Graphic Novels Are Books Too!

Hola Readers.  There has been a debate raging through my firehouse book club on whether or not graphic novels count as books.  For the record I totally think they count...and since it's my blog I'm right.  I love graphic novels for several reasons.

1. They make me feel accomplished 'cause I can usually knock at least one out in a single sitting.

2.  The different format makes for some very cool world building and story telling in a completely different way then a traditional book.

3.  Most graphic novels tend to be a collaboration among various authors and artists which in a good graphic novel means a sum that is greater then its parts.

4.  I like the pretty pictures.

So yeah...definitely think graphic novels are legit books folks. Happy Reading Everybody!

Letters From St Nick

Have I mentioned I'm spoiled?  Hubbin got me a new top of the line tablet to help me read and write while I'm away from home...cause apparently I am never ever ever home any more.  Anyways, one of the many perks of the new tablet...or the Sketchbook as my nephew calls it (Hubbin also got me an super cool awesome bestest ever cover for said tablet) is the amazing resolution and screen size.  So to test out the abilities of my new toy I found and downloaded Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien, which is not really a story but a collection of letters written by the famous J.R.R. Tolkien to his children over the course of many years.

Normally this is the sort of book I would only buy in hard copy as the whole point of it is to be able to appreciate the detailed and magical letters and illustrations...but with the new tablet I can see everything perfectly (full disclosure, I'm so totally gonna still buy this in hard copy lol)!  Anyways back to the letters.  This isn't really gonna be a rambling 'cause there is really no story per se,  but I'm still going to expound on some of my favorite stuff...'cause it's Christmas week...and it's my blog :-)  There are a couple of things about this collection that really struck me.  The foremost is the amazing ability Tolkien had to create a world in such a short time and space.  In the course of apx 25-30 letters this guy created a whole entire world populated with developed characters and it's own story line.

 I find this to be further testament to this mans brilliance at creating worlds and story's, this my friend is the real deal.   The envelopes, the letters and the accompanying illustrations, all done by Tolkien are just absolute insane.  Seriously the time, effort and eye to detail these little bits and pieces add to the over all feel are stunning.   It is kind of hard to believe that they were ever only intended for his children.  Which brings me to my last point.  This guy clearly adored his kids.  Even when the older ones started to grow up, he still mentioned them multiple times.  This whole endevor was so clearly a labor of love and it makes my heart happy to know that this talented man was also a phenomenal father.  This collection is the perfect Christmas read, it is quick, simple, beautiful, heartwarming and I will probably peruse it for many years to come.  Happy Reading Everybody!

The Memories Of Teeth

I love it when I discover a book that I bought, put on the shelf and forgot to read, it's kind of like discovering a secret treasure stash.  The other day as I was going through my shelves to pack a book caught my eye and I realized I had forgot to read it so YAY!  The book is Toothiana Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies by William Joyce and is the third book in The Guardians series.  It was the perfect length and tone for my mindset at that moment so here we go.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

We last left our friends Katherine (the orphan girl with a fierce yet gentle heart), the wizard Ombric who has protected and enriched the hidden village of Santoff Claussen, North the valiant protector of Katherine and her friends, Nightlight the mysterious human like manifestation of pure light, and Bunnymund the rabbit like alien who is both a fighter and a lover of all things eggs, rejoicing at their defeat of their enemy Pitch.  Pitch and his nightmares have not been seen in some time and the group dares to hope he has been defeated for good.  The whole group, along with the villiage decide to go visit the Lamadary in the Himalayas.  Once there they learn the long lost story of Toothiana and how she became the queen of her strange little tooth fairy army.  She is the daughter of a Sister of Flight ( a race of winged women who lived in an ancient and fantastic city guarded by flying elephants) and the servant of a vain and cruel maharaja.  The maharaja wanted to hunt the flying elephants but was defeated by the Sisters of Flight.  His life was spared only by the intervention of his servant and the maharaja was turned into a sort of man monkey.  Fast forward several years later and Toothiana is born.  Once the small minded humans discover her wings, she and her family are hunted. Turns out it is actually a being called the Monkey King (the maharaja in monkey form) who is perusing the little family  and her parents give their lives to protect her.  Before dying they give Toothiana a ruby box to protect.  We also learn that Toothiana collects childrens teeth because they contain the memories that the children eventually forget.  Katherine, after her previous encounter with Pitch decides to use her last baby tooth (which she loses while at the Lamadary) to try and get some sort of memory of her parents of whom she remembers nothing.  Toothiana and her little mini me's (these are what constitute her army) arrive, but before Katherine can bargain with her they are all accosted by the Monkey King and his soldiers.  They carry off Katherine to the lost city of the Sisters of Flight and there she finds Pitch, not quite as defeated as she would wish.  The Guardians after much discussion form a plan and march on Pitch.  Unfortunately our faithful Guardians instead of just going to rescue Katherine, start to feel hate and anger and the need to not just incapacitate but kill Pitch and his army.  Katherine however protects Pitch from the killing blow saving the goodness that is what makes the Guardians themselves.  A wild and mysterious woman appears and spirits Pitch and Katherine away.  The book ends with the Guardians realizing that they erred when they let hate take over and vow to do better.  With that thought they all go to find Katherine.

