It takes a certain sort of magic to write a book that appeals to a whole family: preschooler to middle-schooler, adults as well. But The Fabled Stables, Jonathan Auxier’s newest book, has that magic. Auggie is a child with a job (but not the kind of job mentioned in Auxier’s other book Sweep). He works in the Fabled Stables as caretaker of one-of-a-kind animals.

When I first ordered this book I expected it to be—like Auxier’s other books—a chapter book for older kids. But no! The Fabled Stables is a chapter book for young readers, every page of it exuberantly illustrated by Olga Demidova. My older daughters loved finding the Easter eggs linking the Fabled Stables to Auxier’s Peter Nimble books; my younger daughters, who have not yet received their invitations to Peter Nimble’s world, adored everything else about the book.

Best of all, The Fabled Stables seems to be have a sequel already in the works, so we have many more delightful evenings of reading to look forward to.
The Fabled Stables: Willa the Wisp
Jonathan Auxier; Olga Demidova (2020)