Title: Pembrick’s Creaturepedia
Author: Andrew Peterson
Published by: Hodder Faith
Price: £8.99
Good for: Anyone who’s enjoyed The Wingfeather Saga and who likes non-fiction books or sketches with lables!
Best bit: That this is a book referred to in the Wingfeather Saga so it feels like you are holding a copy of a book which the characters had! I also love the details sketches and labels, and the lovely old notebook-style paper
Worst bit: It’s in black and white, which for some people might not be as fun, but for me made it feel more authentically like an ancient sketch book!
More:
I enjoyed the series of four books so much, and was delighted to find this book which actually features in the Wingfeather Saga! It’s the book Janner carries with him and refers to as he learns more about the weird and wonderful creatures in his world. The book itself is published as if it’s translated by Andrew Peterson from the original which was written by a guy called Pembrick:
“Sketcher, adventurer, disguiser, and sneaker Ollister B. Pembrick roamed all of Skree with a sketchbook and pen, searching behind every tree stump and under every stone, in every river and on every hill, to discover and document the endless living wonders of the Maker’s world. He risked life and limb–quite literally–to compile sketches and details of the creatures of Skree, usually from the cover of a hollow log, a hedge, or a pile of leaves.”
Peterson’s creatures are really wonderful, and often pretty terrifying! All the creatures in the book feature in one or more of the four Wingfeather saga books, so you could get the Creaturepedia as you start book one, as you’re reading the others, or, as we did, after you’ve read the whole series (a few times!) and want to delve further into the world Peterson has created.
It’s also a fabulous way to encourage children (and adults!) to sketch and label their sketches of the natural world, just as Tink does in the stories. All round fab book.