Quirky Book for Kids

Today I am going a little funky with my book choice.  This one is eccentric and won't appeal to every kid, but it you get the right kid, this one will be a hit.  If you think it may be close, give it a try.  It has fun written all over it, and by fun I mean mystery and mayhem, not the actual work "fun".

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Title: Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye

Author: Tania Del Rio

Target: Grades 4 and up

Series: This is the first book in a planned series

What this book is about: 

Warren is, you guessed it, the 13th in a line of Warrens who have owned the Warren Hotel.  His parents died young and tragically so Warren’s uncle has been the hotel’s custodian until Warren turns eighteen.  Warren continues to live at the hotel and perform every task needed to run the day to day operations because his Uncle is seriously lazy and has let the hotel go into disrepair.  When his Uncle’s new wife arrives things take an interesting turn.  She is tearing the hotel apart looking for the All-Seeing Eye, a magical device that she thinks will help her regain her powers because it turns out she is a …. are you ready for it?  A witch!  Now things are getting interesting.

Why I love this book:

• I love books that are illustrated for older kids.  I don’t understand why we have to take out all the pictures just because we get older.  The illustrations in this book are stylized and quite striking done in black, white and red.  They add a charm and victorian feel to the narrative.  Loved them!

• The mystery in this book was quite a lot of fun.  There is an eclectic and interesting set of characters to move the story along as we get closer to finding the All-Seeing Eye.

• In an odd way it reminded me of the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel.  There is a conscientious bellboy, a resplendent hotel which has fallen upon hard times and a mystery to be solved.  Fun stuff.

Who this book is for: 

This one is a little harder for me.  This would be a great book to read aloud because it has a lot for kids and adults.  It is a bit reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events, so kids who liked that series may very well find this book a good fit.  Also fans of Coraline, who like a bit of the of the macabre will enjoy this one.

Final thoughts: 

I quite enjoyed the fact that this book’s dimensions were 8” by 9”.  It a nice change of pace to have a book that is formatted a little differently and added to it’s charm.

To purchase this book:

Click on the following link to connect to Amazon: Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye.  A portion of each purchase will go to this blog at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.