Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain and Ireland by Kevin Crossley-Holland

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Candlewick Press in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I hoped for and more. It is essentially a collection of very readable fairy/folktales, most of which I hadn't heard of before and I thoroughly enjoyed. They are told in such a way that both children and adults can appreciate them and they all run a really good length so you can binge several of them at once. I can't really say much about this collection. If you enjoy reading fairy/folktales, this is a brilliant way to get to know some of the less-common ones. I am British but haven't read much about Irish folktales before so this collection was very fresh to me. Maybe it has slightly less appeal if you're familiar with the tales, but given that I am British and it also contains those stories, I still found it fresh and enjoyable. Definitely worth a try if you want to experience some more obscure folklore.

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Halloween Night on Monster Island by Clark Roberts

I was offered a free copy of this book by the author. However, it was available on Kindle Unlimited at the time and so I read it through that. All opinions are my own, genuine ones.

I was the biggest fan of Goosebumps back in the day and honestly, I still am. I was really intrigued by the premise of this book as evil theme parks and Halloween check a lot of my horror boxes, and the promise of Goosebumps-like thrills drew me in. Delightfully, this book managed to provide everything I could hope for and more.

Halloween Night on Monster Island is the story of a group of children who go to stay with their mysterious Uncle Victor for Halloween. Victor happens to own a spooky theme park called Monster Island which the kids have all to themselves, except for Victor's young assistant and the creepy park caretaker. Things start to get a little too spooky though as it seems like real monsters might be on the island.

I mean it as the biggest compliment when I say this book perfectly captures the tone and unique feel of Goosebumps. I'd actually argue it's a little better than the modern books. The cliffhangers for each chapter are more subtly done, the characters a little more fleshed out and less interchangeable. I had an absolute blast reading this book and it is perfectly designed to read to your child at night. The chapters are very short which makes it easy to make sure you can time readings and they don't go on too long, and the aforementioned cliffhangers would make a child want to keep reading on.

Overall, I cannot recommend this book more. It's perfect for the spooky season or just for the child/child at heart who loves old school Goosebumps-type stories. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this book was and it is well worth checking out.

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.5

The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neill

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Oni Press in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy, this just about melted my heart and I am so so happy I read this. The Tea Dragon Society is an absolutely lovely graphic novel/webcomic that you can read entirely online for free (you can also buy a bindup). It tells the story of a young girl who is learning to be a blacksmith when she stumbles upon another potential profession-caring for these small creatures called tea dragons. The Tea Dragon Festival is the followup to that story, though it is not a sequel and you don't need to read the first one for this to make sense. Instead it is merely set in the same world and features some of the same characters.

In this story we follow Rinn, a nonbinary person who loves foraging ingredients and supplies for their town. This village communally cares for a group of tea dragons who are the adorable titular creatures. One day Rinn comes across a real dragon called Aedhan who has been asleep for 80 years. With Rinn's help, Aedhan must now assimilate back into village life and find the creature who caused him to sleep for so long.

I'm not sure how many times it is appropriate to use the word 'adorable' in one review but it perfectly encapsulates this whole graphic novel experience. The art style is absolutely gorgeous, the characters are likeable and the story is compelling. After reading this I was just filled with so much joy and love for the world the artist had created. I could read a thousand stories in this world and never be bored. It is the ultimate feel good experience.

The representation in this is also topnotch and it makes me so happy to see so many concepts in a children's work. I think people of all ages could enjoy this graphic novel but it is definitely kid-friendly as well and I love how effortlessly the artist incorporates diversity. This is how it should be done!

There's not much to be said about this apart from I loved it and I want as many people as possible to experience the joy this work brought me. If you're looking for a cute graphic novel, this is the perfect example. If you like dragons, tea, fantasy worlds, slice of life stories featuring a ton of diversity, romances that aren't overt or take over the plot, compelling characters or beautiful artwork, then please please read this. You will not be disappointed.

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