Things in the Basement
by Ben Hatke (Author)
From New York Times bestselling author Ben Hatke comes Things in the Basement, a young readers graphic novel about Milo, a young boy who discovers a portal to a secret world in his basement.
It was supposed to just be a normal basement--some storage boxes, dust, you know, the usual basement stuff. But when Milo is sent by his mother to fetch a sock from the basement of the historic home they've moved into, Milo finds a door in the back that he's never seen before. Turns out that the basement of his house is enormous. In fact, there is a whole world down there. As Milo travels ever deeper into the Basement World, he meets the many Things that live in the shadows and gloom...and he learns that to face his fears he must approach even the strangest creatures with kindness.
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Publishers Weekly
Tasked with retrieving his baby sister's special sock from the basement laundry room, young Milo, portrayed with brown skin, is startled when a large rat-like creature steals it. After a brief retreat, Milo shores up the courage to pursue the sock-napper. Uncovering a key from behind a fake brick, which unlocks a hidden floor hatch that leads to an increasingly vast series of secret chambers beneath the house, Milo descends into an ornately decorated room where he encounters a levitating skull. As he follows the twisting corridors, he eventually emerges in a subterranean world inhabited by various unusual magical creatures--including a giant eyeball with tentacles and guitar-strumming toadstools--whose help he will need to find the sock and return home. Hatke (the Mighty Jack series) gently blends both whimsical and terrifying imagery to create a fantastical, dreamily atmospheric katabasis, rich with details that draw inspiration from puzzle-filled, dungeon-delving games such as the Legend of Zelda series. Wandering panel gutters border carefully paced sequences that lead through wondrous reveals while palette shifts between cool blues, grays, greens, and purples evoke moody ambiance. Milo's bravery, ingenuity, and earnest offers of friendship are handsomely rewarded in this eerie and tender graphic novel. Ages 6-9. (Aug.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Kirkus
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