World Building - This book, like the rest of the series does a great job in creating a fantastical yet understandable world.  This book in particular draws from Indian like settings and has a bit of Middle Eastern flair that fits into the global mythic world that the series is creating.  This installment continues the flow that was started in the first two books and it is very very easy to immerse oneself in this world created to escape to.

Story - I liked that this was both a continuation of the story in the series and added a new bit with the story of Toothiana.  I felt that this particular origin story of the tooth fairy was fresh and original and just all around very cool.  Being mostly a middle grade book I felt the story was simple enough for a younger person to follow, but not dumbed down in any way.

Character - The characters continue to be developed and diverse.  They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, races (some mythological in origin) beliefs, just all kind of goodness.  I also like that most of the main characters have personal conflicts, strengths, weaknesses and so forth.  Especially in books for younger people I think it is important that characters are not perfect, or stereotypes, but that everybody has good and bad sides and needs to learn to work with them.

Editing - I feel that the book is well edited with the story flowing quit well.  The continuity through out the series has been excellent and the book was very readable and age appropriate.

Illustrations - One of my favorite things about this series and this book is no exception is the amazing illustrations peppered through out the book.  They are line drawings with the cover being beautifully rendered in color.  Even if the story sucked I would still pick up these books just on the sheer beauty of them.   In addition to being gorgeous, the illustrations actually help move the story along so they are practical as well.

The Village - So in the story the village that most of our hero's are from decided that they ALL wanted to go visit the Lamadary...so they do.  I just love the combination of the sheer impracticality of transporting a whole village...even if it is by magical means, and the idea that the book acknowledges that everybody has the right to go adventuring, not just the main characters.  I also love how it was a given that if the whole village wanted to go, then they would go, no arguments.

Origin Story - Toothiana's origin story was pretty awesome.  I love how the series in general, and this book in specific take something as familiar as our childhood legends and twist them around so they mean so much more.  Along with Toothiana, we also get more of North's future story and more hints into Bunnymund.  It is cool to see these overly familiar characters get a diverse and rich origin story.

Overall Impression - This was another beautiful and wonderful installment to this series and I give it 7 out of 10 molars and now need to go see if I can find the next one.  I recommend it to anybody who loves retellings, myths or needs a book to read with their wee ones.

Happy Reading Everybody!

HAPPY!

I know I've been slacking on the posts lately, I promise next week will be better with all kinds of Halloweeny goodness.  Until then, always keep this in mind.

Nancy Lemon

Hope everybody has an AWESOME weekend.  Happy Reading Everybody!!!!

Adventures And Nightmares

I finished a book right before vacation that had been in my TBR pile for ages.  I finally purchased a beautiful hard back version of it (for cheap at the used bookstore woohoo) and then it sat on my shelf.  It was a completely different read then I thought it would be.  The book is Abarat by Clive Barker.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

As with most of the books I have been reading lately this book is a bit convoluted so I will do my best.  The book centers around Candy Quackenbush (I love that name!) a teenage girl who is feeling stuck in her tiny Midwestern town of Chickentown.  Her home life, school life and what passes for a social life are all difficult, dull and pointless.  All of this changes when she runs into a strange creature by the name of John Mischief.  John has 7 brothers who are all represented by heads on antlers above his head.  The John's are being perused by a creature named Mendelson Shape who is trying to prevent John from completing his mission.  Candy assists John and the result is a sea rolling over the plains and sweeping everybody away to Abarat.  Abarat is a land made up of islands that are all in a fixed hour of the clock..for example, the island of Yebba Dim Day (an island in the shape of a giant head) it is always 8:00pm.  There are 24 large islands and multiple tiny islands making up this land.  Candy gets seperated from her companions and embarks on what can only be described as a cross between a nightmare and a dream of an adventure.  We meet Christopher Carrion, a man (I guess we can call him a man) who is cruel and scary and wants to plunge the world into darkness.  He rules the island of Gorgossium, which is always fixed at the midnight hour and controls some very hideous creatures.  He plans to unlock a vault deep in the ocean and release a hoard of pure evil on the land.  We also meet a fellow by the name of Rojo Pixler who wants to get rid of all the magic and replace it with technology and his way of doing things.  Candy is chased through all the islands, learning bits and pieces of the history and workings of this new land.  Oddly enough Candy feels completely at home in this strange place that would through most people off their game.  Candy discovers that there is a good chance that she has been to Abarat at some point before, even if she can't remember it.  We end the book with nothing really resolved other then Candy's resolve to stay in Abarat and do what she can to protect it.

