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Hardcover Books

Warrens and Warriors

Jul 29th, 2022
by rodney.
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Speaking of bunnies… Quite a while ago (in the pre-COVID Before Times even) we told you about a Kickstarter campaign to bring back one of the original role-playing games, Bunnies & Burrows. Well now it finally looks as if that goal is coming to fruition: “Frog God Games has partnered with Dr. B. Dennis Sustare and Dr. Scott R. Robinson to return a venerable and influential piece of tabletop role-playing games to print… Bunnies & Burrows (B&B) is a role-playing game (RPG) that features animal characters contending with enemies and hazards in a world of nature. Published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1976, the game centered on intelligent rabbits. It introduced several innovations to role-playing game design, being the very first game to allow players to have non-humanoid roles, and the first to have detailed martial arts and skill systems. FGU published a second edition of the game in 1982, and the game was modified and republished by Steve Jackson Games as an official GURPS supplement in 1992. As rabbits, player characters are faced with dangers mirroring those in the real world. The only true ‘monsters’ in the game are humans, but there are many predators, traps, and natural hazards. The characters’ position in the food chain promotes an emphasis on role-playing and problem solving over combat.” Frog God has lots more information — and supplements too!

image c. 2022 Frog God Games

Friends Come in All Sizes and Shapes

Jul 23rd, 2022
by rodney.
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There is the first volume in the Tiny Fox and Great Boar series of graphic novels for young readers. They’re written and illustrated (in lush watercolors) by Polish artist Berenika Kolomycka. “One beautiful fall day, as Tiny Fox relaxes under his favorite tree, he meets a new friend: Great Boar! Great Boar loves to explore the beauty of nature and the changing seasons, but Tiny Fox thinks adventuring can be scary… but so is the idea of being without his new pal! What will Tiny Fox do?” You can find out now in hardcover from Oni Press.

image c. 2022 Oni Press

The Bard and the Barnyard

Jun 12th, 2022
by rodney.
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The things we find. Ham-Let: A Shakespearean Mash-Up is a new full-color graphic novel for young readers, brought to us in hardcover by Dark Horse Press. “The eponymous Pig Prince himself returns home from college to find that his uncle Claude betrayed and murdered his father to seize the throne! But this familiar fable veers into the zany and adventurous when Ham-let calls upon his best friend Horatio and a troupe of rowdy, self-centered actors to aid him in halting his uncle’s evil plans.” Ham-Let is written by Jim Burnstein, Garrett Schiff, and Andrew Cosby, with illustrations by Elisa Ferrari. Go check out the preview pages over at the Dark Horse web site.

image c. 2022 Dark Horse Press

They Leap Right Off the Page!

Jun 7th, 2022
by rodney.
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[Back from Biggest Little Fur Con, and there’s still more to catch up with…] At the L.A. Times Festival of Books this year we discovered Creative Creature Catcher — an “augmented reality children’s book”, to use the publisher’s phrase for it. “Welcome to the Society of Creative Creature Catchers! Your mission is simple: Find and learn about a variety of fantastical animals who have ended up lost in our world and then it’s your job to send them home to their families! Some hide in the curtains. Others hide under the bed. Don’t worry. They won’t hurt you. They’re scared, and their parents are worried about them.” Sounds like an interesting story, but then it goes further… “But this is just half the story. Creative Creature Catcher isn’t just about reading. It’s about doing. Anyone can read about these unfortunate animals, but Malcolm will teach you how to get personally involved. Grab your Apple or Android device (phone or tablet), and even stubborn readers will want to know more about the shifty Grumbaloo or the quick-footed Eeking Sfifter as 3D characters leap to life with Augmented Reality.” Visit their official web site to see more of what they’re talking about.

image c. 2022 Anomaly Productions

Bear With Her

Jun 3rd, 2022
by rodney.
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Sorry. The Girl Who Speaks Bear is a recent novel for young readers written by Sophie Anderson. “Discovered in a bear cave as a baby, 12-year-old Yanka dreams of knowing who she really is. Although Yanka is happy at home with her loving foster mother, she feels out of place in the village where the other children mock her for her unusual size and strength. So when Yanka wakes up one morning to find that her legs have become bear legs, she knows she has no choice but to leave her village. She has to find somewhere she truly belongs, so she ventures into the Snow Forest with her pet weasel, Mousetrap, in search of the truth about her past. But deep in the forest there are many dangers, and Yanka discovers that even the most fantastic stories she grew up hearing are true. And just as she draws close to discovering who she really is, something terrifying happens that could trap her in the forest…forever.” Published by Scholastic, it’s available now in hardcover. [And with that, we’ll see you all again after a trip to Biggest Little Fur Con! — ye ed-otter]

