Amulet:The Stonekeeper - Kazu Kibuishi

Image accessed 18/6/13

 

Kibuishi, K. (2008) Amulet: The Stonekeeper, Graphix, USA.

 

Amulet: The Stonekeeper was written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi and is the first of 5 graphic novels in the Amulet series. In addition to The Stonekeeper, there is The Stonekeeper's Curse, The Cloud Searchers, The Last Council and Prince of the Elves. Amulet is on the Premier's Reading Challenge Years 6-9. 

 

A tragic accident claims the life of Emily and Navin's father. In her grief and due to financial worries, their mother leaves the family home and instead seeks refuge in a house owned by her great-grandfather. The house is very dirty and in a state of disrepair. There is so much work to be done to clean it up and make it livable for the family but together they tackle the mess.

 

While they are looking around their new home, we are introduced to mysterious creatures looking through vents and creeping around the house (image accessed 18/6/13). During their investigations, Navin and Emily find a beautiful stone necklace which Emily immediately puts on and claims as her own.

 

Throughout the night, the necklace awakens and warns Emily that her family is in danger. True to its word, Emily's mum is swollowed by a monster in the basement. In a race against time, Emily must accept the power of the Amulet bestowed on her by her great-grandfather. Can she harness the power and accept the help she needs from her great-grandfather's friends (image accessed 18/6/13) to save her mother's life?

 

 

 

 

 

 



Goosebumps: Creepy Creatures - R.L. Stine

Image accessed 4/4/13

Stine, R.L. (2006) Goosebumps: Creepy Creatures, Graphix, USA.

Three books in one! 

The first story is The Werewolf of Fever Swamp - adapted and illustrated by Gabriel Hernandez. The second story is The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight - adapted and illustrated by Greg Ruth. And the final story is The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena - adapted and illustrated by Scott Morse. This book is on the Premier's Reading Challenge Year 6-9.

For this review, I will concentrate on the second story - The Scarecrow Walks at Night, image accessed 4/4/13. Jodie and Mark visit their grandparents on their farm in the summer holidays. Stanley, the farmhand is heard mumbling in the car about 'the book' and 'the scarecrow walks at midnight'. 

The children start to notice strange things around the farm, worms in the corn, scarecrows seemingly moving on their own and their grandparents behaving very strangely. Not understanding what is going on, Mark and Jodie start to investigate and uncover the secrets of 'the book'...

Will they be able to stop the scarecrows? What secrets is Stanley hiding?

Read on and discover the other two stories also - you will need to sleep with the light on for this graphic novel!!!

If you are interested in reading more of the Goosebumps Graphix series, there are two more graphic novels, Terror Trips and Scary Summer.

 Visit graphic novels by R.L. Stine to find out more about them.