Super Happy Magic Forest

by Matty Long, Matty Long (Illustrator)

Overview

Fans of Dragons Love Tacos and Adventure Time will love this story of five unlikely heroes and their epic quest to save the Super Happy Magic Forest!

A 2016 BCCB Blue Ribbon Award Winner and 2016 Booklist Editors' Choice! Welcome to the Super Happy Magic Forest, a super happy, super magical place filled with picnics, dancing, and fun. That is until the source of all things joyous, the Mystical Crystals of Life, are stolen!Five heroes — a fairy, a unicorn, a faun, a gnome, and a talking mushroom — have been summoned by wise Old Oak to retrieve the Crystals, but the epic quest won't be easy. They must first battle through frozen lands, navigate past scary dungeons, and encounter terrifying creatures along the way. Will these heroes save the day? It's hard to say!With so much to laugh at and explore, lovers of silliness, adventure, and all things magical won't be able to get enough of Super Happy Magic Forest!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545860598
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/23/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.20(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matty Long is the author and illustrator of Super Happy Magic Forest, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Matty earned a master's degree in children's book illustration from the Cambridge School of Art in England, where he lives. Visit him online at mattylong.com

Editorial Reviews

* "Long's illustrations are packed to the gills with magical creatures and goofy details, and readers will pore over them with glee. With no agenda other than taking whimsical fun to the max, kids will flock to this super-duper-smiley adventure." — Booklist starred review* "Readers and almost-readers will pore over this, and they'll find a new joke every time." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred review"In this debut picture book, Long fills nearly every page with details that will keep young readers engaged and interested. . . . For Where's Waldo? graduates who are ready for heavy-duty irony" — Kirkus

From the Publisher

03/01/2016
Gr 1–3—Five heroes (a satyr, a gnome, a fairy, a unicorn, and a mushroom) embark on an epic quest to retrieve the stolen Mystical Crystals of Life and bring happiness back to their home, the Super Happy Magic Forest. They traverse frozen mountains, face warmongering penguins, and cross the Super Creepy Haunted Forest (where picnics are forbidden) in search of the Goblin Tower, where they believe the crystals are being held. Is their quest successful? Readers will happily find out in this hilariously silly epic quest. While the simple text reads like a straightforward story about danger and daring, illustrations and plentiful speech bubbles elicit giggles on every page. Bright cartoon art never takes itself seriously, depicting amusing interpretations of the text. On one spread, the heroes form a human chain off a cliff to retrieve the gnome's hat, encounter a cave-dwelling creature in love with a shiny gold ring, and lament bad directions when they get lost in a desert. Silly speech-bubble asides will keep younger readers giggling as soldier penguins wonder, "Okay, who took my frying pan?" while more sophisticated readers will enjoy the mushroom's panic when he can't feel his legs (spoiler: he doesn't have any). VERDICT A great choice for independent or one-on-one reading, this playful story will be popular among those looking for fun and adventure.—Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2015-11-11
In the full-color world of Super Happy Magic Forest, everyone recognizes what evil looks like…or do they? This over-the-top happy place with fun, dancing, and picnics every day maintains its positive energy because of three Mystical Crystals of Life. After a two-sentence exposition, readers learn that someone has stolen the crystals, throwing all the forest inhabitants into panic. The five bravest warriors, including the reluctant Blossom, a unicorn, and Trevor, a red-and-white mushroom, go in search of the culprit, only to find in the end that their arduous journey has been for naught. In this debut picture book, Long fills nearly every page with details that will keep young readers engaged and interested: a penguin distraught over losing the frying pan it evidently uses as a cudgel, a gravestone bearing the name of one of the warriors, a headless skeleton preparing to decapitate the clueless Blossom. Some pages will remind readers of the Smurfs' village—another superhappy place—while others seem to take a page from video game journeys, with many twists and turns. In the end, though, this book that exudes youthfulness and joy delivers quite a cynical message: sometimes those in whom we've placed the most trust can betray us. And when they do, they should expect a comeuppance sans mercy. For Where's Waldo? graduates who are ready for heavy-duty irony. (Picture book. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews