Books Reviews: J Fantasy

Showing posts with label J Fantasy. Show all posts

Rasco and the Rats of NIMH (MG)

Rasco and the Rats of NIMH. Jane Leslie Conly. 1986. HarperCollins. 280 pages.

Mrs. Frisby, a brown field mouse, hummed softly to herself as she folded her son Timothy's clothing: a sweater, a jacket, a red scarf.

I really LOVED Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Which is why I was so excited to discover there was a sequel written by the author's daughter. I'm not sure I loved Rasco and the Rats of NIMH more than the original novel--it's been too many years since I first read it. But I definitely loved it. I just LOVE the world she has created. I loved the community--society--they've built in Thorn Valley.

This book just made me happy. It was purely satisfying. Granted, not everything that happens in this one is happy. There is a problem to be solved, a crisis to be averted. It will take a community working together--thinking together--to save Thorn Valley from a very human threat: progress. But. It was just a great little novel to spend an afternoon with.

Read Rasco and the Rats of NIMH

If you love animal fantasies
If you love stories starring mice and/or rats
If you love Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
If you want to revisit the 80s--through a rat's perspective!
If you love adventure stories

Dominic (MG)

Dominic. William Steig. 1972. FSG. 150 pages.

Dominic was a lively one, always up to something. One day, more restless than usual, he decided there wasn't enough going on in his own neighborhood to satisfy his need for adventure. He just had to get away.
He owned an assortment of hats which he liked to wear, not for warmth or for shade or to shield him from rain, but for their various effects--rakish, dashing, solemn, or martial. He packed them, together with his precious piccolo and a few other things, in a large bandanna which he tied to the end of a stick so it could be carried easily over a shoulder.

Read this book. Trust me. It's worth it. It is such a delightful book. It's got adventure and charm. And it's full of quirky characters. And the writing, well, it's just SO enjoyable! So unique!

Dominic wanted more from life, so this dog sets out to have quite an adventure. He knows he made the right decision when he encounters an alligator-witch soon after leaving home. He does NOT want to have his fortune told to him, however. But he does choose to listen to her advice on taking the road to the left...

Who will he meet on the way? Who doesn't he meet?! This is quite a fun little story. A very quick read that just worked really well for me!

Read Dominic

If you love delightful children's books; quirky books with plenty of heart
If you love adventure stories
If you love animal-fantasies
If you love satisfying, feel-good stories
If you usually hate dog stories because you're worried that the dog will die
If you love books with happy endings

Tuesdays at The Castle (MG)

Tuesdays at the Castle. Jessica Day George. 2011. Bloomsbury. 254 pages.

Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two. It usually happened on Tuesdays, when King Glower was hearing petitions, so it was the duty of the guards at the front gates to tell petitioners the only two rules the Castle seemed to follow. Rule One: the Throne Room was always to the east. No matter where you were in the castle, if you kept heading east you would find the Throne Room eventually. The only trick to this was figuring out which way east was, especially if you found yourself in a windowless corridor. Or the dungeon. This was the reason that most guests stuck with Rule Two: if you turned left three times and climbed through the next window, you'd end up in the kitchens, and one of the staff could lead you to the Throne Room, or wherever you needed to go. Celie only used Rule Two when she wanted to steal a treat from the kitchens, and Rule One when she wanted to watch her father at work. Her father was King Glower the Seventy-Ninth, and like him, Celie always knew which way was east.

I liked Tuesdays at the Castle. I really liked it. It definitely reads like a fairy-tale inspired fantasy novel. Celie, our heroine, is the fourth child of the King and Queen. And she is the one the Castle loves best of all, perhaps. Though the Castle has also chosen preference to the second son, Rolf. The Castle has indicated that Rolf will be the next King.

The novel opens with the children awaiting the return of their parents and oldest brother. Instead of a happy reunion, however, they receive some shocking news. There was an ambush. Their parents are dead. Their brother is dead. Many of the escorts are dead. True their bodies were not found. But it's just a matter of finding them now.

Celie is one of the people who refuses to believe the news and continues to hope. She feels that if her parents were truly dead the Castle itself would know it--and show it. Her parents rooms would have changed, and her brother's room would have changed too.

The Castle DOES want to show her something, but acting on what she's learned will be risky...

Read Tuesdays In The Castle

If you're a fan of Jessica Day George's previous novels (Dragon Slippers, Dragon Flight, Dragon Spear, Princess of the Midnight Ball, Princess of Glass, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow).
If you're a fan of Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, or Diana Wynne Jones
If you're a fan of fantasy novels for children

The Friendship Doll (MG)

The Friendship Doll. Kirby Larson. 2011. Random House. 208 pages.

The old doll-maker Tatsuhiko poured boiling water into the teapot with trembling hands and inhaled deeply. It was the last of his tea. He portioned out his breakfast rice and took a seat on a tatami mat. One of the blessings of growing old was that it did not take much to make his stomach content. And this morning his heart was so full that food seemed trivial.

One Japanese doll, Miss Kanagawa, sent in friendship in 1927, finds herself 'awakened' to the joys and sorrows of humanity in Kirby Larson's The Friendship Doll. Miss Kanagawa will be seen by many, many people in her travels. Especially at the beginning. When she's on display, when she's on tour, with the other friendship dolls. But can a doll touch others--touch human lives--if she herself can't be touched or played with?

The Friendship Doll is historical fiction with a touch of fantasy. (Readers will have to believe that a doll is capable of thinking and loving, etc.) The book is a series of stories, the main connection between the stories being the doll. Each story is set in its own time period. The first is set in 1927; the second in 1933; the third in 1937; the fourth covers a handful of years--1939 to 1941. (There is an epilogue that brings it closer to the present.)

For much of the novel Miss Kanagawa acts as a conscience for a handful of heroines. She does this without saying a word, of course. But Miss Kanagawa is more than just a scolding sort of doll. She becomes more 'alive' with each experience. She has always been observant, but she becomes wiser and more compassionate with each adventure. (More human, less doll-like).

Did I like this one? Yes!!! I definitely liked this one! It was interesting to see the different characters. I think I liked the 1933 and 1937 stories best of all. But I enjoyed all of them.

Read The Friendship Doll

If you like stories about dolls. Like Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. Like Miss Hickory. Like The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Like The Velveteen Rabbit.
If you like historical fiction set in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s.