Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures

Griffins and HobGrackles and Grims, oh my! In Pearce and Stiefvater’s alternate universe, Jeffrey Higgleston’s Guide is the trusted authority on magical creatures, and as an aspiring researcher, nine-year-old Pip Bartlett keeps her copy close (adding information-rich doodles as her own knowledge grows). Pip can speak to the creatures, but nobody believes her. After a unicorn mishap at school, she’s sent away for the summer, where she helps her aunt run the family’s veterinary clinic. When the town is infested with Fuzzles (combustible dustlike creatures that live in underwear drawers), the Supernatural/Magical Animal Care, Keeping, and Education Department (S.M.A.C.K.E.D. for short) wants them exterminated. Together with her show tunes–obsessed cousin; her new best friend Tomas, an allergy-prone boy who hiccups colored bubbles; and a scaredy-cat unicorn, Pip discovers the source of the Fuzzle problem and a solution to boot. Loaded with kid-friendly similes (“hair stuck up like he’d rubbed it against a balloon”), the fast-paced prose is lively, witty, and gripping. Pages of Jeffrey Higgleston’s Guide with Pip’s improving notations are scattered throughout the text, and Stiefvater’s black-and-white textured illustrations (often, satirically, featuring cuddly, big-eyed creatures) support world-building and character-building alike. The satisfying ending leaves just enough unresolved so readers will anticipate a sequel. An accessible fantasy for independent readers not yet ready for Rowling. elisa gall

After a unicorn mishap at school, aspiring researcher Pip Bartlett, nine, is sent to her aunt's to help run the family's veterinary clinic. When the town is infested with combustible Fuzzles, Pip discovers the source of the problem and a solution to boot. The fast-paced prose is lively, witty, and gripping. Black-and-white textured illustrations support world- and character-building alike.