Hilda and Twig: Wake the Ice Man

Pearson's charming prequel series to his popular Hildafolk stories follows a younger Hilda and her beloved deerfox, Twig. But in a delightful twist, it's Twig who has thrilling adventures with fantastical creatures. In this second series installment, Hilda's disappointed when the day full of snowy adventures she had planned with her friend Burku doesn't go how she expected, so Twig takes it upon himself to find the Ice Man, who brings cold and snow when he wakes up in the winter. Only, Twig didn't anticipate just how effective the Ice Man could be: Hilda and her mom get perilously snowed in, and now Twig has to figure out how to get the Ice Man back to sleep. As usual, Pearson's art is fantastic, with imaginative world building, lush colors, cinematic action, and lots of emotional expressiveness in his characters' body language and faces. Larger panel sizes and a simplified plot will make this particularly enjoyable for newly independent readers, and the gentle message about handling big emotions is nicely pitched to the target age group. -- Sarah Hunter * Booklist Review *