A cozy, fantastical mystery with whimsical art, magical creatures, and a heartfelt sisterly bond at its core.
In Wiley’s middle-grade graphic novel, three witch sisters must solve the mystery of a missing magical teapot to help a resident of their village.
Pepperwood Bay is a magical place where three spellcasting sisters—Juniper, Clover, and Lily—serve as guardians of an enchanted lighthouse. They track every creature that enters through the portal inside the lighthouse and help the local townspeople with their problems. When Ms. Fiddleneck contacts them about her missing teapot, which is used to water an herb that only grows in their area and that the entire village depends on her to supply them with, the sisters set out to solve the mystery. During their investigation, they encounter a diverse set of villagers, mythical creatures, and magical mishaps. While the story centers around the trio’s investigation of the missing teapot, the plot also allows ample space for character development (Juniper is the responsible eldest, Lily is the shy one, Clover is the fun-loving extrovert) and worldbuilding. The mystery at the heart of the story isn’t so much about twists and turns—it’s a device to explore the sisters’ bond, along with their connection to the village around them. Their dynamic is full of the push-and-pull that comes with sisterhood but also warmth, loyalty, and teamwork. The artwork shines: each page bursts with personality, from the expressive characters to the soft color palette that gives the illustrations a dreamy, coastal feel. The whimsical art style matches the cozy narrative tone perfectly, and the world feels both magical and lived-in (the mythical creatures sport designs that are creative without being too scary, perfect for younger readers). The author avoids excessive exposition by letting the rules of the universe emerge through character interactions, visual gags, and sometimes clunky dialogue (“We’re the witches’ familiars. And we’re going to explain portal travel”). While the plot is simple and serves mainly to set the stage for future installments, it effectively introduces a world that invites return visits.
A cozy, fantastical mystery with whimsical art, magical creatures, and a heartfelt sisterly bond at its core.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781545820568
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
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