Nonfiction Monday, by Freaky

It's Halloween week, so we'll go with something in the fantasy realm that still qualifies as nonfiction. We LOVE Halloween, although it is hard to find little turtle costumes anywhere. Stores have whole sections for dogs and cats, but nothing for reptiles - what is up with that?

We recently received two books from Lerner from their "Fantasy Chronicles" series:



and:




Aren't those covers gorgeous? Different illustrators, both fantastic. A quick look online at the other titles in the series tells me these will fly off the shelves just on face appeal. (I could SO be a hydra, by the way - just use my shell as a base, add a few stuffed heads...I'm telling you, there is a huge, untapped market out there!)

The text is even better than the cover art. So many books of mythical creatures just go for the shock appeal and make a quick list with brief history. These give so much more history and background, including the reasons people may have started telling stories about each creature, lessons to be learned, etc. There are some great lines, like "That's when you realize that this is no Tinker Bell you are dealing with."

You'll want this series for your upper elementary, middle, or high school students!