Tag: illustrated

Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy

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Barlowe, Wayne Douglas. Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy: Great Heroes and Bizarre Beings from Imaginative Literature. Harper Prism, 1996.

Reason read: this was a very short read that satisfied two categories of the Portland Public Library Reading challenge for 2023. I needed a book under 150 pages and a book with a cryptid or mythological being as a character.

I think a more accurate title for this book would have been Barlowe’s Guide to Fifty Fantastic Heroes and Bizarre Beings in Fantasy. Too long? Okay, we can drop the “in fantasy” because it is kind of redundant. Seriously, I did not find this to be a guide to the genre of fantasy, but more of a who’s who of popular characters from authors such as Peter S. Beagle, Robert Jordan, Clive Barker, and Stephen Donaldson. The illustrations of insects, monsters, dragons, beasts, unicorns, and the whatnot are truly beautiful. From fashion to faces, each creature comes alive in Barlowe’s guide. I imagined Barlowe pouring over every descriptive element of each creature in order to get features, costumes, and weapons as accurate as possible. Even though the list of characters is short (there are only fifty), this must-read for fantasy readers of all ages.

Confessional: There is a book from my childhood that I like better. I still have it. It’s called Fantastic People: Magical Races of Myth and Legend by Allan Scott and Michael Scott Rohan. It includes chapters on dragons, trolls, vampires, witches, demons, and more.

Author fact: besides being an illustrator, Barlowe is an author.

Book trivia: Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy was coauthored by Neil Duskis.

Polar Express

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polar expressVan Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Is it any wonder that The Polar Express won a Caldecott award? Is it any wonder that Hollywood made a movie out of it? This is a gorgeous book for adults as well as children. It’s fantastic to read aloud to a child because not only is are the pictures spectacular, but the storyline is wonderful, too. See, I can’t say enough nice things about this book!
It’s simply the story of a boy who takes a trip by train to visit Santa at the North Pole. He is given a special gift that proves his belief in all things Christmas – the elves, the gifts, the reindeer, the North Pole, and of course, Santa Claus himself. This book was such a treat that I now want to go see the movie!

“We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we would scrape the moon” (p 9) and “Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe” (p 29) are my favorite lines.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust  and the chapter on “Christmas Books for the Whole Family to Read” (p 55).

Banner in the Sky (w/ spoilers)

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Ullman, James Ramsey. Banner in the Sky. New York: Scholastic, Inc. 1954.

Banner I read this young adult book in one sitting. It’s cute and heroic and it won a Newbery Award. Basically, it’s the Swiss tale of a teenage boy looking to finish the challenge that finished his father – climbing the final, unconquered summit in the Alps, the Citadel. Rudi is a sweet sixteen rebel dishwasher who dreams of finishing what his father started, much to the dismay of his mother. Widowed and overprotective, mom relies on her brother to help keep her son in check. The only problem? Uncle is an accomplished guide with mountaineering in his blood. So is the kid’s restaurant boss. And his arch rival, 18 year old Klaus. Everyone looks to Citadel as the great lost challenge and Rudi’s leading the lack.

Spoiler: Rudi not only reaches the summit, but he also saves a more experienced, rival climber along along the way.

BookLust Twist: “Adventure By the Book: Fiction” (Book Lust, p. 7), Pearl describes Banner in the Sky as, “an adventure book that makes for good read for adults.”