To me this book is mostly about imagery, the story is very very secondary to the visuals and world in this book.  The book is full of insane (and very) cool illustrations done in oils in a style that is like a creepy Van Gogh.  I found the world to be pretty cool, with all kinds of impossible characters, buildings and landscapes and the illustrations did a good job in keeping me in the world.  Unfortunatly the story did not seem very developed and seemed to hop all over the place.  Usually I really enjoy the crazy insane worlds, but this one seemed a bit...scattered for my taste.  The characters were ok, with John Mischief being my favorite.  I'm not sure why this book didn't do it for me.  I think it was the story, which seemed to try and go somewhere and say something...but it just didn't get anywhere.  I also was a bit hesitant to call this a book for anybody under the age of 14 or so 'cause the imagery and cruelty was pretty pronounced.  I know a lot of people love this book, and that is awesome and I hope others read it and love it...but I am not one of them.  I give this book 6 out of 10 and recommend it to anybody who loves some great imagery with a bit of a dark twist.

Frouds Faeries

Sometimes I just want to disappear into the land of Faery for a bit.  When that happens, all I have to do is pick up one of my Brian Froud books and off I go.  The best part is that there are plenty of books to choose from, ranging from the informative to the humorous, but all beautiful, fun, and breathtaking.  Here are my favorites.

World of Faerie

Good Faeries/Bad Faeries

Faeries

Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book

Faeries Tales

All of these books, and numerous others in his collection are one of the quickest ways for me to immerse myself in the world of faerie.  I love keeping these close by for those moments when I just need a break, but don't have time or the brain power to get into a book.  I hope these have inspired you to make your own journey to the fae realms for a quick break.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Kidoween

Watched Hocus Pocus last night, definitely one of my favorite Halloween movies.  I then spent the rest of the night discussing with my two sisters how to best get together one Halloween and dress up as the Sanderson sisters, all in all a very good night.

A little creepy for a children's movie

This got me thinking how much I enjoy kid stuff around Halloween.  The books and movies intended for the younger crowd are surprisingly dark and delicious, here are a few of my favorites when it comes to Halloween Jr.

Cinderella Skeleton

A new acquisition this year and it is wonderful, the illustrations are graveyard perfect, the story is written in spooky rhyme and it is the perfect book for any fairytale/undead lover.

A Halloween Treat

Anything by Edward Gorey is gonna be a little on the awesomely grotesque side, but this one is perfect for a pre-trick or treat read.

I Spy Spooky Night

I love all of the I Spy books (note to self buy more I Spy books).  This one is always a favorite with the young crowd.

The Berenstain Bears: Trick or Treat

Ah nostalgia plays the biggest role in this pick.  I love me some Berenstain Bears!

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

I love the colors in this book, it is also awesome to read out loud you get to make lots of scary noises :-)

Hopefully these have inspired you to give the children's section a quick glance next time you are at your local bookstore, I have most of these on my shelf and I don't even have the excuse of kids (unless you count the six foot tall one I am married too!).  

Ok ok here is the other awesome song!

Dragonwriter

Wooohoooo my blog has made it to the terrible two's!  I think it is only fitting that on this second anniversary of this rambling blog that I talk about a wonderful book/tribute I just finished called Dragonwriter.  It is a collection of essays/stories/remembrances of the beloved Dragonlady of Pern , Anne McCaffery.

This collection edited by her son Todd McCaffery is a lovely tribute to his late mother who left for sunnier skies in November of 2011.  This book includes pieces by her children, her fellow authors, songwriters, Con gatherers and just people in general who were and are all personally touched by this astounding author.
When it comes to books, I rarely judge the book by its author, but rather its content.  Unless an author does something pretty heinous, as long as I like the books, then I try and ignore some of the less savory aspects of being a human being that authors like any other human may have.  I know for a lot of people separating the author from their work is not always possible (see the Orson Scott Card controversy going on right now) and that is fine, each reader has to choose for him or herself.  For me personally as I realize that very few people are going to hold all the same views as myself, especially when we get into genre hopping, and