Hump-Day Reading

Jun 1st, 2022
by rodney.
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Once Upon A Camel is the fairy-tale sounding title of a new illustrated novel by Kathi Appelt. “Zada is a camel with a treasure trove of stories to tell. She’s won camel races for the royal Pasha of Smyrna, crossed treacherous oceans to new land, led army missions with her best camel friend by her side, and outsmarted a far too pompous mountain lion. But those stories were from before. Now, Zada wanders the desert as the last camel in Texas. She’s not, however, alone. Two tiny kestrel chicks are nestled in the fluff of fur between her ears — kee-killy-keeing for their missing parents — and a dust storm the size of a mountain is taking Zada on one more grand adventure. And it could lead to this achy old camel’s most brilliant story yet.” That story is illustrated by Eric Rohmann and available now in hardcover from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2022 Simon & Schuster

Bears On The Wing

May 30th, 2022
by rodney.
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Seems like every time we turn around we’re reviewing something new by Katherine Applegate — author of Crenshaw, The One and Only Ivan, and the Animorphs series, among many others. This time it’s Willodeen, and it’s very hard to explain… We’ll let the publisher try: “Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores creatures of all kinds, but her favorites are the most unlovable beasts in the land: strange beasts known as “screechers.” The villagers of Perchance call them pests, even monsters, but Willodeen believes the animals serve a vital role in the complicated web of nature. Lately, though, nature has seemed angry indeed. Perchance has been cursed with fires and mudslides, droughts and fevers, and even the annual migration of hummingbears, a source of local pride and income, has dwindled. For as long as anyone can remember, the tiny animals have overwintered in shimmering bubble nests perched atop blue willow trees, drawing tourists from far and wide. This year, however, not a single hummingbear has returned to Perchance, and no one knows why. When a handmade birthday gift brings unexpected magic to Willodeen and her new friend, Connor, she’s determined to speak up for the animals she loves, and perhaps even uncover the answer to the mystery of the missing hummingbears.” Find the book in hardcover at MacMillan Publishers and it should all make more sense.

image c. 2022 MacMillan Publishers

Here Comes the Neighborhood

May 28th, 2022
by rodney.
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The mind that gave us Wicked turns toward anthropomorphic animals as Gregory Maguire brings us Cress Watercress, a new hardcover novel for young readers. “When Papa doesn’t return from a nocturnal honey-gathering expedition, Cress holds out hope, but her mother assumes the worst. It’s a dangerous world for rabbits, after all. Mama moves what’s left of the Watercress family to the basement unit of the Broken Arms, a run-down apartment oak with a suspect owl landlord, a nosy mouse super, a rowdy family of squirrels, and a pair of songbirds who broadcast everyone’s business. Can a dead tree full of annoying neighbors, and no Papa, ever be home?” Illustrated by David Litchfield, Cress is available now from Penguin Random House.

image c. 2022 Penguin Random House

High-Flying Adventure

May 26th, 2022
by rodney.
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The Sheep, The Rooster, and The Duck is the oh-so-innocent sounding title of a very unusual novel for young readers written and illustrated by Matt Phelan. “The very first passengers to ride in a hot-air balloon were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck in 1783. And while hot-air balloons are indeed wondrous, ten-year-old Emile is too busy being the fastidious caretaker of ambassador Benjamin Franklin’s château in Paris to think much about them. But soon, young Emile finds himself right in the middle of a sinister plot. And right in the middle of the secret headquarters for France’s undercover guardians — the very same sheep, rooster, and duck that piloted the first hot-air balloon. If Emile can muster his courage and be bold, he may be the key to helping the heroes save both Benjamin Franklin and the world.” Find out more in hardcover from Harper Collins.

image c. 2022 Harper Collins

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