Adventure at Brimstone Hill: A ‘must read’ for every St. Kitts-Nevis child!
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Carol Ottley-Mitchell, author of ‘Adventure at Brimstone Hill’
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‘Adventure at Brimstone Hill’ by Carol Ottley-Mitchell should become required reading for every Kittitian and Nevisian child and no doubt it will eventually become required reading for all Caribbean children.
This is not because it is written by a local author, or because it is set at Brimstone Hill, our local World Heritage Site but because it has all the exciting features of children’s books that have become universally popular. It can be regarded as “creative expression for entertainment and education.”
Those of the older generation of the fifties and sixties may remember going to the Public Library and fervently hoping they would find one of Enid Blyton’s exciting books that recorded the adventures of children and how they found themselves in many mysterious escapades. The younger generation of the nineties and twenties will have waited impatiently for a new Harry Potter book. You would have been enthralled by the imagination and the ability to dwell in a parallel world of mystery where the dead were as active as the living, and ‘voices of the past’ were clearly heard. Adventure at Brimstone Hill contains all of these elements which become even more poignant because they are set in our own landscape at our own Brimstone Hill.
Carol Ottley-Mitchell has been able to create an intriguing tale which emerges effortlessly as children go on a field trip to Brimstone Hill. They find themselves becoming part of one of the military adventures that occurred there and are able to actively participate in it. Read it and you will see! I’ll say no more. .jpg)
The book is well crafted, easy to read and convincingly reflects local school culture and relationships. Apart from its entertainment value, it can be used by teachers as a launching pad to discuss the history of Brimstone Hill and of St. Kitts. It can also be used by guidance counselors to discuss school relationships and it makes children see that they, too, can play a role in the outcome of events in their lives.
Congrats must go to Carol-Ottley Mitchell on this the first of what she says will be a Caribbean Adventure series. Carol is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Clive Ottley of St. Kitts. She lives and works in St. Kitts and she says it is her passion for Brimstone Hill and her love of reading, children and her Caribbean home that led her to create the Caribbean Adventure Series. We eagerly await the other books in the series.
Adventure at Brimstone Hill is available at most bookstores in St. Kitts and Nevis and is an excellent Christmas present for children of school age.