creative types everybody is going to have vastly different views, beliefs, and standards.  As long as this does not creep into their books (aka preaching at me, or blatantly advocating something I don't agree with) I can usually overlook it and just enjoy the book.  For me this is the only way I can read anything because being the judgmental person I am, I am pretty sure I could find something to disturb me in just about anyone (as well as myself).
This being said, when I hear of an author being pretty awesome, it does increase my enjoyment of their books.  Reading Dragonwriter and learning about all of the amazing things Ms. McCaffery did for her fellow men, women, animals, and publishers was pretty awesome.  The stories told are by people who actually knew this woman, who had been to her house, conversed with her, corresponded with her, wrote with her, and in some cases even lived with her.  I loved reading about little personal things that crept into her stories, like how she loved music and tried to train as an opera singer until a burr was discovered in her voice...which then got written into her book Crystal Singer which just makes that book even more awesome then it already is.  The stories of her sense of humor, her temper, her designation as "Universal Mum", her impulse to see
other (especially fledgling) authors as her friends, and people who needed a boost vs competition is refreshing and wonderful.  Our lady of the dragons (and other amazing characters and settings as well) was without a doubt human, with human flaws, but when you can get a book chock full of people who's lives are better, not just because of her books, but because of the person behind the books as well then you know you have surpassed being just a phenomenal writer, but a great human being as well, which is sometimes the harder thing to be. Between the personal stories and the bonus artwork of Michael Whelan who did most of the cover art for the Pern series makes this a must read for any Anne McCaffery fan...and now I have to go reread all of her books.

What author inspires you outside of their books?  How much does an authors outside life affect your enjoyment of their books?   Is there such thing as too much Anne McCaffery?

Gorogoa

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday, I spent most of it trying not to move the upper half of my body.  I somehow managed to tweak one of long muscles in my neck/shoulder and every move was excruciating yesterday, good news is I feel much better now.  As a treat my Hubbin found me the most amazing game using his new Leap Motion gizmo on his computer called Gorogoa. Now why you may ask am I talking about computer games on a book blog?  Well the answer is very simple...'cause I want to and it's my blog :-)  Oh and also this game plays just like a book.

It is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in a while.  The way you have to think about the game, and it's space made me feel like I was traveling through a book. Essentially your little character sees some weird and wonderful creature invade his home town and goes on this weird yet wonderful journey (involving books of course) to get all the pieces to a potion.  The game takes a while to figure out, but once you do it is pretty mind blowing.  If this was a picture book I would totally get it for my nephews, very awesome.

Have you ever played a game and thought, wow this would make a great book?  What about movies?  Am I just a tad to obsessed with turning everything into a book?

Big Dragons, Little Dragons

My nephews love dragons, my nephews are also very easily scared so trying to find a dragon book that was about dragons, but not scary, but not cartoonish because those are not "real" dragons was a bit of a challenge.

Lucky for me I already owned the perfect book Discovery of Dragons by Graeme Base.  I love this book as an adult because besides the absolutely amazing illustrations (which is totally worth it all by themselves), it is also hilarious.  It is broken into several sections, each dealing with a "discoverer of dragons" all of whom stumble upon these delightful beasts by some accidental means. The book is written in a research

journal/scrapbook like format with "letters" from the explorers, illustrations (make sure you look closely at the border illustrations, these are the funniest), and "scientific" data on each creature.  The dragons themselves range from the familiar type such as St. Georges Dragon, to the more unusual Livingston's Demon. For the boys I did not read every word since they would have gotten bored, but they LOVED the pictures and would ask a zillion questions about them as we went through the book.  I would recommend this beautiful, funny, intriguing picture book to anybody and everybody.

Will I ever get to old for picture books?  What is your favorite dragon?  How much do you love unexpected humor?

Hurricane Mamma

My Mamma is coming!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!! Poor Hubbin is already getting out the ear plugs.  Of all the wonderful, amazing, stupendous (hey I spelled that right the first time), awe inspiring things my mother is, one of my favorites is that she is a book lover like me. She is also quit the character and reminds me of some of my most beloved children's book characters.

All Hail the Birthday Queen

Any of the "Queen" books illustrated by Ms. Engelbreit remind me of my Queen Mother 

Eloise

Mischief is a staple in my Mamma's life, she has this look that means trouble...now her four-year old grandson lil G is showing the same look!

Fancy Nancy

These books always make me think of my Mamma, I swear Creativity is her middle name.

Ramona Quimby

Everything about these books reminds me of my Mamma, I always like to think if I could go back and watch her grow up, this is what she would be like.

