(3) 4-6 Awfully Beastly Business series. Illustrated by Jonny Duddle. Ulf the werewolf and his beast friends journey to the jungle to complete one of the late Professor Farraway's quests: searching for a vampire. But Baron Marackai has no intention of letting them succeed--or letting the vampire survive. As usual, the series balances dark situations with absurdity. Angular pen-and-ink illustrations play up the story's humor.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Awfully Beastly Business series. Illustrated by Jonny Duddle. Ulf the werewolf and his beast-protecting friends are back. Unfortunately, so are Blud, Bone, and Baron Marackai, and this time, troll-hunting is their game. The book takes the usually reviled beasts' welfare seriously but provides plenty of funny adventures along the way to their rescue. Pen-and-ink drawings effectively combine the humorous with the sinister.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Awfully Beastly Business series. Illustrated by Jonny Duddle. In Dragon, werewolf Ulf and friends must prevent wicked Baron Marackai from pitting supernatural beasts against one other in deadly battles. In Delicacies, the monster heroes must save sea creatures from becoming dinner. These books effectively and humorously put new spins on familiar "monstrous" creatures. Spindly pen-and-ink illustrations add to the stories' comically creepy mood. Review covers these Awfully Beastly Business titles: Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies and Werewolf Versus Dragon.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Awfully Beastly Business series. Illustrated by Jonny Duddle. In Dragon, werewolf Ulf and friends must prevent wicked Baron Marackai from pitting supernatural beasts against one other in deadly battles. In Delicacies, the monster heroes must save sea creatures from becoming dinner. These books effectively and humorously put new spins on familiar "monstrous" creatures. Spindly pen-and-ink illustrations add to the stories' comically creepy mood. Review covers these Awfully Beastly Business titles: Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies and Werewolf Versus Dragon.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Paul Cemmick. An assortment of facts are collected in this book, which is, by turns, informative, amusing, and bizarre. Topics range from practical ("how to check your pulse"), to random ("ten phrases for vomiting"), to just plain strange ("do-it-yourself amputation"). Readers may be alternatingly intrigued, puzzled, and repulsed. Frenetic cartoon illustrations appear throughout.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Niki Catlow. Transparent knockoffs of The Dangerous Book for Boys, these are jokier and more kid-friendly, though completely ephemeral and limited to instructions for activities. Each makes vague gestures toward gender exclusivity: Boys' includes "How to Lasso Like a Cowboy" and Girls', "How to Make Your Own Luxury Bubble Bath." But who doesn't wish he, or she, knew "How to Hoot with Your Hands"?

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007