Kenny & the book of beasts / written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this highly anticipated sequel to New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Honor-winning author Tony DiTerlizzi's Kenny and the Dragon , Kenny must cope with many changes in his life--including the fear that he's losing his best friend.

What can come between two best friends?

Time has passed since Kenny Rabbit's last adventure with his best friend, the legendary dragon Grahame, and a lot has changed in the sleepy village of Roundbrook.

For starters, Kenny has a whole litter of baby sisters. His friends are at different schools and Sir George is off adventuring.

At least Kenny still has his very best friend, Grahame. That's before Dante arrives. Dante is a legendary manticore and an old friend of Grahame's. Old friends spend a lot of time catching up. And that catching up does not involve Kenny.

But there's a Witch to defeat, a pal to rescue, and a mysterious book to unlock. And those are quests for best friends, not old friends. Right?

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Chapter I: Wait for Me Excerpted from Kenny and the Book of Beasts by Tony DiTerlizzi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Years after Kenny Rabbit's last adventures in Kenny and the Dragon (2008), life remains largely peaceful in his quiet town of Roundbrook, despite a few changes: he's now older brother to 12 rowdy rabbit sisters; the squirrel Charlotte, his good friend and crush, has headed to a new school; and his book-obsessed mentor is leaving to become advisor to the king. Through it all, Grahame, the chivalrous dragon, has stayed Kenny's best friend, resigned to being the last mythical creature in the realm, but when the manticore Dante appears, Kenny fears losing Grahame's best-friendship. But there's also jeopardy of a more pressing nature: a crafty witch and missing magical creatures, with the fate of Kenny's friends hanging in the balance. This may be a cozy world filled with darling animals--DiTerlizzi's fabulous illustrations bring them adorably to life--but the stakes are high, and the lessons on friendship, acceptance, and the dangers of prejudice are meaningful. It's certainly worth the return to the remarkable Roundbrook and its residents.

Kirkus Book Review

A long-eared young hero takes on a witch bent on trapping rare legendary creatures in a magical book. Not so much a pastiche of E. Nesbit's short story "Book of Beasts" as an original novel with cribbed elements, this adventuresome outing regathers and expands the animal cast of DiTerlizzi's 2008 reworking of The Reluctant Dragon (titled Kenny & the Dragon) for a fresh challenge. As if coping with a dozen baby sisters and tending the bookshop of his questing mentor, Sir George E. Badger, aren't hard enough, Kenny Rabbit feels abandoned by his best friend, dessert-loving dragon Grahame--who happily recognizes the supposedly mythical manticore that springs from the pages of a grimoire as an acquaintance from olden days. Avid to collect magical creatures of all sorts, the book's owner, sinister opossum Eldritch Nesbit, tempts Kenny into an ill-considered bargain. But once he sees not only the manticore, but Grahame too snapped up, Kenny joins allies, notably his redoubtable crush Charlotte the squirrel, in a rumbustious rescue that also frees a host of unicorns and other long-vanished marvels. Aside from the odd griffin or al-mi'raj (a horned rabbit from Persian lore and an outlier in an otherwise Eurocentric cast), everyone in the lively, accomplished illustrations, from Kenny's impossibly adorable sibs on, sports amusingly anthropomorphic dress and body language. This oblique homage to a now-creaky classic is lit by friendships, heroic feats, and exceptional art. (Fantasy. 9-11) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Tony DiTerlizzi was born in Los Angeles, California on September 6, 1969. He received a degree in graphic design from the Florida School of the Arts and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 1992. He spent six years working as a freelancer for TSR, the publisher of Dungeons and Dragons. His first picture book, Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure was published in 2000. He won the University of Chicago's Zena Sutherland Book Award for Ted and a Caldecott Honor in 2003 for The Spider and the Fly. He has written and illustrated numerous books including Adventure of Meno, G is for One Gzonk!, Kenny and the Dragon, and A Hero for Wondla.

He met author Holly Black during a magazine interview on his work for Dungeons and Dragons. Together, they created two series: The Spiderwick Chronicles and Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. In 2008, a live action adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles was made by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

(Bowker Author Biography)