Bri Meets Books

A creepy little book review for a haunted day!  Happy Halloween, all!

Here’s a hero readers can appreciate – the mysterious Librarian of Doom!

In this installment of the series..

A book is left on a crowded bus, and when a passenger picks it up to read, she becomes entrapped within the book. Until the Librarian appears and helps her find her way back to the real world, in the midst of the poison-inked pages.

Poison Pages is a book in the Library of Doom. The series features a mysterious librarian who battles eerie and dangerous forces.

A six chapter book, Poison Pages offers great graphics and a story one can’t help be curious about, even for its small page count. Honestly, were this an adult book, with the story fully fleshed out over 300 pages, I’d pick it up.  That said, children will like this, especially ones not keen on reading.  What better way to entice a kid to read than by handing him a book that challenges his mindset that books are boring with the idea that books are ..deadly?    

The illustrations by Martin Blanco are spooky, definitely matching the tone of the story, but the first letter for each chapter had an old-fashioned appeal. I loved this, it felt like you were reading an ancient text.    Take a look for yourself with Google Preview.  I can best compare it to the openings of classic Disney movies.

The layout works with the story well.  There’s only a few words on each page, with plenty of blank space. This should be engaging to a reader, urging them to turn the pages to fill in the gaps.   If you’ve got a child who’s not quite ready for Goosebumps or just wants something scary, this series should satisfy them.    You’ll find a complete series listing on the publisher site.

(Thanks to MagicalScreencaps.com for the Snow White image)

Copy for review provided by the publisher.

Tags: 2007, 2009, chapter book, michael dahl, reluctant reader, review, series