"Boots" McFarland

Her visits are always eventful, and we "joke" that we always have bail money handy when she comes to town :-)

I am very excited to see her and we will be traipsing all over the country side so my posting may be a little spotty.  I will do my best to at least get something up, but if you don't see anything for a couple days, don't worry I probably did not get kidnapped by the Canadian Mob...probably :-)

Pictures Make Everything Better

I am a sucker for picture books.  I love graphic novels, adult/YA/MG books with the occasional drawings, and I love children's picture books.  As much as I adore the written word and don't need visuals, I have to say almost every book I have read has been enhanced by them.  Here are a couple of my favorite illustrated books.

Stardust

I have read this novel both in it's illustrated and unadorned form, and as fabulous as the story is, Charles Vess really adds an extra touch of awesomeness with his illustrations

The Lord of the Rings trilogy 

Alan Lee created such iconic illustrations for this edition of these beloved books that he was one of the lead concept artist when it came time to make the films!

The Chronicles of Narnia

To this day, even a glimpse of the illustrations of Pauline Baynes takes me straight to the happiest times of my life.  They are the perfect, simple yet expressive type of drawings that fit the story style like a glove.

Leviathan Series

Here is a wonderful author who can create intensely detailed world with just his words, but the addition of Keith Thompson's illustrations put it over the top in terms of a steampunky atmosphere. 

The Guardians Series

One of the great appeals of these books is the amazingly detailed illustrations by William Joyce (who also had a hand in writing the stories).  The pictures are a part of the story, not just mere decorations which makes you feel you may be reading a true story, not just a made up one.

How do you feel about illustrations in your books, distracting or enhancing?  What is your favorite illustrated book? Which book do you wish was illustrated?  Is it a bad idea to add your own illustrations with markers to you Mamma's favorite books?

Knitting And Dancing

Flipping through my reading list and my to be reviewed list and realized I had not done a post about Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George yet, which would make it a little awkward to do a post about the sequel when I finish it shortly.  Anyways here we go.

As always SPOILER ALERT SPOILERS AHEAD

I initially picked up this book as it is a retelling of one of my absolute favorite fairy tales Twelve Dancing Princesses  which sounds about perfect.  Our story starts with a creepy prologue with a Queen begging a favor from the inhuman King Under Stone. He agrees to a bargain to grant victory to Westfalin in a war that has been going on for years.  Fast forward several years later and the war is finally over.  A young soldier by the name of Galen is making his way towards Westfalin to hopefully find a job with his Uncle, the head gardener in the Kings gardens.  On his way he encounters an old woman with whom he shares his meager store of food.  He also gives her a scarf he knitted, as all soldiers learn to do.  In return for his unusual

generosity the old woman gives him an old cloak that makes him invisible.  She also hints that the Princesses of Westfalin may be in a bit of trouble.  Galen is taken in by his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin, all of whom see a bit of resemblance to there own son who is presumed dead in the war.  Galen becomes his Uncles assistant in the what is known as the King's Folly, which is the name the towns people give to the elaborate time and money consuming garden that the king had built for his wife, to remind her of home.  After she died he has still maintained the garden in memory of her.  We head to the castle where the eldest Princess Rose and her sisters Lily, Jonquil, Hyacinth, Violet, Daisy, Poppy, Iris, Lilac, Orchid, Pansy and Petunia (there mother was very fond of flowers) are being berated by dear old dad the King for wearing out there dancing slippers yet again.  Everybody is frustrated because the girls, who are normally very good, are unable to tell anybody what is happening.  The King tries every method he can think of, locking them in their rooms, guards at ever door and window, maids sleeping in the same room, but to no avail, every third night the princesses shoes are found worn to shreds.  Back in their rooms we learn that after the death of their mother, the girls have taken on paying for their mothers bargain and are compelled to go dance for King Under Stone.  Rose heads to the garden to try and think and is startled by Galen, she falls into the fountain and as a result of her frigid dunking catches a nasty cold.  This does not prevent the girls from dressing up and dancing, as any deviation from the payment schedule results in sever punishment. The other girls end up sick as well, their immune systems worn down by the constant dancing and worry.  Galen does his best to make them feel better, sending them bouquets of their names sake tied with chains he knitted himself. He has taken to Rose in particular, especially after many conversations in the garden.  He knits her a beautiful shawl as a gift, which she takes to wearing constantly.  

