Books | Page 44 of 81

Stuffed Into Darkness, perfect scares, adventure and friends for 9 and up

It can be a dicey thing when you read the second book in a series without reading the first. In a way the party has already started, you won’t know the characters, setting, or how the previous entry ended. What if it ended on a cliffhanger and you’re immediately thrust headlong into a series of events that leave you confused? Then there’s the other side of the coin where you jump into a book series that picks up as its own stand-alone story but also makes you want to read the other books involving the characters or story. Stuffed Into Darkness easily falls into that second category. It starts with a short prologue that is in a very dark place. Strange named creatures are speaking in phrases, they’re angry, planning some sort of grand attack, and are intent on causing pain. If this four-page prologue were colored it would be black, with orange, blue, and red highlights to draw attention to the chaos want to see happen, much like the cover of the book.

Don’t worry if you didn’t read Stuffed, as Stuffed Into Darkness is a hoot that will leave you looking for the first book to see how the journey started.

Age-appropriate scary aweseomeness for ages 9 and up

The Dragon Ark makes you want to believe in them

Statement or impact books are those literary things that draw you into it even if you’re not at all interested on the subject. They can have a cover so beautiful or alluring that you simply must open it. Alternately, the book could be so large or unique that you’re curious about its content. The Dragon Ark, Join The Quest To Save The Rarest Dragon On Earth is an oversized book that works on both levels. The book is huge and its size alone will make people want to see it. The illustrations on the front cover are also incredibly detailed. It features nine dragons flying near an island while a Chinese Junk is sailing below them. There are subtle glossy gold lines that make aspects of the dragons, trees, or boat further pop off of the page.

An impact book that wears its passion for dragons on its sleeve

LoveBlock, tweaks the block books for the better

We’ve been fans of the Abrams Block Books since AlphaBlock came out and taught our then three-and-a-half-year-old his letters. Internally, I’m going whaaa, it’s really been eight years? That comes for both the age of our oldest son and how long it’s been since we received AlphaBlock. That book series evolved into dinosaurs, numbers, building, Disney, Marvel, and more. With LoveBlock the series from Christopher Franceschelli with art by Peskimo has changed again, albeit in a very subtle way.

LoveBlock takes the art and style of the block books, tweaks it a bit and nails the concept of love for ages one and up.

Love is, this book and its capture of how it’s exemplified in life

Keeping The City Going, fabulous art and poetic look at city shutdown

There’s a surge of illustrated books coming out now about COVID and how it impacted people or the places that we live. Brian Floca is an author and illustrator who works in both aspects with equal ease. In Keeping The City Going he’s the author/illustrator and has captured what New York City looked like during the peak COVID pandemic time. While the book takes a look at that city specifically, the labels or departments could easily be thought of as “Any City USA” and the heartfelt lessons of thanks and sacrifice are just as valid.

Keeping The City Going is an illustrated book that’s an art driven, poetry laden look at a big city that’s been shut down due to the COVID pandemic.

The illustrations take front seat in this book about the heroes of COVID

Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts lights up international myths

Parents of a certain age will remember going to Spencer’s. It was the cool store where you could find those pop-culture items, Greg Brady beads, and blacklight posters. Spencer’s is still around, we have one at our local mall, but the teens we know don’t have as magical an impression as we did with it back in the day. To an extent, Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts is a book that channels aspects of that black light magic. It’s an immersive seek-and-find illustrated book that looks at worldwide mythology, putting them on display using the UV flashlight it comes with.

Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts is a book that shows you worldwide mythical creatures when the supplied UV light is shown on the pages.

Myths and beasts there be in plain sight ya see

Unicorn Island, a mid-elementary action horned reader

I’m at the beach, reading a book for mid- elementary-aged and up students about unicorns. Shouldn’t I be putting my feet in the sand, walking, and looking for shells or something? Instead, I’m under an umbrella, willingly reading Unicorn Island, and enjoying it immensely. I could speed read it, but I’m taking my time reading the book, digging into the vivid descriptions and adventure that Sam is experiencing in Foggy Harbor.

A ‘unicorn’ book with adventure and intrigue

Ozy and Millie: Perfectly Normal, an intelligent middle grade comic

Dana Simpson is the author of Phoebe and Her Unicorn. When you visit a middle school or elementary school library you’ll be lucky to see any of them in their collection. They are certainly in the collection, but there’s usually a line of people who are trying to read them. Ozy and Millie are two foxes who have lived in Simpson’s mind since before Phoebe or her unicorn saw the ink of a printer. Perfectly Normal is the second collection featuring Ozy and Millie.

Ozy and Millie, middle school foxes ages 12 and up will understand