[BOOK REVIEW] The Sandman: The Kindly Ones Volume 9 by Neil Gaiman

Title:  The Sandman: The Kindly Ones Volume 9

Author: Neil Gaiman

Artists: Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D’ Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston, and Kevin Nowlan


Genre: Supernatural / Horror / Fantasy


Year Published: 1995


Year Read: 2012


Series: The Sandman #9


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Graphic Violence, Mature Themes and Child Separation)

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Now, you are probably looking at the title of the ninth volume of Neil Gaiman’s fantastic “Sandman” series, which is called “The Kindly Ones” and you are probably thinking to yourself about how this volume will be all sunshine and roses.  Definitely not!  Do not let the innocent title of this volume fool you!  The ninth volume “The Kindly Ones” is probably the darkest volume out of all the “Sandman” series since “A Game of You” and yet this is probably the best volume out of the entire “Sandman” series ever created!

Lyta Hall (also known as Hippolyta Hall) was always on edge when it came to taking care of her baby son Daniel, who was born after her husband Hector had died.  One night however, when Lyta Hall decided to leave her baby son Daniel in the care of a babysitter while she went for a job application, she finds out that her baby son had been kidnapped as soon as she got home and she desperately wanted to find him.  Unfortunately, when Lyta believes that the worse has happened to Daniel after there were no clues tracing to him, Lyta goes into an emotional shock and a deep rage where she confronts the “Kindly Ones” in the dream world and wants them to help her seek vengeance on Dream, the Sandman for she believed that Dream was the one who harmed her baby.  Can Dream protect his dream realm from the forces of darkness?

Now I just have to say that this was the LONGEST volume I have ever read from the “Sandman” series as it was well over two hundred pages worth of disturbing scenes and plot development, but it was worth the read!  Neil Gaiman’s writing is just as brilliant as ever in this volume as the story is exciting and creepy at the same time and it is like once you started reading this volume, you really cannot put this graphic novel down since there is so much excitement building up on each page regarding the mystery surrounding the “Kindly Ones.”  I also loved the fact that all of the characters that we were introduced to in the “Sandman” series all make an appearance in this volume, sort of giving this volume a finale feel as everything is set in place for the huge battle that awaits the Sandman.  I really loved the way that Neil Gaiman focused so much of the story on the characters as I was really interested in hearing about Matthew the Raven’s obsession about finding out what happened to the other ravens before him since I wanted to also find out about Matthew’s origins and his connections with the ravens. But probably the part about the graphic novel I was most impressed with was how Neil Gaiman developed the character Lyta Hall and it was apparent from the previous “Sandman” books that Lyta harbored a deep hatred for Dream because she believes that he killed her husband Hector in the Dream world.  It was definitely a frightening and intense experience seeing how Lyta’s hatred for Dream could cause so much turmoil for everyone involved, even though it was based on her worst assumptions about what happened to her son Daniel.  Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D’ Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston, and Kevin Nowlan’s artwork were brilliant creative in this novel and they all contributed well to the story at hand.  I will admit that some of the artwork is a bit blocky and I would have expected epic illustrations to accompany this epic volume, but these illustrations do bring a sort of uniqueness to the story and I still really enjoyed the artwork being done in this volume.

Some of the problems I did had with this graphic novel is that some of the artwork looks a bit cartoony to me since some of the artwork made some of the characters have blocky heads, which made it hard for me to take the story seriously at times.  Although, I will admit that the artwork did provide some creativity to the story.  Also, there is so much disturbing content in this volume which involves a mother losing her son, which would be upsetting for any parent who has fears of losing their own children.  There are also some gory images in this volume which involves birds pecking out people’s eyes out, which would be extremely disturbing to anyone who is not a fan of gory imagery.

Overall, “The Sandman: The Kindly Ones” is easily one of the best volumes in the “Sandman” series as it clearly seems like the true finale for the “Sandman” series and is full of disturbing and intense moments that will go down in history as the greatest moments in comic book history! Now that I am interested in seeing what will become of Dream and his crew, I will now start reading the tenth volume, “The Wake” to find out!

[BOOK REVIEW] In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Title:  In the Night Kitchen

Author:  Maurice Sendak


Genre: Food / Humor / Dream



Year Published: 1970



Year Read: 1992

Publisher:  Red Fox

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Child Nudity)

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 “In the Night Kitchen” is a follow-up of Maurice Sendak’s famous children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are” and has also received the distinguished Caldecott Honor Book Award. “In the Night Kitchen” is also one of the most controversial books in history due to many images of Mickey being naked during his dream trip to the Night Kitchen. This book details the adventures of a small boy named Mickey who journeys to the Night Kitchen and meets three unusual cooks and eventually saves the day for everyone who eats cake in the mornings. Maurice Sendak’s surreal storyline and creative illustrations makes this book an instant treat to read.

