The premise of this book sounded so fun! But this did not come together for me and it just felt like too much was happening.

Dwarf Story is like urban fantasy for middle graders. Think Spiderwick Chronicles or I Hunt Monsters, except this isn’t about siblings or a loner, which I appreciate. The trope of outsiders being the only kids who find adventure or the smart kids being destined for bullying is bad programming. Instead we have Arty and Emma, smart and creative friends who have to deal with their town being inundated by fairies. It’s a lovely story, and the world building, thanks in part to the mundanity of the neighborhood works well. I also enjoyed the sort of meta-narrative structure and multiple POVs. By doing so, Marplot harkens back to the style of traditional fairy and oral tales. The juxtaposition made it work even better than it would have with it.

I was given this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Dwarf Story

By: Professor W. M. Marplot

Waxing Gibbous

Middle Grade

Publish Date June 30, 2020

#DwarfStory #NetGalley

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What do I want to say about this book. It started off great but ended up dragging. This book is 388 pages long and it could have been shorter. Around 60% I started getting bored with the book. I enjoy reading middle grade because they are quick and fast to read but this book was not and I found myself not wanting to read it.

I did love the story line and what was going on but it could have been done in 250 to 300 pages. There was a lot happening but also a lot of dead space that was needless. I did like the pixies and dwarf and the other fairy creatures. The mystery was also good.

I enjoyed the libraries that were mentioned and that it had different children from family types. For example: A rich kid, a only child and a child from a large family.

I only gave this a low 3 star rating because of the dragging of the story. Sorry but I want my middle grade to be quick and fast and entertaining.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

What an absolutely lovely story! This is a great middle grade introduction to the world of fantasy. The story is so exciting and adventurous, perfect for carting the attention of young reader and it really is a great story to enjoy, from start to finish!
Arty and Emma are the two main characters. Arty is more scientific, and Emma artistic. The book includes a lot of learning and more informational bits that are well tuned to younger readers. Arty spends a lot of time reading books as he is putting the pieces together to learn about what's happening with the fairy folk. Some parts of this honestly might drag for some kids, and there are whole chapters where literally nothing happens, and the characters are complaining of being bored. Generally with younger kids I would say axe all of this "boring" content, but it still reads quickly with short chapters, even at over 400 pages. This is where I knocked the stars off the rating - a slightly older kid would be more tolerant of this where I can see a 9 year old maybe flipping until something exciting happens.

This was such a fun book to read. It is aimed towards elementary school children but I really enjoyed it for the humor that was sprinkled throughout the book. I read parts out out to my 10 year old son and he really liked it because of the storyline and the humor as well.

It is written from multiple points of view which made it interesting and refreshing. The writing is very fast paced and I have to admit that at some points I did have to put it down to take a break. I have always been fascinated with folklore and the mystical creatures in it and this book has it in galore. The creatures were endearing aside from one "psycho" (lol), and I really loved "Peanut's" character.

I just wish that there was an appendix at the back to explain the types of fairies and other creatures, as well as the Gaelic terms that were used. I would also have liked to seen some sources so children whose interest was piqued could follow up with non-fiction books/articles, websites on the subject matter. All in all, it is a very nice introduction to not only the fantasy genre but folklore itself.

This is a very cute story and I really believe would appeal to children. It features not only the fairy folk - with pixies, dwarves, giants- but I think the whole setting is very appealing to children and middle grades and the main characters are very relatable to kids.

The main characters are Arty and Emma and I love them both. I also liked that Emma is more artistic while Arty is more scientific. They're such a perfect duo and I'm glad that the story is told in their POVs.

The book features a lot of adventures that even I found enjoyable and fun so I know younger readers would love them too. But then there are some parts that I think kids will find a bit boring, especially when Arty was busy learning about what's happening to fairy folk. Those parts drag. In my case, they're not boring because I understand those parts are important but younger readers might skip them. But overall, I find the whole book fun to read.

13yo Arty - science need and believer in logic - finds an axe-wielding Dwarf in the forest in his backyard. While trying to learn the Dwarfs origin, name, language and purpose, he and his friends Emma and Cry find a Spriggan, then a Pixie, and encounter a creepy Man in Brown whose proportions are wrong and seems intent on tracking them.
With a stolen map and the Spriggan's help, they discover the return of the malevolent Gwyllion with plans to turns the suburban neighbourhood into a faerie battleground. The children must navigate the Faerie War that's brewing armed only with their wits in order to save Long Island from destruction.

Dwarf Story is told from the POV of Arty, Emma and occasionally other characters, as the story unfolds. As well as telling the story itself, we are treated to tween squabbles between the characteres and middle school angst, making the characters delightfully real and relatable to the target audience - 9-14yos. The mythology is accessible and there's the perfect balance of wonder, suspense, action and investigation.

This book is a keeper. I'll be buying a hard copy for my kiddo when it hits the shelves.

Title: Dwarf Story
Author: W.W. Marplot
Genre: Middle Grade
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

For Arty to miss a day of school, either he is very, very sick or a fairytale-character turf-war has begun in his backyard — such as what begins this particular Wednesday. First, he finds an ax-swinging, bearded, sweaty warrior Dwarf scaring his dogs. Soon enough, Emma, Cry and other middle-school friends also find fairy creatures — Elves, Spriggans, Pixies, and a hoped-for Dragon — crashing into their normal homework-doing, backpack-carrying, phone-charging schooldays.

