Tales of Tossledowns begins with a unique character, a spinspider. I can easily picture myself when I was in elementary school where all the students gathered around the teacher who constantly read captivating stories of animals with interesting personalities. Being the main character is a vibrant arachnid, it triggered my fond memories. Although, the author is redundant when trying to make a point about what a “normal” spider does when the main character goes about doing activities. Before the tomebeetle began to tell his story, the book had an adequate amount of detail, enough for visuals. Yet, when the tomebeetle shares his story, the details become more extravagant, creative, plus entertaining! In Chapter 1, at first when reading the selection, I adored the use of the creative names, but then I found myself lost due to there being quite a number of them, that I could hardly remember which area was connected to another area. All throughout the chapters, I enjoyed the dialogue, yet I believe once this book gets passed the introduction and into chapter 1, possibly only a person above the age of twelve could comprehend what was happening throughout the tomebeetle speaking. When I finished reading this entire book, I felt as if it were extremely similar to the Hobbit, a personal favorite. Once the tomebeetle was finished with the story, the book goes back to being able to be read clearly and precisely by an elementary student. I personally did enjoy this book very much, specifically the creativity that has been contributed, such as numerous visuals! Knighton has done a remarkable job with creating this book, although I do not recommend it to a child who does not have a mature view or has a limited vocabulary. Overall, Tales of Tossledowns is a remarkable book with outstanding details that I believe an appropriate age range for the book would be between twelve to eighteen.