Maurice Sendak’s surreal story and even more creative and beautiful illustrations, combine effectively in this book as they both delightfully detail Mickey’s adventures in the Night Kitchen. First of all, the story is beautifully surreal as it takes place in a strange dream world where milk cartons and food jars take place as buildings and the three bakers, who are always smiling and speaking in lyrical prose, occupy the population of this strange world. Also, Mickey’s descent into the Night Kitchen is extremely bizarre as he seems like he is a ghost when he falls through the ceilings and the floor, which clearly indicates that this was all a dream. Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are as creative as they are beautiful. He illustrates the Night Kitchen as a colorful world where the sky is full of white stars and food labels on various jars and cartons provide a colorful background. I love the way that Maurice Sendak contrasts the Night Kitchen from Mickey’s world as Mickey’s house is mostly a brown and red color making it seem like a boring place to be, while the Night Kitchen is a colorful world and seems like a lively place to be at. Also, the three bakers in white are truly mind-blowing as they are portrayed as happy, moustache looking men in chubby bodies and tall hats.

Parents should know that this book is controversial for a good reason. There is a brief scene of nudity in this book involving the title character, Mickey. For a fictional character, Mickey’s “private area” being exposed will definitely cause concern for many parents who want to read basic children’s stories to their kids. Also, many pages in this book have Mickey mostly nude and because of this reason, this book has been extremely controversial for many years. Parents who do not want their children to know about nudity at such a young age might want to steer away from this book since it has many nudity scenes.

“In the Night Kitchen” is an extremely unique and beautiful book about the wonders of the dream world and will surely captivate many children’s hearts just as “Where the Wild Things Are” has for many years. I would strongly recommend this book to children ages five years and older because the surreal plot may confuse many small children and the nudity scenes might not be appropriate for children ages four and under.

REASON FOR BEING BANNED:  For showing an image of Mickey being naked.

 

*  1971 Caldecott Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

Title:  Outside Over There

Author:  Maurice Sendak


Genre: Monsters / Surreal / Family



Year Published: 1981



Year Read: 2009

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Child Kidnapping and Some Scary Imagery)

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“Outside Over There” is a Caldecott Honor Book from the creative mind of Maurice Sendak about how a young girl named Ida must save her sister from a band of goblins.  “Outside Over There” may have some scary images and the theme of child kidnapping, but it is still an excellent book full of adventure that many children will love.

Maurice Sendak’s story about a young girl rescuing her little sister is highly creative as it is written in a wonderfully surreal way that makes the story highly interesting to read.  Maurice Sendak’s writing is also full of excitement, especially during the scenes where Ida’s baby sister is stolen by the goblins and will keep kids interested in the story.  Maurice Sendak’s illustrations are more beautiful in this book than in his other books as the characters are drawn in a very realistic way and even when Ida ends up in the surreal world of outside over there, the illustrations still look extremely beautiful in a surreal way.

Parents should know that there are some scary images in this book such as the image of the ice baby as it looked very blue and had a blank stare that would scare smaller children.  Also, there is the theme of child kidnapping as the baby sister is kidnapped by a pack of goblins, similar to the storyline in Jim Henson’s classic movie, “Labyrinth.” The issue of the child kidnapping and the scary images in this book might scare younger children, so parents might want to read this book before they read it to their children to see if they can handle the goblins in this book.

“Outside Over There” is Maurice Sendak’s most elegant book ever written since the illustrations are much more realistic than his other books.  This book will be enjoyed by many children who love adventure and fantasy for many years.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up because the images of the goblins and the theme of child kidnapping might scare smaller children.

* 1981 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Picture Book

* 1982 Caldecott Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War by Clive Barker

Title:  Abarat:  Days of Magic Nights of War

Author: Clive Barker

Genre: Fantasy / Supernatural

Year Published: 2004


Year Read: 2012


Series: Abarat #2

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Death and Scary Imagery)

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Scary, exciting, weird, adventurous, awesome and so many things that describe just how brilliant and horrifying this book really is!

After I had finished reading Clive Barker’s first “Abarat” book, I was just dying to read more of this fantastic and scary world that our heroine, Candy Quackenbush has gotten herself into!  So, I finally got around to reading the sequel “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” and I was just so impressed with what I have just finished reading!  “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is definitely one sequel that you just have to check out!

Candy Quackenbush still continues her adventures at Abarat along with her new friend, a geshrat named Malingo and they traveled among the islands of Abarat together.  Unfortunately, the Lord of Midnight, Christopher Carrion wanted to capture Candy for he senses something unusual about Candy’s presence in the Abarat and he sends the Criss-Cross Man, Houlihan after them.  Now Candy and Malingo are on the run from the Criss-Cross Man but further in the story, Candy soon discovers that Abarat feels familiar to her since she could call out magic spells that she has never learned before and seems to escape danger wherever she is.  The more Candy starts to discover more about herself and her connections with Abarat, the more that she starts to realize the intentions of Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight and those realizations could change Candy’s life forever.

