I spotted this on the shelves of a local independent bookshop and just fell in love with the cover. I skimmed through the book and loved the design, the placing of the text on the page and the illustrations were amazing. It became one of my christmas presents.
The story itself is a retelling of The Tinderbox by Hans Christian Anderson and like all true fairy tales contains magic, beauty, cruelty, and love. The retelling is beautifully written, but then having read I, Coriander years ago and loved it, I would expect no less from Sally Gardner.
The story is illustrated throughout with the most gorgeous of drawings, all black and white but with hints and touches of red in places. The illustrations are the work of David Roberts and I shall be looking out for more of his work.
For a book to achieve 5 stars from me usually means that it filled me with excitement, swept me up in the story and provided a sense of awe; it would be a rollercoaster of a story reaching emotions good and bad. A story that once read leaves you so stunned that you want to talk to someone about it immediately then read it all over again. That is Tinder. Read it, buy it, treasure it, you won't regret it.