Meanwhile the King is trying to find a way to solve the mystery of his daughters dancing and proposes that he will allow any noble who can find the solution to marry one of his daughters and inherit the kingdom.  This is actually the solution to several problems.  One, he can hopefully solve the mystery, two, it may be a way of re enforcing allies now that the war is over, and three, since he has no sons the husband of one of his daughters will inherit the crown.  King Under Stone is not happy about this, as he intends for the 12 Princess's to become the mortal brides of his creepy half mortal sons.  He ensures that none of the foreign dignitaries ever get a glimpse of what the girls are up to, and even worse, he arranges for a deadly accident to befall them after.  After a couple of the Princes die, the other countries start calling for an investigation, saying that the King and his daughters are using witch craft to kill off all the Princes. The church sends a Bishop to get to the bottom of this problem.  Until the girls are cleared the whole country is placed under an Interdict, which places great strain on the kingdom. Meanwhile Galen, with the help of the mysterious Walter who also works in the gardens has convinced the King to let him try and solve the mystery.  He uses a combination of cunning, knitting and his magic cloak to follow the girls.  He sees them get all dressed up.  After a while an enchantment puts everybody except the Princesses (and Galen who has a sprig of nightshade in his pocket) to sleep.  A rug in their room becomes a staircase and the Princesses descend.  They pass through a gate into a forest of silver trees and into boats rowed by the Princes of Under Stone.  They are then made to dance with their assigned Prince all night and then head back up to the above world.  Galen works out that the King Under Stone is at some point going to keep the Princess's from leaving, forcing them to marry his sons. Galen takes a twig from a tree as proof.  He uses the twig to knit a magic chain that he can use to lock the gate.  Back at the palace the Bishop is busy terrifying the Princess's, locking up their tutor on the charge that she is a witch and threatening excommunication for the whole family. Galen goes back with the girls as they are now required to dance every night and takes a goblet as further proof.   On the third night the King Under Stone senses Galen and decides to keep the Princess's under ground.  Galen awakes above ground to discover along with everyone else that the

Princess's are missing.  The Bishop declares that everybody is guilty of witchcraft and that the King must abdicate.  Galen goes to the Bishop's rooms and finds the Queens diary where she details the deal she made with King Under Stone to have children and a later deal to secure victory for the kingdom.  The Queen did not realize that King Under Stone was using her to produce wives for his sons and that he would eventually ensure the countries victory, but not until most of the world was destroyed by it.  The Queen died before she could fulfill her end of the bargain, leaving it to her daughters to finish out the terms of dancing, just as the evil King wanted.  Despite this proof the Bishop is determined to see the King stripped of his throne and the whole family ex-communicated.  Galen finds a way to the underworld, and helps the Princess's to escape.  He shows the proof to the King and the curse is broken.  The Bishop does not care and still insists on punishment...until the priest of the castle discovers a letter stating that the Bishop was just supposed to assist the castle priest and has no authority.  It turns out that the King Under Stone is actually an ancient foe of the country and many powerful magician's gave up a lot, some even their lives to seal the King Under Stone into his underground kingdom.  Walter and the old lady who gave Galen his cloak are two of the surviving magicians. Galen asks Rose if she will marry him, to which she consents.  They marry and everybody lives happily ever until the next book.

I liked this book, it was a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, it combined magic with a more realistic world, it had a variety of believable characters and a knitting soldier which was just cool.  I love books that have an everyday talent, knittitng, cooking, metalsmithing, dancing, painting, writing, sewing, etc. and shows how you can make magic out of it.  I appreciated the fact that the author tried to give every character some sort of distinctive personality.  Obviously the book mostly focused on Rose and Galen, as it would be hard to have decent length book that focused on all 12 girls, but each Princesses still got a personality to set them apart.  I like how magic does not have a huge part in the above ground world, it is there, hidden and known only to a few, but by and large it is a representation of an Elizabethan era Europe, even the names of the countries are variants of real life places.  I like that religion came into play as it would during that time period and I liked that it was represented as both good, and when taken to extremes by certain individuals bad. I thought it was a bit of a risky decision to make their mother an unwitting "bad guy", being the reason the girls were cursed in the first place.  I loved that the author did not go with the perfect mother who the girls had to impossibly live up to. While pieces of this book were very original and fresh, the basic story and pattern were very familiar, not really deviating from the standard YA fairytale story giving a "have I read this before?" feeling on occasion. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anybody who likes fairy tales, knitting or a good story.  I give it 9 out of 12 dancing slippers.

What fairytale do you want to be retold?  Do you like it when they mix religion and magic?  What household art do you find magical?

As a bit of an extra, if you want to read the original tale with the most beautiful illustrations try and get your hands on this book

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

It is stunning and detailed and amazing and I love it so much!

Peter Rabbit

Whenever I think of Easter I think of rabbits and whenever I think of rabbits I think of Peter Rabbit from The Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.  I love the perfect mix of whimsical art, and child friendly stories and of course animals that where clothes.