Can I just say that I think that this sequel of the classic “Abarat” series is WAY better than the first book?  I loved the first “Abarat” book just as much, but the second book in the series “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” really got me hanging on the edge of my seat as it was full of action and pure shock value that really got me invested in this book.  Clive Barker has done a fantastic job at making this story extremely exciting and scary at the same time and I really enjoyed the adventures that Candy had when she was on the run from Christopher Carrion and meets new people on her journeys.  Candy Quackenbush has always been a great heroine to me as she is shown to be kind-hearted and brave and I loved the way that she cares so much for her friends and is willing to put her own life on the line in order to save the people she cares about.  I also loved the way that Clive Barker started to unfold Candy’s backstory and how she is connected to the wonderful and strange world of Abarat since I was curious in the first book about how Candy suddenly felt like she belonged in Abarat.  I was pleasantly surprised when the mystery of Candy’s backstory was revealed and now I am more determined than ever to see how Candy handles the new revelations she discovers about herself.  I have mentioned so many times now that this book was a bit scary and that is all thanks to one of the big villains in this story, Christopher Carrion!  I loved the way that Clive Barker really made the readers feel frightened whenever Christopher Carrion comes up in the story and in this book, Christopher Carrion was beyond scary as he tortured many innocent people and the whole idea about living nightmares swimming around his face and eating off of people’s fears whenever they are free was just as disturbing.  I was also interested in learning more about Mater Motley, Christopher Carrion’s grandmother, who seems to be more evil than Christopher Carrion himself, which is saying something because in the first book, she seemed more like a background character, but Clive Barker further developed her character in this book and the results were amazing!  Clive Barker’s illustrations are just as wonderful and surreal in this book as they were in the first book and I loved how all the characters look like from the Abarat as you have images of some characters being a mixture of animals and human beings and the illustrations are wonderfully colorful.  I especially loved the images of Christopher Carrion himself as he looks truly frightening as his face looks like a skeleton and he has worm like creatures swimming in a container he has attached to his face.

This book might be a tad bit more disturbing than the first book since there is more nightmarish imagery and many characters are killed off in this book.  The images of Christopher Carrion are a bit too disturbing especially the images of Christopher Carrion getting angry and his skeletal face is a bit scary for anyone who does not like seeing skeletons in books.  Also, the biggest shock factor for me in this book was the fact that many characters are killed off and that might be unsettling for people who do not like reading about death.

Overall, “Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War” is easily one of the best sequels I have read from any book and now I am definitely looking forward to reading the third book, “Absolute Midnight” just to see how everything goes for Candy after all this!

* 2004 Bram Stoker Award for Young Readers

[BOOK REVIEW] Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Title:  Fables:  Legends in Exile

Author:  Bill Willingham

Artist: Lan Medina


Genre: Fantasy / Supernatural / Suspense / Crime


Year Published: 2002


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fables #1


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

 

Characters of Fairy Tale land, meet the crew from CSI!

At least, the plot of this volume seems like something you would see out of an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation!” 

Brief Introduction:

After I have been hearing so many good things about the “Fable” series, I just had to check this series out for myself!  So, I picked up the first volume of “Fables” called “Fables: Legends in Exile” and I must admit that this volume did have me interested in reading more from the “Fables” series, so we will have to see what will happen next in the fantastic “Fables” series!

What is the story?

In Fabletown, where all the fairy tale characters lived alongside normal human beings in New York, a murder case is afoot when Snow White’s sister, Rose Red is brutally murdered and only Bigby, a detective formally known as the Big Bad Wolf, is on the case to find her murderer!

What I loved about this comic:

Fairy tales, Fairy tales, Fairy tales and Bill Willingham’s writing!: If there is one thing I love so much about reading books, is that I have the opportunity to read about fairy tales!  I just love reading about fairy tales and folktales in general and after I heard about a comic book series that was going to dedicate most of their characters to famous fairy tale characters such as Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf and Bluebeard, I just had to pick this series up to see for myself!  I loved the way that Bill Willingham made the fairy tale characters adapt to the modern day world of New York City and I especially loved seeing the fairy tale characters take on jobs in the real world that you would never expect them to do such as the Big Bad Wolf being a detective or Snow White working as the mayor’s deputy, which the mayor happens to be Old King Cole!  I also loved the way that Bill Willingham set up the crime scenes in this book as it helped create a sort of suspense to the story and the plot is set up where readers have to find the clues to the murder of Rose Red either through the clues set up in the story or through the Big Bad Wolf who is on the case!

