Hotel Valhalla guide to the Norse worlds Your introduction to deities, mythical beings & fantastic creatures

AS TIME PASSES, the relationship between adults and young people evolves. The preboomer-era image of befuddled parents "trying to figure out what's going on" in the minds of their offspring has given way to a kind of überempanthy - free from irony, some adults now respect children as they themselves wish to be respected and give children what they actually want, rather than force them to stomach what is put in front of them until they are "old enough to decide for themselves." This shift is evident in the world of literature for young audiences. These days writing for children often takes on a brazen quality, as if there's a cardinal rule that respect from the young reader is best earned by conjuring detailed landscapes of limitless imagination - by not withholding. Writers like J. R. R. Tolkien, the father of high-fantasy fiction, created entire languages and illustrated mythical lands with detailed maps, and if Tolkien is the father of high fantasy, perhaps the beloved Roald Dahl is the master of the darkly comic. Dahl's writing, no less imaginative, exhibits a keen knack for pushing the envelope past the comfort zone, to a place young audiences find true delight in. Two new books and their unabridged audio recordings are steeped in both of these (often overlapping) worlds. They indicate we are in a time for young reader's fiction that's perhaps our most unbridled and mischievous to date. Rick Riordan's "Guide to the Norse Worlds" (which is immersed in the same setting as his latest middle-grade series, featuring the hero Magnus Chase) is inspired by Norse mythology and is ostensibly the little book found somewhere in a room at the Hotel Valhalla, a destination for those who are exploring the Norse underworld (that is, the world of the dead) and looking for quick, thorough descriptions of everything in this complex universe in one handy volume. It was assembled by the hotel manager, Helgi, to ease the toil of having to answer irritating questions from patrons. Riordan maps out the extensive geography of the Norse underworld and all its inhabitants, as well as the "ethnic" nuances of those groups, in a neatly categorized, Zagat guide sort of format. He covers key characters of Norse mythology (Odin, Thor, et al.) and includes "interviews" with some, in which they reveal their particular story. A messy, teenage snarkiness is laced throughout the book; lots of farting and other normally questionable personal habits are a trademark, as with Riordan's other best-selling Greek- mythology-inspired series. Norse mythology is underlined in Tolkienesque anthropological detail, but with a sassy, youthful shrug. There are details that might seem anachronistic, as when this distant world's inhabitants use modern colloquial expressions - or Velcro. That helps keep the traditionally structured "guidebook" form off-balance and quirky. The actor Kieran Culkin gives his audio interpretation a nerdy "textbook genre" delivery that shows his affinity for Riordan's wry sense of teenage humor. This could have been an even greater listening experience if he'd inhabited the characters in the scenes outside the narration with more immersion and definition, although the reading he gives is indeed charming. "TALES OF THE PECULIAR" is a selection of stories first introduced in Ransom Riggs's best-selling "Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children" series, now also a Tim Burton feature film. The tales are a wildly diverse sampling of narratives that take place all over the globe and share some version of that Dahlesque daring and darker edge - an edge that might have seemed too nightmarish or graphic for children in times past, or for younger children today. The stories tip a hat to Grimmlike fairy tales (and in fact, many or most end with the traditional "they lived happily every after"). Paranormal or fantastical events or powers are common. A major premise of the stories, as in the "Miss Peregrine" books, is some strange ability or other that a character (or characters) possess - the ability to cure people of their nightmares, to hold back the sea, or to grow back severed limbs, to name a few. Ultimately a crossroad is reached about the consequences of using that power - or not using it. There is a poetic, timeless morality to these tales, like classic fables, but they all have a modern sensibility, a mischievous darkness and an understanding of what it feels like to be young that can be moving and thought-provoking. The beloved British actor Simon Callow handles this ambitious, unabridged audio performance with supreme confidence and the flair of a true storyteller. His command of the many international dialects required is impressive, and the listener will savor his mastery of them with delight - though he skipped the Chinese, presumably to avoid offending, which this reviewer respects greatly. (Having said that, an actor of Callow's caliber could have included it in his wildly diverse arsenal with no complaint from me.) Like his colleague reading the Riordan book, he might have also immersed himself in the actual characterizations of the non-narration dialogue passages with more relish to make those personalities just a little more vivid. But both actors succeed quite well in never overdoing it; that is indeed no small task. These books share authors with unbridled imaginations and a skill at focusing their tales with a strong point of view and a writing style aimed at delighting young readers. Today, with so many attempts to engage the young imagination seeming base or paltry, fiction remains perhaps the most imaginative and brain-nurturing material for young people to enjoy, and that is a noble achievement. B. D. WONG is a Tony Award-winning actor and the author of "Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man."

Written as a handbook for new einherjar, Odin's warriors in Valhalla, this irreverent volume uses wry humor and a variety of devices (interviews, dossier-style highlights, first-person confessionals, a rap battle) to overview the gods and gossip of Norse mythology. Heroic-looking black-and-white sketches add visual interest, while an appendix contains a pronunciation guide. Hints throughout point to the next Magnus Chase installment. Glos. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.