I still feel a bit of anxiety whenever Peter gets his coat stuck on the fence and Farmer McGregor is chasing him down with his big scary farming tools!  I remember once when I was younger the Pacific Science Center reproduced scenes from Beatrix Potter books at a scale that would show you what it would look like from a scale of a small rabbit.  It was amazing running around in these 3D, solid drawings come to life, climbing over fence posts that were 7 feet high, being able to hide in watering cans, made my 9 year old self feel like I wsa actually in the book!  I hope everybody has a Happy Easter, and remember to eat lots of chocolate eggs.

Warrior Chocolatier Eggs

Mmmm I love me some chocolate eggs, and Easter is the perfect time to gorge.  Apparently I am not the only one who like them either, all powerful pooka's are also partial to the stuff, who knew?  How do I know this fascinating little tidbit you ask?  I learned it by reading E.Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Egg's at the Earth's Core, the second in the Guardians series.  What other amazing things did I learn while reading this enchanting little book?  Never fear for I shall tell you.

We start out with a quick recap of the previous book, in which we meet the Atlantian wizard Ombric, his young ward Katherine, and the Cossack bandit Nicholas St. North.  These three had just won their battle with Pitch the Nightmare King (who has escaped with the mechanical djinn body and his Fearlings) and were now at the home of the Lunar Lamas trying to figure out where the next piece of the magical ship Moon Clipper was. North has been given a magical sword by the Man in the Moon (Mim) himself and is working on mastering its many mysteries.  Katherine is busy raising her new companion, a giant Snow Goose and Ombric has been allowed the use of a giant clock to travel back in time.  He tries to stop Pitch from ever becoming the Nightmare King, but is stopped by a force stronger and older than himself, telling him that he cannot change history.  Meanwhile back at Santoff Claussen, the village our heroic trio is from, the children are surprised by a present from Katherine, a book that magically tells the stories she writes in them.

Nightlight, the silent friend of Katherine who had kept Pitch held captive for so long, has gone to check on the village children.  He senses something is not right and this is confirmed when Pitch appears and kidnaps all the children.  He says he will return the children in exchange for Ombrics magic library which has mysteriously disappeared.  The Lunar Lamas give our hero's the use of their tower/rocket to go back to there village after they find out something has gone wrong.  When they arrive, they find all of the adults, animals and guards have been turned into ceramic toys.  The moonbeam that lives in Nightlights diamond dagger is found by the shattered pieces and tells them what happened.  Ombric stays at the village to return everyone back to their living state and sends North and Katherine to find the mysterious last pooka, who is the only one who knows how to get to the Earth's core, which is where Pitch is hiding and gaining strength.  Pitch has discovered that the lead from the Earth's core absorbs light, making it the perfect armor for himself and his Fearlings who are defeated by light. Ombric gives Kathrine a locket containing a picture of Pitch's daughter that he discovered while time traveling.  Katherine and North find the Pooka on Easter Island (of course) and discover that he appears to be a seven foot tall rabbit by the name of E. Aster Bunnymund.  He tells them that his kind have been around long before humans or even Earth (which used to be egg-shaped) were alive.  He tells them that he is the last of his kind, his brothers being wiped out in the last Golden Age battle with Pitch. His obsession with eggs extends to everything, including his decor, clothes and even his warriors

who are egg shaped metal contraptions that double as the universes best chocolatiers.  Bunnymund and
North tend to squabble, having two different views on how things should be done, North wants to barge in and fight, while Bunnymund wants to take his time.  Fed up with both of them Katherine goes to rescue the children and Nightlight on her own.  Pitch catches Katherine and North and Bunnymund come to her aid. There is a battle in which Pitch is defeated (but not destroyed) when Katherine shows him the locket with his daughters image in it.  North is gravely wounded, but is restored by some magic chocolate (though I would argue all chocolate is magic) and the children are returned to the village, safe and sound.  Bunnymund is in possession of the second relic the trio were hunting for and they are now ready for the next step in their journey.

As with Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King this was a quick, beautiful, fun read.  It continues the story of characters we already know, while adding some new friends.  I love alternative explanations for where some of these holiday icon's come from, and having them work together is awesome. I love that believing in something is what creates the most potent magic, what a great lesson for our jaded youth.  These books have such a whimsical, innocent flair, while still having a pretty scary story line.  These are the type of stories I loved growing up, and it is nice to see books that allow children to be innocent and loving, and mischievous, and playful, and imaginative without talking down to them.  As always the use of books makes me happy, I LOVE BOOKS and anytime they are integral to a story it makes me spastically exuberant.  The illustrations are gorgeous and the descriptions of the different chocolates that Bunnymund makes, has me searching for some exotic ones to try hear on boring old Earth.  I suggest this to read to your kids, and have many discussions on all the different aspects of it.  I give it 8 out of 10 chocolate eggs.

