At an age where I should probably be bypassing the young adult section of the library completely, I still do, on occasion, find myself looking through the juvenile fiction shelves.
I know they say “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but that’s supposed to be metaphorical, so really, it shouldn’t literally apply to books. Yet, whether it applies or not, I do find myself excessively searching for books with lovely covers (my main reason for picking up Mr Fox), and all to often I find those in the children’s area.
Covers and aesthetics aside, I still enjoy reading children’s literature; it can be just as engaging, and also sometime refreshing (not to mention easy to read). Here are some that I read, and enjoyed, over the past year.
Wildwood Colin Meloy
I would have loved to read this when I was little—a fantasy set in a magical woods filled with anthropomorphic animals (as yes, I read nearly every volume of Redwall during elementary), bandits, and incredible illustrations. I also had to read this as it was written by the lead singer of the Decemberists (triple exclamation mark), and illustrated by the same illustrator of the Mysterious Benedict Society.
I particularly love how the illustrations, far from the half-page black and white sort of thing typical of those ridiculously long children’s mystery series, are integrated as art into the novel itself, such as in the style of Abarat or the Leviathan series.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Maryrose Wood
This series dictates the adventures of the governess of three children supposedly and quite literally “raised by wolves.” The story proceeds much as you would expect for such a premise (plenty of mishaps, and so forth) but what I particularly enjoy is the style of writing and the use of extensive names such as the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females and the occasional acronym such as DODO or the Defense of Definitude Office.
The Kneebone Boy Ellen Potter
This novel is unexpected and adorable—in the end the story of three children setting off to locate their aunt after running into an unexpected complication and their subsequent adventures felt a bit extraneous in comparison to its conclusion, but I loved the narrative style, characters, and setting.
The School of Fear Gitty Daneshvari
It is not only a fun concept, but it produced a rather fun series; four children and their unusually strong fears are taken on at the School of Fear and under the wing of it’s unorthodox headmistress. I also do love me a good old story about friendship.