An apology in advance: Amber and I finished reading this around Easter time, but I just haven’t sat down to write a review of it until now, so don’t expect too many details, just overall impressions.

E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core! by William Joyce picks up where Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King left off. The bad guy, Pitch, is in hiding, but everyone’s sure he’s plotting some evil. And low and behold, while Nicholas St. North, the wizard, Ombric, and young Katherine are out of town, all the children of Santoff Claussen are kidnapped. Our three heroes must work together with their new ally, E. Aster Bunnymund, the last of the great Pookas, to save the children and defeat Pitch and his Fearlings again.

Bunnymund is just downright cool. He’s a tunneller extraordinaire and, of course, the place to go to find him is Easter Island. He’s a man-sized rabbitesque creature, brilliant, creative, has contributed immensely to life on Earth. He has an army of clockwork eggs at his disposal and makes the world’s most delicious chocolate. Oh, and did I mention he’s some kind of kung fu master and even Pitch trembles at the sound of the Pooka war cry.

And Nightlight, the mysterious spectral boy, comes into his own in this story. Even though he never talks, he’s wise and brave, but innocent too. A great hero on his own.

It’s a magical, whimisical, fun book. There’s danger, but all readers know that with the Guardians of Childhood out there, there will be a happy ending. Great books to read aloud, they’re probably aimed at middle school kids, but Amber, who is 12, enjoys them. She tends to like fantasy though, in all its shapes and sizes.

I just learned today that there is a Rise of the Guardians movie coming out in November. I watched the trailer and, I don’t know, the characters just weren’t how I had pictured them in my head. I have a feeling that it will be one of those where I vastly prefer the books to the movie.

4 out of 5 stars

Category: Middle School – Fantasy

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Guardians of Childhood #2
Published February 2, 2012 by Atheneum
251 pages

Book source: Purchased

Guardians of Childhood Novels

  1. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King
  2. E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core
  3. Toothania, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies (expected October 2012)

Guardians of Childhood Picture Books

  1. The Man in the Moon
  2. The Sandman (expected October 2012)

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