Hi guys! Today I’m back with a couple of book reviews, just in time for Halloween! I just read a great chapter book for older kids: Hocus Pocus And The All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha and a fun picture book for all ages: Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex. These are fun books that should be on your bookshelves.
- Hocus Pocus And The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha
- Page Count: 528 * Age Range: Young Adult
This is really two books in one. The first half is the original story of Hocus Pocus with your favorite characters Max, Dani, and Allison. They light the Black Flame Candle and unleash the Sanderson sisters. The second half of this book flashes forward 25 years! Max and Allison have a 17 year-old daughter, Poppy. On this Halloween, Poppy and her friends, Isabella and Travis, unleash the Sanderson sisters through a cheap Halloween board game! The friends have to find a blood moonstone before the Sanderson sisters do – and they only have until the end of Halloween to do that. Finding the stone becomes a bit difficult when Isabella is turned into a dog. It’s a race against time to retrieve the moonstone before the Sanderson sisters! Will Poppy and her friends save Halloween? Or will the Sanderson sisters ruin it? Read the book to find out!
The second half of the book, the sequel, is exciting! There is a lot of adventure and edge of your seat moments. I can’t give away too much information, but know that this sequel is fun and you won’t want to put this book down. I do hope they make this into a movie soon.
In the sequel, Thackery(Binx) and Emily show up as ghosts to help Poppy and her friends. I liked that they included Emily and Binx. I always wondered about Emily and really wish they would have mentioned her more in the movie. I thought it was really cool that Emily is a important character in the sequel.
My favorite part is when Poppy’s rival, Katie Taylor, decides to help Poppy. I like this part because it shows that all bullies are not bad. They have a good side, and I was glad that Katie decided to stop bullying Poppy and help her when she needed it most. Here is a fun fact: Katie is the daughter of Jay Taylor. (Now his name may not sound familiar, but you know who that is. Do you remember Jay and Ernie? Whoops! I meant Ice! jay and Ice were the bullies from the original Hocus Pocus movie. The witches put them in cages because Jay and Ice made them very mad!) Katie knew that her dad was very paranoid during Halloween and did not like the Dennisons, but she never knew why. I think that maybe she really isn’t that much of a bully, she was being like her dad was.
I learned an important lesson from this story – never light the Black Flame Candle and never play a cheap board game that lets you talk to spirits during a blood moon on Halloween night! Just kidding! The important lesson to learn is that you should embrace how weird your family is, no matter what, and you should always be a good friend, even when you’re having a bad day, like when you are dealing the Sanderson sisters!
I recommend Hocus Pocus And The All-New Sequel to Hocus Pocus fans everywhere!
- Are You Scared Darth Vader by Adam Rex
- Page Count: 48 * Age Range: 6-8 years
I sure wonder what Darth Vader is afraid of! In Are You Scared, Darth Vader, the author, Adam Rex, is trying to scare Darth Vader by showing him wolfmen, witches, ghosts, and much, much more! But Darth Vader isn’t afraid of anything! Or is he? If you ever wondered what Darth Vader is afraid of, this is the book for you!
My favorite part is when Darth Vader sees the ghost and asks if it is Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda! I thought this was very funny because as soon as the author says he thinks it’s just a ghost, Darth Vader says “Next,” like the ghost is auditioning for a role in a movie!
The artwork in Are You Scared, Darth Vader is very impressive. The characters are illustrated in Photoshop, but the backgrounds are photos of a swamp made out of many different types of art supplies including clay, moss, glue, and more. The art in this book must have taken a very long time to make. I really enjoyed the artwork. It looks so realistic and very detailed. It’s definitely worth seeing!
I think this is a great bedtime story because Darth Vader helps point out that monsters and ghouls aren’t really scary. If someone was afraid of ghosts, this book would help them not be scared as much using humor!
I recommend this book to Star Wars fans of all ages! Even though this is a picture book, I think any Star Wars fan would enjoy it – even if it’s for the artwork.
I’m NDK, and this is my review!
(Written with help from the Force!)
Hi! I am the Neurotic Disney Kid – sharing my expert kid-opinion all about everything Disney! My favorite attraction is The Enchanted Tiki Room and my favorite park is Magic Kingdom. I love to read and take pictures!