The artwork:  Lan Medina’s drawing of the characters is so brilliantly done as all the characters look extremely realistic and sort of echo the comics that you would normally see in detective comics.  I also loved the coloring done by Sherilyn van Valkenburgh as the colorings in the artwork made the artwork truly effective, especially when there were moments where the characters were in dark areas and the colors just darken to reflect the nighttime during those scenes.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

The reason why I gave this volume a four star rating was because I felt that the story dragged on a bit too long in some scenes and I was wishing that there was more action in the story.  Also, there were several mentions in this volume about why the fairy tale characters ended up in New York since they were exiled from their homeland by an evil being called the Adversary and I wanted to know more about the Adversary and how the fairy tale characters will get their homeland back. I will admit, it was a little jarring to suddenly be thrown into a murder case without really getting to know the characters first, but I guess we might learn more about the characters in the future, so we will have to see.  Also, for anyone who does not like strong language, this volume has got plenty of strong language that you cannot even imagine, even though I am used to this kind of strong language after reading Neil Gaiman’s fantastic “Sandman” series.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fables: Legends in Exile” is a good start to learning more about the fairy tale characters that were introduced in this volume and hopefully, the other volumes after wards would explain more about the Adversary and how the fairy tale characters will get their homeland back.  Now, I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volumes in this series!

AWARDS:

* Winner: 2003 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story

  

[BOOK REVIEW] The Napping House by Audrey Wood

Title:  The Napping House

Author:  Audrey Wood

Artist:  Don Wood


Genre: Bedtime / Family / Humor



Year Published: 1984



Year Read: 1993

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Series: The Napping House #1

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 3+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“The Napping House” is one of Audrey Wood’s and Don Wood’s earlier children’s books and is probably one of their most peaceful books ever written.  “The Napping House” was extremely popular back in the 80s for its numerous awards that it won which includes:  the 1984 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book, the 1984 Golden Kite Award from Society of Children’s Book Writers and the 1984 American Library Association Notable Book for Children.

Audrey Wood’s lyrical writing is at its best as she narrates how all the family members are sleeping in the house only to be awakened by a wakeful flea.  Don Wood’s illustrations are colorful and beautiful beyond all reason, especially when he draws the rain shower at the beginning of the book and he makes the sky look gray, which is extremely effective on the realism of this story as the characters look like real people.  Another advantage to Don Wood’s illustrations is that his illustrations are humorous especially of the scenes where each family member bump into each other and their eyes popped out of their heads as they are surprised at being awakened by each other.

“The Napping House” is truly a masterpiece and because of Audrey Wood’s creative verses and Don Wood’s beautiful illustrations, this book is surely to capture the hearts of many young children.  I recommend this book to children ages three and up since it is simple to read and the situation is extremely simple to understand.

* 1984 New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book
* 1984 Golden Kite Award from Society of Children's Book Writers
* 1984 American Library Association Notable Book for Children 

  

[BOOK REVIEW] Golem by David Wisniewski

Title:  Golem

Author: David Wisniewski


Genre: Folktale / Jewish / Monsters



Year Published: 1996



Year Read: 2010

Publisher: Clarion Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 8+ (Frightening Imagery and Scenes of the Persecution of Jews)

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“Golem” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book by David Wisniewski which is about how the Jews are being persecuted because of the “blood lie” and how Rabbi Loew tries to figure out a way to save the Jews by building a Golem! “Golem” is a great and dark story that might please older children and adults, but it will definitely scare smaller children who do not understand the book’s mature content.

David Wisniewski has done a brilliant job at writing and illustrating this book. David Wisniewski’s writing is extremely dramatic and intense as it discusses the persecution of the Jews and his description of the Golem as being a frightening yet obedient being makes the story intense and somewhat heartwarming at the same time. David Wisniewski’s illustrations are frightening yet beautiful at the same time especially whenever David Wisniewski illustrates the lightning during the resurrection of the Golem and the lightning would spread across the whole page and look both frightening and fascinating at the same time. Also, David Wisniewski uses cardboard figures including the characters to illustrate the story and therefore, makes this story extremely captivating and realistic at the same time.

Parents should know that this book is too scary for smaller children since the story is too dark as it describes the persecution of the Jews in such vivid detail that it will scare small children. Also, the images in this book are extremely intense, especially of the image of Rabbi Loew resurrecting the Golem and there is lightning all over the page while the Golem’s expression looks extremely terrifying as it has a surprised and painful expression on its face as lightning shoots out of its eyes and mouth while it is being resurrected. Parents might want to steer young children away from this book until they are old enough to learn more about the persecution of the Jews and can handle the frightening images.

“Golem” is a truly brilliant yet frightening book about the persecution of the Jews and their savior that older children will love because of the amount of excitement and drama involved in the story. I would recommend this book to children ages eight and up because of the themes of the persecution of the Jews and the frightening images will frighten small children who do not understand about the persecution of the Jews and can not handle the frightening images in the book.

* 1997 Caldecott Medal