Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyesby Jonathan Auxier

Peter Nimble & His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a mysterious box that contains three pairs of magical eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to rescue a lost kingdom from its tyrannical ruler. With the help of the Fantastic Eyes and his loyal companion (a knight who has been transformed into an unfortunate combination of horse and cat), Peter Nimble embarks on an unforgettable, swashbuckling adventure to save a people in need -- and to discover his true destiny. (goodreads.com)

When I received an email asking if I would be interested in reviewing a middle grade novel from Penguin Canada, I said YES! I swear I don't only read kid books. I read adult ones, too! Only lately the fantasy type stories have just been so much better in kid-lit - especially middle grade books! I am not a YA/MG blog, but it seems like that this summer, doesn't it?I almost said no to the book because of the "eyes" issue. I do not like to read about eyes and thought it might be gross. I am so happy I took the chance because this book is, well, FANTASTIC.If you've read the Peter and the Starcatchers** series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, I can tell you this compares to that, only it's a little more whimsical, with less pirates (but there are thieves!) and nothing set in real life. Pure fun fantasy awaits you when you pick up this book.Peter Nimble is a likable character right from the start. He's had a pretty rough time growing up and wasn't treated all that well, but still, by the age of 10 he's a pretty thoughtful and caring little boy - even if he is a thief! Regardless of how others treated him, Peter tends to listen to his heart and make choices that might go against the way he was raised.I had to say I was captivated by just the first line and although it made me laugh outloud, I also thought "ooo, I wonder if people will complain about this and totally NOT get the spirit of the story". See for yourself:

"Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves." - p. 3, Chapter 1

In fact as soon as I read that and laughed, I read it out loud to my husband who said "WHAT?" and then laughed as well. I knew this was going to be a fun ride from there. The narrator is witty and has hilarious little asides to what he's telling you. The entire feeling of the narration was jovial and fun. It was almost as if you could see a twinkle in the narrator's eye even if you had no idea who was narrating (the author?)I also became quite smitten with Sir Tode and was delighted when the two became travelling buddies. The two characters together were so enjoyable to read, I was almost sad when I got to the end of the story.The ending does have some darker moments, there is death and evildoings, so though this is middle grade, I think it might be a little easier on the older end of the spectrum, unless you are sure your child is ok with people (and creatures) dying. I might add that I did tear up a little bit over birds once or twice.The entire story was so enchanting I almost felt like I was watching a cartoon. The story took hold of my imagination and I could almost see everything on those pages come to (animated) life before my eyes. Each chapter is adorned with a sketch of a scene or character that will appear within it. The cover pages and index are full of art and the cover of the book itself just holds so much magic that it makes me giddy looking at it.I had one of my total geeked out moments when I read the "About the Author" at the end of the story and discovered that Jonathan Auxier had grown up in Canada. Even though he's now living in the States I shall consider him a Canadian author (YAY!) and be proud to tell people I pass in the store that not only should they buy this book because it's amazing, but also because a fellow Canadian wrote it and THAT is something to be excited about!The adventure and humour and life lessons (in a non-preachy way) are just splendid in Peter Nimble and although I don't quite want a sequel to this story, I would LOVE to read more fantastical tales from the author in the future. I think he's a Must Buy! now for me after this one.** Please ignore my Twilight reviews on that Peter and the Starcatchers link. I don't know what I was thinking because I honestly do not like the books at all. I do admit to finding the first book original and interesting, but the rest of the series (and I didn't finish it) sucked. I am almost embarrassed to link you to that post! I hemmed and hawwwed over whether or not to link it and if I did to delete those two mini-reviews. *cough* How embarrassing!PS - I have NO idea why my blog theme has suddenly decided to delete all spaces after punctuation (especially commas). I have the same theme and version on my other blog and it is working FINE. I am not smart enough to go through the code to try and pinpoint the problem. So until I can figure this out (through their forums hopefully?) please forgive the mess. I am highly displeased with this predicament! IMPROPER!!!PPS - I think this qualifies as a 2011 Debut Author Challenge book! It's MG, and I think that's ok? I am totally adding it to my list.