The Sign of the Seahorse

Posted by Ruth
Category Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Incredibook!, Picture Books, Review
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Our rating: *****

A tale of greed and high adventure in two acts. In which our heroine Pearl Trout, along with her brother and the brave Corporal Bert, must thwart the villainous Gropmund Grouper and his devious scheme to not only cheat the inhabitants of Reeftown out of their money, but to destroy the very town itself!

Graeme Base’s combination of beautifully-done, full-color pages of illustrations with perfectly (and often comical) rhyming prose makes for such an enjoyable experience. It’s a terrific read-aloud, but everyone will surely want to go through and study each picture by their self, too. As with most of Base’s books, there are hidden things to be found—in this case, the sign of the seahorse is tucked somewhere on every page, and close examination will also reveal the continual appearance of “two largely unnoticed shrimps,” to quote the list of the Cast. All in all, great fun for any age.

The Discovery of Dragons

Posted by Rebekah
Category Categories: All Ages, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Picture Books, Review
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Our rating: *****

A collection of letters (with illustrations) from various, obscure explorers who are credited with discovering several of the major types of Dragons. The letters have been compiled and illustrated by a Professor Rowland W. Greasebeam, B.Sc (Serp.), F.R.Aud.

This book is absolutely hysterical! I found the Eleventh Anniversary Edition at the library just the other day. I had read the original several years ago, (enough years ago that I forgot the title) and finally rediscovered it! Much to my enjoyment, there was an extra chapter of dragons. If you read it, read everything in it. The acknowledgements, the disclaimers in the back, the introductions to each chapter, everything. It is sooooo funny! (See? I resorted to a typical extention of a two letter word to fully express my enthusiasm, i.e. I really like it.) It would be good for all ages, as the younger ones can enjoy the illustrations and the older (but young at heart) can laugh themselves silly at the humor.