Category: Children’s

Casey’s Cases, Vol 1: The Mysterious New Girl by Kay Healy

Oh my goodness, what a smart and funny way to start an advancing reader’s graphic novel series! It’s Casey’s eleventh birthday, and she’s thrilled to be able to open two of her presents before school, saving the rest for her birthday party later on. She’s especially thrilled to discover that she’s been gifted a magnifying …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/09/caseys-cases-vol-1-the-mysterious-new-girl-by-kay-healy/

Disney Classic Graphic Novel: Atlantis by Mike Mignola, Greg Ehrbar & Claudio Sciarrone

Lol, Live Action this, Disney. I actually haven’t seen the movie that this graphic novel is based on, tho I vaguely remember the criticism of it being generally positive. While the story was originally created by Mike Mignola (who also provides the cover art here,) this adaptation was written by Greg Ehrbar, with lead pencils …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/07/disney-classic-graphic-novel-atlantis-by-mike-mignola-greg-ehrbar-claudio-sciarrone/

A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: The late 1990s!

Emily's photo of her bookcase shows her copies of all the Diana Wynne Jones books to be read in the readthrough. Many are tattered.

In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Deep Secret, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and Puss in Boots: three titles that could all start with the word “The” and in the U.S., do not. Deep thoughts! Deep Secret and Dark Lord of Derkholm are two …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-1990s/

Monti And Leo: A Mystery In Pocketville by Sylvie Kantorovitz

This second Monti & Leo book finds the two best friends embroiled in a series of conundrums, one light-hearted but one decidedly serious, as collecting mania comes to Pocketville! Mrs Sheep has generously allowed her collection of figurines to be displayed at the local library. As the Pocketvillians ooh and aah over the scope of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/03/24/monti-and-leo-a-mystery-in-pocketville-by-sylvie-kantorovitz/

A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: the mid 1990s!

Emily's photo of her bookcase shows her copies of all the Diana Wynne Jones books to be read in the readthrough. Many are tattered.

In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read The Crown of Dalemark, Stopping for a Spell, and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland! Seriously, this was quite a lineup for a short month: it included our first ending of a series, our first collection of shorter …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/03/18/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-mid-1990s/

Bitsy Bat, Team Star by Kaz Windness

Bitsy Bat loves school, but is a little worried when new kid Enzo Owl threatens to take the Fastest Flier title away from her. Concerned that her friends will no longer think she’s special, she hyperfocuses on proving that she’s the best. But when race day comes and one of her classmates winds up in …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/03/12/bitsy-bat-team-star-by-kaz-windness/

I’m Lucky To Have My Parents by Radostina Nikolova & Yana Popova

What a moving, necessary book. I fully admit that I’m not terribly cognizant of the existing literature on the topic in the English language, but I’m super glad that Papercutz had this translated from the original Bulgarian (courtesy of Borislava Pancheva) in order to reach a wider audience. That topic is how kids can deal …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/03/06/im-lucky-to-have-my-parents-by-radostina-nikolova-yana-popova/

When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson & London Ladd

The spiritual is a proud musical tradition created by enslaved Black people in America, who channeled the rhythms and singing of their African origins into subversive songs of solidarity and guidance, using their owners’ Christianity as a cloak for their own defiance. Cheryl Willis Hudson discusses the history of the genre in this gorgeous picture …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/27/when-i-hear-spirituals-by-cheryl-willis-hudson-london-ladd/

Murdle Jr. Vol 1: Curious Crimes For Curious Minds by G.T. Karber

subtitled Solve Your Way Through 40 Puzzle Mysteries! I’m about to admit something deeply embarrassing for a puzzle aficionado: I think regular Murdle is too hard. Perhaps that is not even the best way to describe my reservations regarding the online game. I just think that certain information is implied in a way that requires …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/24/murdle-jr-vol-1-curious-crimes-for-curious-minds-by-g-t-karber/

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

You can say a lot of things about movie adaptations, but you can’t deny how great they are for bringing books back into public attention. The Wild Robot totally passed me by when it was first published almost a decade ago, so getting the movie tie-in from a publicist’s box was a nice little surprise. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/21/the-wild-robot-by-peter-brown/