This was a good book and the world is well crafted - though the different titles for the beasts, souls, professions occasionally got a bit confusing. I’d definitely read a second installment. I love Taj. Great flawed but compassionate lead character.

This series is so perfect to read aloud to my kindergartener. He’s starting to point out the words he knows and can read along a bit. He says he’s very excited to start reading these solo in a few months after more practice ❤️ Jack and Annie are the best!

“This is my favorite book. It was amazing. My favorite character was the knight. My favorite part was when they found the secret passage way. This is probably my favorite book I’ve read.” - review by Maxwell, age 5, read with mom

“This was probably at least now one of my favorite books. I read it with my mom. The scary part was when the door shut all by itself. It was fun!” - review by Max, age 5

Tiffany Aching is who I’ve wanted to be (and who I’ve sometimes felt like) since I was 9 years old myself. Again, these novels, laughs, wit, tears, and irreverent intellectualism. Pratchett was a master.

This, the third book in the Wayward Children series, didn’t speak in the same way as the others and it didn’t move me quite as much. I still really enjoyed it, and certainly it’s happier, but it lacked the impact of Jack and Jill to me. Also, i appreciated diving into Cora’s history with her body and weight, but I felt like we discussed her being overweight every other page. I have struggled/worried about my weight as a child and a teen and an adult, and for me, it does not stay on my mind quite that consistently - or at least not quite so depressingly. I appreciate diverse characters - diversity meaning lots of different types of representation - but this felt a bit heavy-handed.

If you’ve never read a comic book or graphic novel volume that brings you to tears you’ve missed out on the best of the medium. This story of the lions who escaped the Baghdad zoo in the bombing Iraq in 2003 contains some of the most beautiful illustrations I’ve ever seen in comic art juxtaposed against one of the most gut wrenching (and remarkably written) stories out there. Vaughan has earned his accolades in this industry - this book tells the story of the true and varied costs of war, and the reality of being wild and “free,” in a more nuanced way than any text-only novel possibly could.

My kiddo loves these mice. I was excited for this spooky themed spin off, but Creepella is not the nicest, best example - more than a little rude. My son still enjoyed this but I think we will stick to the Geronimo series.