September 28, 2015
This third picture book in Joyce’s Guardians of Childhood series, following The Man in the Moon (2011) and The Sandman (2012), recounts the backstory of Jack Frost, the only “Guardian who is a child himself.” As Joyce tells it, Frost was originally a creature called Nightlight, who protected the young Man in the Moon from Pitch, the Nightmare King. After defeating Pitch, Nightlight transformed into Jack Frost, his loneliness bringing winter weather. Joyce’s cinematic artwork continues to captivate, but the narrative covers so much ground so quickly that neither the stakes nor Jack’s redemption carry much emotional weight. Ages 4–8. Agent: Michael Siegel, Michael Siegel & Associates.
August 15, 2015
The tale of the only Guardian of Childhood to be a child himself turns out to be hinged on battles and transformations. With flights of baroque fancy in both language and art, the story opens with Nightlight, oath-bound protector of the rotund lad who would become the Man in the Moon, locked in "fierce and valiant" battle with would-be kidnapper Pitch, the Nightmare King. The long, recuperative sleep that follows changes Nightlight to Jackson Overland Frost-a wild, lonely spirit who wanders the Earth spreading winter until the rescue of a family of errant children gives him fresh purpose: to protect not just one child, but all of them, "For they are all that I have, all that I am, / And all that I will ever be." An elfin, slender figure in tight trousers and a stylish hoodie, his tousled silver locks in definite need of a trim or at least a comb, Jack seems to have stepped from some manga to pose theatrically amid late-autumnal sprays of mist and dramatic, cloudy curlicues. Nonetheless, the children's elegant, Edwardian dress and references to a lost Golden Age in the mannered narrative intensify the retro atmosphere common to this series. As ever, the force of nostalgia is strong; the force of narrative, not so much. (Picture book. 6-8)
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September 15, 2015
Grades K-3 In this new addition to the Guardians of Childhood series, which spans picture books, novels, and film, Joyce (The Man in the Moon, 2011) supplies an imaginative account of Jack Frost, the boy Guardian who never grew up. During the Golden Age, he is known as Nightlight, sworn to protect the Man in the Moon and light his way. But when the Nightmare King attacks, Nightlight is flung to Earth, where he awakens many years later as Jackson Frost, an icy boy . . . whose slightest breath or touch brought spirals of frost. Cold and lonely, he flies aimlessly until he remembers his earlier oath to guide and protect, and finds renewed purpose watching over the children of Earth. Stars, planets, clouds, and snow swirl within multimedia illustrations that utilize rich colors and light's soft glow. Joyce takes care to fill the book's pages with a story that recalls Peter Pan at times and is fuller than many tales written for such a young audience. An enchanting fantasy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2016
Formerly known as Nightlight, Jack Frost got his new name when he fell to Earth after saving the Man in the Moon from Pitch, the Nightmare King. Jack's role as a Guardian of Childhood is ill-defined and the story is undeveloped, but the draw of the series has always been the lush romanticism of the mixed-media illustrations, here credited to Joyce and Andrew Theophilopoulos.
(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)