Monday, March 18, 2013

Hilda and the Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson


Hilda and her mom live out in the country and enjoy their life away from the town. However, they receive mysterious tiny letters that tell them to leave and that their house will be smashed! Hilda writes back to the hidden people, as they are known by her and her mum, telling them to leave them alone because they are nice people!
A voice in her head visits her, well not really, a hidden person visits her. After signing a stack of tiny papers Hilda is let in on the secret and can suddenly see the hidden people! Their house is surrounded by tiny houses and there are tiny people everywhere. Apparently Hilda and her mother live in the middle of one country, and their valley makes up three countries. They did live peacefully in the valley, but when the new prime minister of the hidden people was elected, he had promised to get rid of Hilda and her mum, so they aggressively began attacking!
All the while, a mysterious giant-- no, not a forest giant-- is seen nearby. It's up to Hilda to try to make friends with the hidden people (if not, Hilda's mom said they have to move to the town!) and figure out what this giant is all about.
I would recommend Hilda and the Midnight Giant to graphic novel fans or newbies. It's great for all ages, and it features a wonderful girl protagonist. The illustrations are full of rich color and excellent expression and character. I particularly like Twig, Hilda's pet (a sort of fox with antlers). It's a good standalone story that will be enjoyable to anyone looking for a quirky tale. It is however, the second Hilda book-- Hildafolk is the first, and this one is followed by Hilda and the Bird Parade. I didn't feel that not reading the first affected my enjoyment or comprehension of the story. This is an album-sized graphic novel (think the size of Tintin or Asterix) so the illustrations (full color, by the way) can be explored in more detail.



No comments:

Post a Comment