I haven't really connected with any of the characters yet, but the artwork and the story are fun, so I'll definitely try more in this series. ( )

children's graphic fantasy/adventure (2nd/3rd grade and up?)
colorful and humorous adventures of Cucumber, a nerdy bunny-person who just wants to go to Magic School, and his little sister Almond, who craves danger and adventure. Adapted from the webcomic. ( )

it was so sweet and cute it made my teeth hurt. also, a quest to save the world!!! it actually never gets old. ( )

The kingdom of Dreamside is in trouble, with Cordelia turning the king into stone and installing herself as queen. Even worse, she plans to resurrect the country's most heinous enemy, The Nightmare Knight. In order to defeat The Nightmare Knight, Cucumber's imprisoned father tells him to go a heroic quest to find a legendary sword that will defeat the knight. But Cucumber would much rather just be studying magic at school as planned....

This book is a short and quirky adventure story; I can definitely see it appealing to elementary-aged children, even if it wasn't particularly my cup of tea. (Sometimes the vibe reminded me of Over the Garden Wall, although I preferred that series to this one.) It is humorous at times, in addition to being packed with action and intrigue. The illustrations are lively and expressive, although I find it a bit odd personally the characters are basically anthropomorphized rabbits. The author clearly put a lot of work into building this fantasy world though, as is evident by the pages of backmatter providing maps, character cards, history, fun facts, etc. The book does end on cliffhanger so reading the next volume is clearly necessary to completing the story (or getting further along in it at any rate).

My one real quibble with the book is the way gender is presented. It's nice to see how Cucumber is more of a thinker while his younger sister Almond is the one training to be a knight. However, titling the book "Cucumber Quest" still centers the male character as protagonist, even if the siblings almost always share the action on every page. There's also references to grown women as "girls" and a character, who albeit is a villainous characters, constantly referring to himself as the "manliest." It just seemed like a bit more than was necessary. ( )

A boy is tasked with becoming a hero and defeating a great evil that threatens his world. Both he and his sister would prefer she do it, though. A gorgeously-drawn send-up of classic role-playing game conventions. ( )