To recap, I have enjoyed the work of William Joyce for some time and decided to read his Guardians of Childhood series after having enjoyed the picture books and with the release of the movie. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King was the first volume.
And this imaginative series continues with E. Aster Bunnymund [get it?] and the Battle of the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core.
Forget the bunny trail. E. Aster Bunnymund is on a warpath. In this second chapter book in William Joyce’s The Guardians series, sometimes you have to crack a few eggs.
Pitch, the Nightmare King, and his Fearlings had been soundly driven back by Nicholas St. North and company in the first Guardians’ adventure. But now Pitch has disappeared completely—and out of sight does NOT make for out of mind. It seems certain that he’s plotting a particularly nefarious revenge, and the Guardians suspect he might have gone underground. But how can they find him there?
Enter E. Aster Bunnymund, the only emissary of the fabled brotherhood of the Pookas—the league of philosophical warrior rabbits of imposing intellect and size. Highly skilled in martial arts (many of which he invented himself), Bunnymund is brilliant, logical, and a tunnel-digger extraordinaire. If the Guardians need paths near the Earth’s core, he’s their Pooka. He’s also armed with magnificent weapons of an oval-sort, and might just be able to help in the quest for the second piece of the Moonclipper.
This second book in The Guardians series is about much more than fixing a few rotten eggs—it brings the Guardians one step closer to defeating Pitch!
Like the first book, this is really an action driven story with interesting characters and imagery but not a great deal of depth. They are fun, fast paced, and very visually orientated . There is a lot of silliness and word play but also a sense of mythology and mystery.
Young readers should enjoy the creative characters and descriptions that live in this magical world and the short books are an easy read. Those looking for more complexity and depth to the stories might be disappointed.
I think they make for great read out loud bedtime stories and a good series for the young reader who enjoys fantasy and imagination.
