the true intention was of the writer; whether to make a stand against the injustice of slavery or explore a world of wooden beings and their adventure or both. Overall it is a pretty good story and would like to read more.
Cat Weatherill's "Snowbone" is an interesting story. It deals with connecting with others, doubts and fears, reasoning and revenge. It is a story of the humanity that lives inside of all whether human or wooden. Full of adventure and challenges it is a book to be read. althought I did find myself wondering what the true intention was of the writer; whether to make a stand against the injustice of slavery or explore a world of wooden beings and their adventure or both. Overall it is a pretty good story and would like to read more.
April 6, 2016
I ordered this book after reading its preceding title Barkbelly. What an adventurous tale! I liked this one even better than Barkbelly because of the interesting and diverse cast of characters as they grow, learn, and discover the fantastic world Weatherill created.
Don't be fooled by the illustrations into thinking this is a book for youngsters. Characters are stabbed, burned alive, and more. Some may wish to know that bars and alcohol make appearances, too. I didn't mind any of this but I was bothered by the disgusting detail of eating severed body parts and a maggot-infested rat in the beginning. Gross! Still, Cat Weatherill's writing is brilliant. We can only hope that she will grace us with a sequel. Don't miss this one.
Don't be fooled by the illustrations into thinking this is a book for youngsters. Characters are stabbed, burned alive, and more. Some may wish to know that bars and alcohol make appearances, too. I didn't mind any of this but I was bothered by the disgusting detail of eating severed body parts and a maggot-infested rat in the beginning. Gross! Still, Cat Weatherill's writing is brilliant. We can only hope that she will grace us with a sequel. Don't miss this one.
February 28, 2022
Generalmente no elijo aventuras fantásticas, pero este libro es especial. Lo compré en 2010 en una tarde triste en Foyles, una gran librería de Londres con vista al río Támesis. No tenía mucho dinero y lo escogí por su precio y su llamativa cubierta plateada. Esperaba que me sacara de la soledad y aunque no lo leí sino hasta 10 años después, ese día me acompañó en una banca del South Bank por horas y horas mientras acariciaba las líneas de su relieve. Es tierno, divertido, mágico e inesperado. Su autora es cuentera y eso se nota fácilmente porque usa muchas aliteraciones y onomatopeyas, lo que deja un gusto en la boca delicioso. Debe ser genial para leerlo en voz alta a un niño antes de dormir. Me encanta aún tenerlo conmigo.
March 8, 2008
Determined Snowbone leads a band of her fellow Ashenpeakers—a hardy race of wooden people—in a rebellion in order to end years of slavery to humans in this companion to Weatherill’s first novel, Barkbelly. Themes of friendship, loyalty, and loss are abundant in short chapters full of adventure. The Ashenpeakers’ solution to the slavery problem (encouraging slaves to begin the “Moving On” process, which will turn them into trees and render them useless as slaves) may leave some readers feeling unsettled, as it almost seems more like a mass suicide rather than freedom. Nevertheless, Snowbone remains a satisfying and adventurous fantasy.
May 10, 2011
I picked this one off the shelf not knowing a thing about it, so when the first few pages contain little rat-carcass-eating wooden babies hatching out of eggs in the middle of a pirate siege, I was a little taken aback. But the story really sucks you in, and the language makes it feel like a a real, old-timey legend. It too bad the illustrations are so useless and stupid. The setting is pre-industrial, but the pictures feature characters sporting jeans and sweater vests curca 1970s.
July 16, 2015
Captivating! Full of twists and turns! Wonderfully written!
Many probably think this is a children's book, but it deals a lot with slavery, so handle this with your own children when you see fit.
Cat Weatherill is a fantastic storyteller - I bought her three books after seeing her in person. I was so captivated with the companion book, Barkbelly, that I dived right into this one immediately - and finished it the same day. This is a standalone book, however.
Many probably think this is a children's book, but it deals a lot with slavery, so handle this with your own children when you see fit.
Cat Weatherill is a fantastic storyteller - I bought her three books after seeing her in person. I was so captivated with the companion book, Barkbelly, that I dived right into this one immediately - and finished it the same day. This is a standalone book, however.
May 13, 2008
This is the sequel to Cat Weatherhill's Barkbelly, which I really enjoyed - what a wonderfully imagined little world she's created. Snowbone takes off from Barkbelly's story by following a minor character introduced in that book. Feels like there's more to come; I wouldn't be surprised if there's another book in this series due soon...
February 10, 2016
I's a different yet wonderful book!
It's based on the lives of wooden tiddlins who're made slaves by the people of the other world- i.e. humans.
Cat W. has very precisely mentioned what the efforts and difficulties of a leader.. And also what it MEANS to be one..
I loved it!
It's based on the lives of wooden tiddlins who're made slaves by the people of the other world- i.e. humans.
Cat W. has very precisely mentioned what the efforts and difficulties of a leader.. And also what it MEANS to be one..
I loved it!
March 29, 2012
This one was as adventurous as the first one, and I loved reading it all the way. Hopefully, there's a third book. But if not, then it's ok.
September 18, 2012
Didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but I couldn't put it down. It was so easy to read and exciting. Loved it.
March 22, 2013
Great book!
May 30, 2013
This book is lyrical, whimsical and lovely.
December 10, 2014
fantastic idea!!!
April 24, 2015
This was the book that got me reading for fun in the first place I absolutely loved it I remember reading it in one sitting!!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews