I received a review copy of this first book in the Landon Snow fantasy series and also the sequels, Landon Snow and The Shadows of Malus Quidam and Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum. Before I could read them, Karate Kid (age 9) gobbled them up, all three, and asked for more. Then, Brown Bear Daughter started reading them at a more ladylike pace, but just as voraciously. Now, finally, I’m getting my hands on them, and I think I see what all the fuss is about.

I don’t much like the marketing campaign for the Landon Snow books. Although it’s clever to put the books in covers that make them look like the very popular Lemony Snicket series or the almost equally popular Spiderwick Chronicles and although it probably entices readers (and parents) to tell them that the books are “a Christian alternative to Harry Potter,” these ploys do a disservice to the books themselves. (I’d complain about the idea that we have to have a Christian alternative to every bestseller that comes along, but that’s another post . . .) If I were to compare the Landon Snow books to anything else it wouldn’t be Unfortunate Events or Harry Potter or Spiderwick, but rather Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland or The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. Landon falls, like Alice, into a dream-like wonderland, and like Milo, Landon encounters lots of games and puzzles and wordplay and adventure.

Yes, the books are a “Christian alternative,” I suppose, but the Christian message is not obtrusive nor is the story subordinated to the preaching of a sermon. Scripture is sprinkled about in a tasteful and intriguing manner. In fact, the books may make some children curious enough to look up a few vocabulary words and a few BIble verses, just to see what the meaning and context are, not a bad side effect.

Landon, age 11, is a boy with a a lot of questions —and answers– and a love for books and words. His sister, Holly, less than a year younger than he is, likes numbers. And Bridget, the baby at seven years old, asks lots of questions, too. Along with their parents, the three children go to visit their grandparents in Button Up, Minnesota, and the most exciting part of the trip is a visit to the BUL, the Button Up Library, a magical place where first Landon, then Landon and Holly, then all three children, are drawn into adventures the same way a reader will be drawn into this series of books. The blurb on the back of the book warns: “Don’t Fall In. {This book may swallow.}”

I would suggest that these books would make wonderful Christmas presents for boys and girls ages nine to thirteen. However, I wouldn’t buy just the first one because I think your fantasy fans are going to want to read the second and third books, too. Mr. Mortenson, by the way, is an ordined minister and a Navy chaplain. Go to the Landon Snow website to learn more about the author or about the books.