Swashbuckling Santa

It's Christmas!!!!!! Ok not quite, but it is December which makes it officially the Christmas season YAY!!!!! To kick of this wonderful month of festivities I would like to share one of my new favorite books with you, The Guardians: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King.  I picked up the book in the young readers section after flipping through a short picture book story in the same world The Man in the Moon.

This series is about different legends, myths and stories that play a role in most children's lives and gives them a really new and unique spin. 

The first book in the series is about a pre Santa Clause if you will.  The story is this.  A moonbeam accidentaly frees a horrible creature called Pitch, who rules over nightmarish creatures called Fearlings.  While freeing Pitch the moonbeam also freed a wisp of a boy who seems to be all light and joy to counter balance Pitch's darkness and fear.  In another place the wizard Ombric created a safe haven for any person or family wishing to come and invent, create art, or do any number of esoteric things.  This place called

 Santoff Claussen is protected by numerous enchantments and only those who truly seek to learn, invent and create can get there.  Eventually a swashbuckling swordsman with no family the titular Nicholas St. North makes his way into this magical community.  He quickly becomes enamored by the lifestyle and becomes Ombrics apprentice.  Meanwhile Pitch and his Fearlings have broken into Santoff Claussen and only the quick thinking and expert sword play of Nicholas saves the community.  Ombric then tells the village and Nicholas the history of Pitch.  A long time ago there was a race of  people traveled the stars in a ship that could turn into a moon.  Along the way thy met and defeated a great evil.  One of their best warriors volunteered to guard the evil in it's prison, but after many years of faithfully fulfilling his duty he succumbed to the whisperings of the evil one and let them loose.  He became one of them and created the

Fearlings out of children.  He battled the Tsar and Tsarina of the moonship and was barely defeated by the being known as Nightlight, the spectral boy that was released earlier.  To keep their baby son safe from Pitch, who wanted to turn the little prince into a Fearling, they sent him on the moonship to a planet populated by humans.  The small boy grew up with only his Lunar servants who taught him how to be Tsar.  It is now the grown up prince of the moon Tsar Luna that must be appealed to for help. To accomplish this, Nicholas uses his new knowledge to make an automaton.  He fine tunes it inside it's chest places thing precious to every member of the village so the automaton will know them.  Ombric and Nicholas set out with the automaton, much to the dismay of Katherine, a young orphan ward of Ombris and a very dear young friend to Nicholas.  They task her with keeping the village safe and Nicholas leaves her a compass that always points to his whereabouts in case of an emergency.  The automaton has several built in surprises, including his ability to turn into a flying ship/sleigh.  The two head out to the Himalaya's to find one of the missing pieces of the moonship to try and find a permanent  solution to the problem of Pitch.  They

 eventually discover that the automaton has become possessed by Pitch and the two are turned into living dolls.  Katherine sensing trouble follows after them and is able to bring Nicholas back to his human state using nothing but wishing and belief.  They eventually convince a group of moon priests to help them contact the Tsar Lunar, who tells them how to at least temporarily defeat pitch.  Armed Yeti's and such help our intrepid explorers and Pitch is defeated for the moment.  The story ends with the idea that Pitch is not gone for good and that others will be needed to join together to defeat Pitch and his Fearlings for good.

I loved loved loved this book.  It was a quick short read, perfect for the younger group to read, or to read to the small people in your life, or like me curl up in the hotel room and forget to turn off the light 'cause I just had to finish it and give it to my Baby Sis before I had to leave.  The pacing of the story is perfect, the structure is fantastic, world building amazing and it uses beautiful big bright words to describe things.  A bonus in this book are the beautiful illustrations which enhance the book and make it all that much more magical.  I liked that it was a pre-story to Nicholas becoming Santa Clause, but it was not a Christmas book, there were hints at the legend he would become, but not in your face rehashing of the Santa Story.  I can't wait to read the other two books in the series and will probably by the two picture books that are also a part of this magical world for all my nephews for Christmas this year.  I would very much recommend it to the young crowd, to the old crowd, to the in between crowd, and anybody else I may have missed :-) Also make sure you check out the website theguardiansbooks.com it has all kinds of cool stuff on it.

What was your favorite childhood figure when you were young?  Did you know about the sandman before this series?  Do you like stories that combine various legends like this, or do you prefer each tale to remain separate?