Ben Hatke

Julia's magical house, sitting atop of a massive turtle and hosting any number of fantastical creatures, returns in this follow-up to Julia's House for Lost Creatures. When all of her residents become restless and dissatisfied, Julia realizes that it is time for her house to move on. She has a plan for all of this, but unfortunately, things don't go quite as expected. When the turtle strands them all at sea in order to pursue love, her house begins to sink beneath the waves, and her show more creatures seemingly abandon her, Julia realizes that she doesn't have a plan after all...

I enjoyed visiting Julia's house and the many creatures who call it home once again, and appreciated both the engaging story and the charming artwork. Julia's House Moves On explores the theme of flexibility and resilience, as our eponymous heroine must contend with her plans going continuously awry. As someone who has always struggled to pivot gracefully, when my own plans are interrupted or come to nothing, I found Julia very sympathetic here, and I would imagine many young readers/listeners would as well. Much as with the first book, I think that if I had encountered this as a girl, I would have longed to live in Julia's house myself! Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the first book about Julia and her house, and to picture-book readers looking for magical tales fulls of humor and heart. show less

Reynard has a long history of adventures, but will this one be his last?

I can't say enough good things about Ben Hatke's illustrations, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. This is somewhere between an illustrated novella and a picture book for adults -- the text is spare, a paragraph or two accompanying each black and white sketch. I might have liked a little more detail about Reynard's adventures and backstory, but I feel like the idea is for the reader to fill in the gaps. show more This is one I'll hang on to. show less

Accidentally read this out of order! Now I need to return to Legends of Zita to fill in the gap - although honestly, I didn't feel as though I was missing much, which is to say this stands alone fairly well. In it, Zita is captive, and a masked rescuer turns out to be Joseph, who didn't make it back to Earth at the end of Zita the Spacegirl as she thought, but instead ended up on a bad planet, enslaved. Zita's old friends One, Strong-Strong, Piper, and Mouse help her once she's broken out of show more captivity (with the help of a skeleton and a pile of rags, a.k.a. Femur and Raggy), but Zita is, as always, resourceful, brave, and determined.

Joseph and Zita do return to Earth, where little time has passed. A year later, they meet at the site where their adventure began, and Robot Randy crashes to earth with a message from "P" (Piper, presumably) saying "We need help."

"And that is when my adventures really began," the story ends - which makes me think there are probably more in the works...

--> Madrigal?

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Re-read June 2021 show less

When Goblin's quiet life in a dusty dungeon is disrupted by a band of adventurers, who kidnap his best friend Skeleton and make off with the entire contents of his subterranean home, the little creature sets off in pursuit of the interlopers, determined to rescue his friend. After a long eventful chase, one in which he encounters many people who don't like goblins, he succeeds in rescuing Skeleton, and together the two escape to a cave. Will the two be safe here, or will the adventurers find show more them? And what will the residents of the cave have to say about it...?

Like his previous picture-book, Julia's House for Lost Creatures, Ben Hatke creates an engaging tale of magical hi-jinks in Nobody Likes a Goblin, which turns a number of fantastic themes on their head. I was reminded of the work of such authors as Tolkien, only here the questing companions - the wizard, the warrior, the elves, and so on - are the marauders, rather than the heroes, and the goblins are the innocent victims. I enjoyed that inversion, as I enjoyed the artwork, created with pens and watercolor. Although I don't know that I loved it quite as much as its predecessor, this was still a thoroughly charming little book, one I would recommend to those looking for picture-books featuring fantastic creatures and their adventures. show less