Senor Parrot's Perch

Rapunzel’s Revenge is a graphic novel that had plenty of good press before it made it to the shelves of your local book store. Written by girl’s favorite Shannon Hale, along with her husband, Dean Hale, and illustrated by a non-relative coincidentally named Nathan Hale, it started out with an advantage. Later, it won the Cybils award for best graphic novel for the elementary/middle grades.

When I first heard about it, some time before the Cybils, I was excited to get it, thinking my girls would go for this tale. I had, out of curiosity picked up my oldest girl’s copy of Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, and was very surprised that it was intelligent and well written, instead of some sort of boy-hungry clone. Now I’m a dad who doesn’t want his girls growing up to be vapid boy-hungry clones, so this left me predisposed to hunting out Rapunzel’s Revenge. Then, like a busy dad, I forgot about it.

I came across it a few weeks ago and finally picked it up. Oldest daughter couldn’t put it down, and ended up finishing it that day before she went to bed. She still lights up when I ask her about it. So I read it. It was great. Jammed with action and adventure on every page, it was a truly exciting revision of the well known fairly tale, and far more fun to read. The illustrations were an easy match for the well told tale.

And it is a revision. Somehow, Jack, of Jack and the Beanstalk fame – an occasionally cross-dressing Jack! – even gets messed up in the whole affair, too.

I generally dislike graphic novels/comic books. Usually they have a story not worth bothering to tell. If they have any value, its usually because of the illustrations, but even then, that’s not always the case. I love opera, and in many ways comic books are like opera. The music of opera is unparalleled in western civilization, but if you take the time to learn the story, that can wreck the whole experience because it can be so stupid. Take Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, for example. The story is beyond stupid and confusing, but the music is so transcendent you can’t pry it out of your head with a two-by-four! Comic books are like that. The story is too often beyond stupid, but the drawing can somehow redeem the work.

However, Rapunzel’s Revenge is a great exception to the rule. It’s story is very well told. The characters are engaging and funny. The drawing is fantastic and imaginative. I have no qualms recommending this to anyone.

So, is someone’s birthday coming up? Find out if she’s read it, and if not, go buy this book and give it to her. (That’s right, “she”. I really don’t think many “he’s” are going to really be thankful, deep down in their hearts, if they were to receive this book. Buy him Artemis Fowl instead!)

Here’s an odd little video from YouTube:

Just a quick note about this book: I found Lily and the Paper Man by Rebecca Upjohn and illustrated by Renne Benoit sitting out on display at the Library while my daughters and I were hunting for books to take home. I flipped through it quick and decided it would be good to read to my youngest daughter. What a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be good, based on a quick flip-through, but it turned out even much better than I was expecting.

Young Lily rides the bus or walks home from school each day with her mother. As winter approaches, she sees a disheveled, raggedy man selling papers on the street. Her mother buys a paper from him. Frightened by his appearance, she decides she wants to ride the bus home all the time, rather than walk past that scary man. In time, however, they are again walking and she notices more about him each time, and her fear diminishes, replaced by concern. Then, she has a plan.

After reading this story to my youngest, I could see that she was visibly moved. It was the perfect opportunity, so I got my bible and turned to the book of Matthew, chapter 25, and verses 31-40:

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Then we talked about how we serve Jesus when we help out unfortunate people. That Jesus takes care of their needs by using us, and that this makes him happy. It was a well taught lesson with the help of the well told story of Lily and the Paper Man.

• Title:� Lilly and the Paper Man
• Author: Rebecca Upjohn
• Illustrator: Renne Benoit
• Published 2007, Second Story Press
• ISBN: 978-1-897187-19-7

Lucky me! Tuesday was my birthday and I got some nice presents. One was the Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers. I had read them over a 3 month period, starting last December and completely enjoyed them. However, since the copies I had read belonged to the library, I let my family know I’d be happy to have my own copies because I knew I’d read them again several times over the years to come.

