Kenny and the Book of Beasts
Series: Kenny and the Dragon, Book 2
By: Tony DiTerlizzi / Narrated By: Alan Cumming
Length: 3 hrs and 16 mins
Did I LOVE the first in the series? Good cow, man: This one? Soooo good and Whazzis? Even tears?!
Our dearest Maman is always soooo afraid she’s gonna pick an awful book that our little audiobook club winds up hating. Therefore, this time, when it was her turn and she dithered a trifle? Uhm, well, uhm, kinda ashamed to say it -but- we kinda bulldozed her and crammed the Kenny audiobooks onto the roster.
Dunno, kinda just a weeeee bit pink-in-the-cheeks here…
THAT acknowledged? Oh GOSH! How we aDOREd doing both of these audiobooks back-to-back. What pleasure; what sheer joy to be immersed in the world of Kenny Rabbit and his friends and family! And while you DO know that I loved the first, Kenny and the Dragon, Kenny and the Book of Beasts was that good, and MORE!
Kenny is much older now, no longer on his bicycle but is tooling around, trying to get one of them newfangled automobiles to work. Things have been going well, what with bestie Grahame (the Dragon) being suuuuch an accepted member of the village of Roundbrook—his performances of plays and poetry have been widely acclaimed—and with Pa’s farm growing from sheep to cows as well. Ma and Pa have added a litter of little sisters to the family (TWELVE li’l sisters!!!), and Kenny helps supervise and entertain them.
That said, however? Well, things do change as one gets older. And Kenny is starting to feel Loss in his life. Charlotte still makes his ears turn all pink and red, but she’s going to a new school now. And she’s discovered the drama club -and- new friends. George and his bookshop are still there, where Kenny helps out, -but- George IS Sir George after all, and he’s off on adventures -and- he’s taking a spot in the King’s Court. So Kenny will have to deal with the loss of him as well. There’s always Grahame, tho’, right?
Uhm, not when one E. Nesbit (In a GREAT homage from author DiTerlizzi to THE E. Nesbit!) and a strange Book O’ Beasts turns up. She’s been tasked by the King to update Every. Single. Beast of Lore out there. Wha-hey! Nesbit cries, and she hints that not ALL Mythical Beasts are extinct; why some still exist, just far far away, in an unnamed land. This is met with frowns which she shrugs off and then she gets to work.
An ominous late-night eavesdropping has Kenny worried about this… strangely-behaving creature (A Witch?!?). And a weird mix-up/exchange has the Royal Historian being sucked into the Book, and a Manticore (Named Dante!) is chucked out in the Historian’s stead. As Life would have it? Dante and Grahame are ooooold friends with MUCH catching up to do, sooooo many inside jokes that leave them in stitches and that leave Kenny on the outside looking in, DESperately aware that even Grahame has changed.
Beautiful, beautiful story! Yeh, it took DiTerlizzi well-nigh on ten years to craft this followup, but the author’s readers might have grown a bit, might be older themselves and dealing with massive change themselves. Kenny is moody, speaks in anger, has huuuuge feelings that he just doesn’t know how to deal with. When an opportunity presents itself, one of a truly horrific nature, Kenny… Makes the poorest choice imaginable. One that causes real damage and that causes great pain.
I’m soooo much older than the intended audience, but my GOSH, this had slow, HOT, tears rolling down my cheeks. I dunno how many of us have been there, dunno how many of us have made choices we’d fiercely wish we could undo, but listening to Kenny’s Pa and his words of acceptance and wisdom had me remembering a couple o’ bridges I left in cinders… only to discover… that an olive branch can always be extended, can always be accepted. Kenny goes on to be…?
I’ll leave it at that and will get started on m’ humble bootlicking of Alan Cumming as a performer, shall I? Jiminy H. Cricket, what a vocal ARTist!!! When you sit back and listen to any of his narrations, esPECially a truly rollicking Kids audiobook, it honestly seems like the man is quite simply having the best time; how awesome it is when it feels like the person telling the story is having just as much fun as you are. Is there anything better than a shared wonderful experience?! Brilliant from the get-go, and then? When all is said and done, the verrrrry last line? Oh my, Cumming, Master Storyteller that he is, has Kenny, tears in his voice, saying THE most heart-wrenching, soul-stirring sentence imaginable. Tears, I tell you! TEARS!!! In MY freaking voice as I relayed, to our little audiobook club, the most tender, the most poignant line ever crafted!
Soooo, just a note to author DiTerlizzi as I wrap up m’ review here: Dude! It took you yeeeeears to top one of the best starts to a series ever. How’d you do that? And DUDE! My sister and I? My MOM and I? Well, gosh my dear fellow: We ain’t gettin’ any younger over here!!!!
Howzabout Book Three, like, posthaste? Kids journeying with Kenny, fellow travelers on the road with him? Life is still happening; and gosh how we need magic as we go!!!
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