The first in a trilogy set in Wales. The book opens with nine year old Gwyn who lives on a farm and is celebrating his birthday. Since his big sister disappeared when he was four years old, there hasn't been much to celebrate because his father has been cold and rejecting towards him, blaming him for the loss of his sister, but the day begins differently with Gwyn's grandmother Nain giving him a number of items that he must cast to the wind. She believes he is a magician, inheriting the powers that have come down through the family from legendary Welsh magicians. What the wind takes, it returns, magically transformed. But one item, a broken toy horse, must not be used because it is in their family to be guarded and prevented from doing harm.

The story is quite charming with the tale of how Gwyn gradually comes into his own and slowly wins the acceptance of his father helped by an orphan girl who comes to the area and despite her snowy hair has an odd resemblance to his lost sister. Gwyn must learn for himself that rejection can come even from friends when you appear to be too odd, so this is a story also about fitting in to a community that likes people to conform.

The book is for a younger age group than I originally expected, an impression strengthened by the illustrations which are a bit 'twee'. I especially found the one of his grandmother, drawn as a girl of 16 or so rather unconvincing. And the story probably won't appeal to children with a fear of spiders although maybe the idea is that it might enable them to accept at least small magical ones. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book. I found the characters flat, especially Gwyn. who sometimes acted his age and other times behaved as a much younger protagonist. Overall, I found "The Snow Spider" strange and unappealing, and definitely not for me! ( )

the short of it—kids book based in Ireland, very fanciful, filled with magic and puzzles, i don't quite get where it was headed ( )

the short of it—kids book based in Ireland, very fanciful, filled with magic and puzzles, i don't quite get where it was headed ( )

I wasn't a fan of the Charlie Bone books but decided to give this book a try. I listened to the audiobook edition narrated by Jack Keating. While I enjoyed this book better than the Charlie Bone books I still felt the dialogue was a bit stilted and that the plot wasn't developed enough. I'm rating this book a three because it was an interesting premise and the audiobook narration was well done. ( )