While these books are out and out adventure, primarily aimed at boys age 10 and up� (though I think both boys and girls, and kids in the young adult age group and older will enjoy them, too)� the books are quite intelligent and full of humor, too. I frequently found myself making my wife stop whatever she was doing to listen to me read long passages out loud, just so we could share a good laugh.

The three books of the trilogy are

• The Bark Of The Bog Owl
• The Secret of the Swamp King
• The Way of the Wilderking

The hero of these books is young Aidan Errolson, who we meet as a boy, twelve years old and longing for adventure and glory. He is the youngest son of Errol, Lord of Longleaf Manor, on the island kingdom of Corenwald, is a noted warrior, having served in the previous wars to protect the small kingdom’s freedom. There is an ancient rhyme, the prophecy of the Wilderking, who, it is said, will deliver the kingdom from its oppressors. Is Aidan that king? Many events seem to point to it, but Aidan has his doubts.

The first book, The Bark of the Bog Owl, tracks closely with the events and themes of the story of David from the Old Testament in the Bible. Though the story uses the events of David’s life, it still is very original in its development. The second and third books rely less on the life of David and take on lives much more their own.

The Wilderking Trilogy has a strong sense of place and culture. Evoking the swamps of Georgia and Florida, author Jonathan Rogers places much of the action in the rivers, dense bogs and swamps on the island. This barely penetrable terrain is rumored to be home to the Feechies, the legendary race of swamp people, of whom stories abound, yet no one has seen.

The Bark of the Bog Owl begins one day, when, tending his father’s sheep, young Aidan Errolson encounters a strange creature, seemingly half-turtle and half-alligator, who challenges him to a fight. It is Aidan’s first encounter with a real feechie, and one that changes the course of his life. (Imagine a world where Granny Clampett, of the Beverly Hillbillies, is as typical as the next person, in both thought, speech, and feisty spunk and then you’ll have a good start on understanding who are the feechies.)

In The Secret of the Swamp King, King Darrow of Corenwald sends Aidan sent on a quest into the deepest swamps, from which no one has been known to return. This, though, is the fate for Aidan that is hoped for by the jealous king. Captured by feechies on his journey, Aidan is brought to the man who calls himself the Wilderking and his plot to overthrow the kingdom of Corenwald, and taking it for himself and his feechie army. Bound and caged, Aidan is still determined to warn King Darrow of this plot, but escape seems impossible.

In The Way of the Wilderking, Corenwald is slowing falling into ruin. King Darrow, slipping further from reality, has taken Longleaf Manor from Aidan’s father and the family is living in hiding, fugitives from the wrath of their king. Aidan, now a young man, returns from the swamps to rejoin his father and brothers in exile, only to discovers that every village and town expects him to lead a rebellion against the dottering king. Rumors of impending war with the Pyrthen empire are growing and Aidan struggles against the expectations of the people to do what he knows is right.

This series is really fantastic. I recommend putting a copy into the hands of every middle-school boy you know. They’re described as Fantasy, but most, if not all, of the elements that I’d associate with Fantasy are not present. There’s no magic, no super powers, special powers, or any other sort of make-believe. There are no elves, no vampires, and no wizards, warlocks or witches. The only element of fantasy is the prophecy of the Wilderking. I know parents who like to steer their kids away from magic/sorcery Fantasy, and they would do well to steer their kids to the Wilderking Trilogy.

I’m curious if others have read these books, and if you’re aware of other books as excellent as these, along the same lines. There are quite a few good reviews of the books here and there on the internet, such as the reviews on Sally Apokedak’s blog at her All About Children’s Books Website.

Here is the Wilderking website and Sally’s book reviews and her interview with the author, Jonathan Rogers:

The Wilderking website:� Wilderking.com

Sally Apokedak’s interview with Jonathan Rogers over at her All About Children’s Books Website

and her reviews of The Bark of the Bog Owl,� The Secret of the Swamp King and The Way of the Wilderking.