Preview: Toon Books And Liners Want To Tell You A Scary Story

by Richard Bruton

More fabulous comics for much younger readers now with the latest Toon Books release – Liniers’s Night Stories...

Another perfect little Toon Book here, something the company have been doing since 2008, making graphic novels for younger readers, early readers, and making them beautiful objects from a dazzling array of creative talent. And anything that gets children reading and loving comics at an early age is a darned fine thing.

I’ve told you about Frank Viva‘s delightful Gotta Go!, previewed rather wonderfully spooky Hearing Things by Ben Sears, and now there’s a third for the year that looks simply perfect – Liniers’ Night Stories: Folk Tales From Latin America.

It’s all comes from a love of swapping those spooky stories with friends and family when Liniers was growing up and now he’s sharing them with youngsters through Night Stories.

There’s three slightly spooky tales from Latin American folklore in here, just the perfect level of scare that you know young kids always love. First there’s a classic mermaid tempting young men to a watery fate in La Iara. A giant owl with a woman’s face in La Lechuza coming from the folk tales of Mexico, Chile, and Uruguay. And finally, La Luz Mala from Argentina telling of a mysterious light across the pampas.

Here’s the Toon Books PR for this one…

“Eisner Award winner LINIERS brings his exuberant cartooning style and irrepressible sense of fun to the spooky folktales of his childhood, telling three from across Latin America: the Iara, a mermaid who lures her love to her underwater domain; La Lechuza, an enormous owl who terrorizes a town after dark; and La Luz Mala, a spooky light that menaces gauchos on the pampas. Combined with back matter on the region’s fascinating ecology, culture, and history, these stories will send a delicious shiver down young spines, while encouraging children to appreciate a rich and dynamic heritage.“