Mighty Jack and the Goblin King Blog Tour!

Jack is back, finally! If you read, and obviously loved, Mighty Jack, then you have probably been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this book!

But let's back up a moment. There is the off chance you missed Mighty Jack, and I don't want to lose anyone...

How awesome is that cover? I remember book talking this to my 4th graders last year, hands shooting in the air for a chance to be the first to read it! We were delighted to find that this fantastic story of action, heart, doubt and triumph, was placed on the 2017-18 Maine Student Book Award list.

Mighty Jack takes good old Jack and the Beanstalk to a whole new level of awesome. Jack unleashes much more than a beanstalk in this new tale. Instead, a dangerous garden, creatures, a link to a different world, is unleashed! It would be a major spoiler if I mentioned how that book ends. So I won't. But I will say that Mighty Jack and the Goblin King open up right where that one leaves off. Hence the opening line to this post.

I recommend this book for grades 4-7, though I will have it in my 3rd grade classroom library later in the year. And since classroom teachers can take heat for the content of the books in their care, I will let you know that there is violence and death, though nothing over the top. And one little swear. So, know your audience. And know that it's ok for kids to think about why an author chooses for a character to use certain words. That's a solid discussion to have.

Ben Hatke's artwork is alive. The coloring is awesome, the action is awesome, and the creatures and characters are awesome. And the storyline? You guessed it: awesome.

I adore the goblins. How they look, how they talk, how they act, I love it all. And those weird little pipe creatures? So cool. 

And the ending?! The ending!! Fans of Hatke's work are going to LOVE the final pages!

Kids are going to eat this up. And we want them to. We want kids to have wild and fantastic adventures. We want kids to meet strong young female characters, and characters that have special needs, and characters that show loyalty and bravery and love.

To know Ben and his work, is to know that whatever he creates, it's going to be worthy of your attention. I'm not saying that you should love books just because they are written by a guy with major heart, humor and adventuring skills. No, you should not love books just because the author can do flips, run on stilts, breathe fire or use a bow and arrows. But if you do find yourself thinking Ben's work is extra appealing because of all those things, well, I'd say that's ok.

Check out Ben talking about living creatively!

Follow First Second's blog tour for Mighty Jack and the Goblin King!

Happily Ever Elephants, 7/31

A Geek Daddy, 8/1

Cover2Cover Blog, 8/2

Daddy Mojo, 8/3

The Book Rat, 8/4

Bluestocking Thinking, 8/7

Love is Not a Triangle, 8/8

YA Bibliophile, 8/9

The Roarbots, 8/10

Victoria Colotta, 8/11

A Day in Motherhood, 8/14

Ex Libris Kate, 8/15

The Windy Pages, 8/16

I’d So Rather Be Reading, 8/17

Librarian’s Quest, 8/18

Trisha Jenn Reads, 8/21

Undeniably Book Nerdy, 8/22

Expresso Reads, 8/23

Paperback Princess, 8/25

Books and Ladders, 8/28

Page Turners Blog, 8/29

Reading Nook Reviews, 8/30

The Novel Hermit, 8/31

A Backwards Story, 9/1

Bridget and the Books, 9/4

The Plot Bunny, 9/5

The Caterpillar Corner, 9/6

I'd love to give away one copy, since I have 2 shiny new copies, and feel like the love should be shared! Want to enter? I'm making it extra simple this time. Simply leave a comment on this post about...anything! Have you met Ben? Tell about that! Have you read Mighty Jack? What are your thoughts? Looking forward to the sequel? Say so! 

Then, share the Mighty Jack love by spreading this post on twitter, facebook, with your colleagues, whatever and wherever.

Winner will be chosen Friday, August 18th. Sometime before I go to be ;)