My 8 year old loved it
591764
My eight year old son really enjoyed this novel, and would look forward to me reading a chapter or two every night (most of the chapters are super short). Maybe it's because kids have more imagination than I do, but I was really hoping there would be...more to the story. I loved the premise. I loved the relationship between James and his sister. I liked that my children (I read it to all of them, but my eight year old was the one that really loved it) learned a little about a different religion. Not really the religion, but more....things that we don't have in our religion. Like Abbots, and oblates, and Abbey's, and well....things like that. We had to look up quite a few things because I had no idea what they were either :) I wish the characters were developed more, and I wish that there was resolution to more of the things that happened in the book. Did the priests end up selling the cider and save the Abbey? What is the reunion like between James and his family? There were more things, but my son had no problem with any of it, so like I said, maybe I just lack imagination. I thought some of the titles of each chapter were entertaining. My younger children really enjoyed the illustrations in the book.  There aren't a lot of them, but they would look at each for some time before I was allowed to keep reading.

So while I found it lacking for me, I can picture my eight year old rereading this at night when he is supposed to be sleeping :)

*I received a copy from Booklookbloggers in exchange for a review.
249633
Great Christmas gift for my 8 year old nephew.  He loved it.
7732
lots of fun for my now 8 year old daughter , we connected it to our loop set and have had lots of fun together
574803
Read to your children or let them read it  aloud:) I enjoyed reading it because it was entertaining enough for an 8 year old.
752936
I was worried my 8 year old son may take it the wrong way when I gave him this book but he enjoyed it and now his school teacher wants a copy.
1552310
My 8 year old son loved this we gave it to him for Christmas he was able to put it together in a weeks time by himself following the directions by working an hour or so a day
4830306
Bought it for my 8 year old sister.  She told me she loved it and my dad told me she played with it a lot.
4772008
My son loved it.  Great for 8 year olds with a bunch of imagination.  Very durable and well made for this type of toy.
2954274
My 8 year old loved this set. She needed a little bit of supervision and direction to complete these.
4325403
I received this free to try from Hasbro Gaming. My son really enjoyed it and he seemed to find it easy to follow. He is 8.
1888491
Read this to my 8 year old and she enjoyed every minute of it. She said it was a good book with good suspense and that it was funny. She looked forward to every time we'd sit down to read it.
392043
My son loved it but it did take a little trial and error until we got it right. Now he can do it know problem. He is 8.
1520310
My 8-year-old son just loved this book and the whole series. it's a fast read for 8-9 years. The set is small so makes a good gift.
4432577
My son is 8 yrs. old and he loved this book.  It kept him occupied for hours.  I highly recommend it!
936985
My niece loved the book, she is 8 years old and reads them very quickly but they kept her entertained.
2619498
my 8 year old LOVED IT. the ninja stars are made out of a soft material though, I wasn't expecting that. socks not included
2006326
my 8 year old wanted this. She has really enjoyed it!