Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Westfallen is mglit that perfectly baits the hook and rewards readers

Westfallen is the mglit book that you didn’t know that you needed. In this case the ‘you’ that we’re referencing are upper-elementary, middle school or just those good-time readers who want to engage in a solidly paced, semi-plausible action novel that feels like something that makes you think ‘they don’t make em like that anymore’. Westfallen also flies in the face of recent mglit books that brazenly start their book series by putting a number on its spine. I’m all for optimistic thinking, but stating the goal that more books in the series will follow this one, before establishing their awesomeness is a practice that’s fallen far short lately.

Westfallen is the adventure of two trios of kids, separated by 80 years who are communicating via a radio they found in the waning days of WWII.

Start with the end in mind when creating a series

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel is where the movie is as good as the book

Which came first the graphic novel, chapter book, or streaming movie? We’re reading something that surprised us as to which property came first and it clarified why certain things are made. Most of the time when I read a graphic novel with a known previous release vehicle, it’s because the story has proved to be so popular that it logically translates to something different. Spy School is mglit that was like that. The books are awesome, and while I didn’t really care for the graphic novel, I understand why it was made. I’m sure that Bunnicula will be like that for some people. That’s a book that was first published in 1979 as an early reader chapter book, became an animated television show, spawned a couple of literary follow-ups, and is now a graphic novel. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel successfully turns the classic chapter book into an engaging, funny and age-appropriate scary read for elementary school.

The floppy-eared legend comes to graphic novels

Tater Tales #1: The Greatest in the World! expands Rot’s empire and story

Rot and Snot go through a lot. Previously we saw them in an illustrated book, now it’s many more pages in a book that they took. Tot, their little sister, joins the fray for this adventure. Tater Tales #1, The Greatest in the World!, takes the mutant potato adventures one step further than their previous jaunts in an illustrated book. Tater Tales #1 is an early reader chapter book that heavy on illustrations. One could call this a first graphic novel, but it’s more in line with an emerging reader’s graphic novel. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that will make the book very comfortable for third graders and older, plus a step up for most second graders.

Tater Tales #1: The Greatest in the World! takes Rot and Snot, the two mutant potato, gives them a younger sister and adds chapter that extend beyond the illustrated book reach.

It’s rot and snot, in an early reader chapter book/graphic novel all-skate

Once Upon Another Time, escapist mglit that’s a fun, summer, anytime read

I have a thing against film biographies because I already know how they end. Once Upon Another Time feels like a biography because readers will feel like they know the characters, and certainly will recognize the setting where it all happens. There are giants. There’s a magic beanstalk that the giants have used to go down to where the humans live. However, there is also magic, invisible beings, faceless knights, and kings, both good and bad. The result is an mglit book that lives in the world of James Riley’s, The Half Upon a Time series, but is an entirely new, three-book offering that’ll please those readers aged nine and up.

Once Upon Another Time is great, escapist fun that’s set in the world James Riley created in Half Upon a Time and perfect for ages 9 and up.

This is great, go-to stuff for ages 9 and up

City Spies Forbidden City, full STEM ahead in this must-read series

Sometimes we write about all-age comic books. What distinguishes a great comic book from a great all-age comic book is that the latter doesn’t dumb down the content in order to be appreciated by younger audiences. It’s a great read that just happens to not have any content that would prohibit it from being voraciously enjoyed by elementary or middle school readers. City Spies is a book series that’s mglit, middle-grade literature, and one might presume from that categorization that it’s only for grades three through eight. That’s where the catch-all description of leisure reading kicks in and puts the series, including City Spies: Forbidden City, into the age-defying group of mglit without boundaries.

Book 3 in the City Spies series, Forbidden Series still roars ahead