Why are these magical beings here? What should be done? Is that axe sharp? Can Pixies be given aspirin?
Arty with his friends — and spying jerks, and questionable strangers with long names — follow the clues and try to find out, even as things turn dark and dangerous.

The mythical beings are taking sides. The Gwyllion, that legendary Old Woman of the Mountains, has a sinister plan, turning the neighborhood into a fantasy battleground. One that awaits young heroes.
This is a middle-grade fantasy adventure that was a so-so read. And it's not listed on Goodreads that I can find, so I can't point you in that direction. I don't read much middle-grade, so this may just be a case of being the wrong reader for the book.

I thought the premise was great, but the execution was lacking. I’m not the target audience, but solid-storytelling and logical plot progression should still be prerequisites for a good story, and this veered a bit off-track in places. Like the fact that none of the parents seemed at all concerned about what their kids were into. Or any of their siblings, for that matter. These kids had smart phones, but they were left to wander around without interference? That didn’t really make sense to me.

(Galley courtesy of Waxing Gibbous in exchange for an honest review.)

Dwarf Story by W. W. Marplot is a kind of middle grade epic fantasy book set in urban long Island. It follows Arthur, a boy who is very into science and facts and lists and order, and his friend Emma, who is more the artistic type, into writing and drawing. The pair get thrown headfirst into a fairy wonderland of adventure after Arty and his dogs find a Dwarf in his backyard.
I loved this book. The characters are vivid and all very different, even including the annoying kid you'd really rather just shut up and go home. The world is vivid and the style of writing means that when the children are confused, or things are happening too fast for them, the reader is confused too. There are battle scenes but these are mentioned rather than described, in keeping with a child narrator. I liked the fact that although they participated in magic the characters were not expected to fight. Many fantasy book I read that are aimed at younger readers involve the characters fighting or making decisions beyond their years but this doesn't happen in this book.
5 stars, highly reccomend.

This is a nice, fast paced story. Dwarves, pixies and other fantasy characters show up. The pov changes, which I like, and it makes the story more interesting.

Dwarf story is a middle grade fantasy. It seems a little long given the age group its meant for. The plot is engaging and is told in 1st person narrative and has 4 person point of view. I was humorous at times and engaging. The chapters were short and full of mythological creatures. Full of action, thrill and mystery. It did slow down a little at times to hold my attention, but overall a good read. The characters were likeable and I liked how helpful they were to each other. Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an early review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Arty likes structure, school, and sticky notes. But all of that is thrown out the window when he discovers a dwarf in his backyard. Not only that, but the dwarf causes him to miss the bus. Things continue to spiral out of control when his best friend Emma discovers her own magical creature.

There is a connection between the town of Belle Terre and the magical world. Bit by bit, Arty and his friends decipher this connection uncover a plot by Gwyllion, the Old Woman of the Mountain. Gwyllion wants one thing, to move her supernatural power into the real world.

The entire book is written in first person through four distinct POVs. It is written as if the children are telling their version of the story. They speak directly to each other. Other times, they speak directly to the other’s POV. Let me give you an example. This is the beginning of a chapter written from Cry’s perspective.

"Cry here, not my real name. I was with Ted, but won’t let him tell about it; Emma and Arty said not to about a million times."

Not only do they play off of each other, but the relational dynamics between the four main characters are also retained in their relation to the readers. I found the entire technique engaging and humorous.

This is a very long book for middle grade. It clocks in at 388 pages where similar works would be around 220-250. That is definitely felt at times. There are multiple instances where the kids wander around trying to figure out what to do next. Some of the descriptions are overdone. The battles were confusing and hard to follow. All that being said, I thought that humor was strong enough to carry the story. While I may have disconnected a couple of times, I don’t believe that will be the case for most readers.

Overall, this is an excellent choice for middle grade readers. The plot is engaging. The humor is well-done. Jokes are tasteful. The situations can get a bit ridiculous. And the main characters solve their problems without resorting to violence or deceit. They go to great lengths to help one another and the fantastical creatures visiting Belle Terre. Finally, there is enough mystery to keep the guessing and reading all the way to the very end.

I enjoyed the style that this book was written in, ie each chapter being written by the character from their point of view, but taking to us about it. It’s not something I come across often and I really liked it. It was very engaging and it endeared me to the characters straight away (even Ted!)

It’s quite a long book, but with short chapters so you can quickly just read a chapter and be off doing something else if need be (read as waiting in a long queue to go into the supermarket..)

I did like all of the characters, and the story is full of action, which is just what you want from a dwarf story (plus many others). I found it to be an engaging, funny, action filled story.

I was given access to this title by author and publisher. Due to errors in format and difficulty following the storyline, POV was hard to follow as well, I cannot give an informed review.

Dwarf Story by Professor W.W. Marplot is a fascinating portrayal of humans meeting mythological creatures. The story starts off thrilling, as mystery and suspense hang in the air, but begins to slog as answers are not found. Though the idea is enthralling, the slow pace does not keep the reader’s attention and quickly makes the story boring.
The book features multiple middle school students as well as mythological creatures. Though the characters are realistic and relatable, their responses to the situations did not match their personalities.
The book starts off nicely but soon slows down for no reason at all. For a large chunk of the story, nothing new and interesting happens. If the author had sped up the timeline slightly and had introduced the villain earlier and in a better fashion, the book would have kept the audience’s attention better.