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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Willingham, B. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Down the Mysterly River is the children's book debut of Bill Willingham, the creator of the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series Fables. Complete with illustrations by Fables artist Mark Buckingham, it is a spirited, highly original tale of adventure, suspense, and everlasting friendship.
Max "the Wolf" is a top notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)--all of whom talk--and who are as clueless as Max.
Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can't guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he's landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world...
Author Notes
BILL WILLINGHAM is the critically-acclaimed, award-winning creator of several iconic comic book series, including the bestselling Fables franchise. In 2003, its first year of publication, Fables won the prestigious Eisner award for Best New Series, and has gone on to win fourteen Eisners to date.
Bill lives in the wild and frosty woods of Minnesota.
MARK BUCKINGHAM has been working in comics professionally for the past twenty two years, building a reputation for design, storytelling and a chameleon like diversity of art styles. Since 2002 Mark has been the regular artist on Fables, working with its writer and creator Bill Willingham, for which they have earned numerous comic industry awards.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Twelve-year-old Max awakens to find himself in unfamiliar woods with no memory of how he got there. Fortunately, he's a boy scout, and a detective to boot, so he's quite prepared to solve the mystery. As his quest ensues, Max befriends an array of talking animals: Banderbrock, the warrior badger; MacTavish, the cantankerous tom cat; and Walden, the good-natured bear. Dick Hill provides a distinctive voice and accent for each character and captures the appropriate persona. Bill Willingham's story (Starscape, 2011) reads like an old-fashioned childhood classic, with a setting somewhere between The Hundred Acre Wood and The Yellow Brick Road with a smidge of Kipling's Just So Stories. Middle school listeners, especially boys, will be drawn into the adventure and should be able to handle the bit of violence involved as Max and his party try to outwit the menacing Blue Cutters (with their sharp blades) and make it to the wizard who they believe can give them some answers. It's an interesting tale with a unique and clever twist. Dick Hill's voice is rich and deep, but his rendition seems a bit too deliberate. At times his diction appears forced and he over emphasizes certain syllables, making the listening experience somewhat uncomfortable.-Patricia McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Eisner-winning comics creator Willingham (the Fables series) makes his middle-grade debut with an action-packed and often touching novel (published in a different form by Willingham's Clockwork Storybook collective in 2001) that explores the nature of characters and authorship. Twelve-year-old Max, a Boy Scout and self-professed detective, finds himself in a strange forest with no idea how he got there. He soon meets a group of talking animals who are equally confused about their provenance, including a badger named Banderbrock, a gentle bear named Walden, and the mean cat McTavish. They encounter mysterious hunters called the Blue Cutters, who use their blades to literally cut into the history of creatures, rearranging their pasts to suit the Cutters' desires. Willingham roles out his themes slowly, only fully spelling them out in the final scene, but they don't interfere with the rollicking story, nasty (but fully realized) villains, and heroic camaraderie. Likewise, although references from The Princess Bride to Edgar Rice Burroughs abound, they're smoothly integrated, never letting readers suspect they might be missing a joke. The end result is a stellar example of a novel working both as an adventure tale and as metafiction. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An intrepid Boy Scout sleuth meets talking animals, creators of worlds and viciously evangelical conformists in a coming-of-age tale first issued in slightly different form in 2001.Hardly has Max had a chance to wonder how he comes to be walking down a forest road with great gaps in his memory than he meets a similarly afflicted badger who introduces himself as Banderbrock. With a raffish cat named McTavish and Walden, a peaceable bear, joining along the way, that walk soon turns into a flight ahead of a large company of dedicated men and women armed with special swords that can surgically remove troublesome personal characteristics like independence and creativity. Nonetheless, aside from the occasional narrow squeak, that flight is more like a leisurely amble, punctuated with pauses for extended bickering and reminiscences, plus conversations with a sociable talking tree and a wandering coot who claims to deliver universes. Even before finding safe haven with a "wizard" (here a synonym for "author") who lays it all out, Max has reached a dismal realization about who he and his friends really are. But going out of print can be a beginning rather than an ending, promises the wizard, pointing out several roads to second careers for fictional characters.Though it's been done before and better (see Roderick Townley'sGreat Good Thing,2001), there's still room in the premise for clever twists.(Metafictional fantasy. 12-15, adult)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Boy Scout Max has no recollection of how he landed in the woods and cannot come up with a rational explanation for why the animals he meets a badger, a tom cat, and a bear can speak. But he quickly accepts this new reality out of necessity, as the four are being hunted by the Blue Cutters, who seek to change their prey's essence. With some luck and the help of the mysterious Eggman, the four just might make it to sanctuary on the other side of the Mysterly River. Occasional chapters from the Cutters' perspective fill the reader in on their intentions, but the story is obviously designed to spur empathy for Max and his friends, and it succeeds. Willingham (of Fables graphic novel fame) creates a familiar-yet-strange world of danger, magic, and friendship. The plot is initially slow, which is strange for an adventure novel, and the many references to Max's past exploits may confuse some readers, but the subtle humor is remarkably done and the resolution satisfying.--Moore, Melissa Copyright 2010 Booklist