It is the Reviews of the Series. Or this is a review about different series. Each one has its own quirks (good and bad) but all have that little something that fits the right reader. Maybe one is for you! The first book is more for ages 10 to younger 13, but adults might appreciate it as well. However, if you go younger, just know your reader as some illustrations and concepts are not for sensitive readers. And the second book is for about kindergarten to about second grade, but of course could be read to multiple ages. Both are graphic novel formats.
Anzu and the Realm of Darkness by Mai K. Nguyen (author of Pilu of the Woods) is an interesting graphic novel about finding yourself, standing up for yourself and the trust we must put in others, ourselves and sometimes that trust is misplaced, but to always learn from it. The culture of Anzu plays a large and important role with the theme and action. Some fantasy elements could be intense for the very young or sensitive reader, but overall good for most ages. The illustrations, due to this being an online reader copy, I am not sure of the final product, but they were pleasant, familiar and unique at the same time, with the details fit the needs of the story arc. I am curious how the color will work as what was in the reader copy was not very colorful, but had a creative and unique style to it. The actual images are round and cozy, but some of their personalities are anything but! Read via an online reader copy, this first book in a potential series is due May 2024.
One Cool Duck V02 The Far-out Fort by Mike Petrik is perhaps not as good as book one (which is about new friendships and how it feels like your friends prefer new friends over you) but still fun to read. When I rate this, I say two, but it is more of a 2.5. Read via an online reader copy you can get a copy in October 2023, but only if your child is a beginning to mostly solo reader and liked One Cool Duck #1: King of Cool. The story itself is one of teamwork and doing your part to build a tree fort when these friends’ old hangouts are closed or not clean enough. Of course, everyone helps but Cool Cat is not helping. He’s asleep. Okay, so here is the message, right? Wrong. At the end Cat has an interesting contribution. This is where things lost points for me as I was not sure if I liked the story or not. There is also an open ending for book three.
