An interesting book, but I'm not really sure who this is supposed to be for. I don't understand who the target audience is. The art is fairly simplistic and the colors limited. The language is boring and repetitive but not in a catchy way. I don't see this holding a child's attention and it seems to obtuse to start a conversation between child and caregiver.

What a very strange children’s book. The artwork is bold and different from most kids books. Harry is a brave kid.

Thanks for the e-arc I received from the publisher and NetGalley.

This is certainly a unique title. As a horror story for children, I think it works, though it is a bit confusing. I guess the story is open to interpretation? Which is something that works for adults better than children, I think. I could see kids being a bit confused by this story. Nonetheless, I think it is a good story for modeling to children how to confront your fears and channel them into bravery.

dark, mysterious, tense, open to interpretation

Harry is a little boy and like many young children, he has very real fears, the most prominent, his the fear of The Danger. What is Danger you might ask? Well I think it means different things to different people, especially based on the stage of life you are in. Adults no longer fear the creature under the bed, but we fear the stranger in the night. Out little guy Harry goes to bed fearing The Danger. And, every night, The Danger itself, comes to Harry’s bedroom door and roars at him and every night Harry is terrified. Is it a reoccurring dream, or a manifestation of a little boy’s fear? The author leaves that to the reader’s own interpretation. 

One night The Danger appears and it looks kind of like a wolf. Later Harry decides to face danger and takes a ride on the creature. At the end of this 36 page picture book, The Danger looks more like a big dog and Henry is not frightened, at least not as much.

The illustrations do great justice to the story even if they are a bit terrifying.

I’m not sure how children will interpret this book, but I predict they will like it because young ones seem to be drawn to scary stories. This is a curious one.

Im not sure why this was listed as a horror book because it's not. It's a children's book. That being said, the story itself jumped around too quickly for our liking. My children was confused to what was going on. we felt like the story was missing a page here or there. That being said, We loved the artwork. it was creepy despite not being a horror book. I would have loved if it was expanded a little more.

I like this book. At first, I thought it might be too scary to read for a little one, but once you push past the few pages of scary features of the Danger, you get this story of curiosity, hesitancy, and courage, even overcoming biases of fear, which makes for a great lesson for little ones and an overall brave story.

I didn't quite see the point in this story apart from trying to rhyme. It didnt make sense, it wasn't a horror story, it could have been but it turned out to be a wolf. The boy was scared but didn't really seem scared. Sorry this one wasn't for me.

The cover caught my interest here as it’s not what you usually see on picture books. That said, this was an engaging and enjoyable read, albeit a little scary at times. I recommend this and my kids will enjoy it.

Have very mixed feelings about this book. For children, there is no way I would give this book to a child. The drawings are deep, scary feeling and the story is heavy for a child.

Even as I was reading the book I instantly thought I wouldn’t want a child to hear this and see this especially right before bed. I don’t want them sleeping with me!!

Now saying that, the illustrations are amazing how he put so much depth into them with what I assume is just shading. I don’t want to give the end of the story away…but I would remove all of them from my remove before bed tonight lol

Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!

I wanted to like this strange book with a cool idea. It reads like an author who writes creepy fiction and wanted to try his hand at a picture book. It doesn't quite work though and simply becomes clunky and unnerving. I will definitely read others by this author, but I can't recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

⛔️ This wasn’t quite what I expected. It feels a bit allegorical, almost to the extent that I don’t think everyone will necessarily understand it. I’m not sure I understood it!
⛔️ Interesting, but very dark illustrations. Could be scary for younger children.
⛔️ It is written with unusual words and I personally found it to be a bit awkward to read.
⛔️ Ultimately, I think this is a story about facing your fears. But it also seems to be about wielding danger for good. I’m not sure I quite understood that angle based on the words and imagery though.
⛔️ I read a lot of books with subtlety and symbolism that haven’t stumped me as much as this children’s book did. I personally don’t think most kids would enjoy this book because I don’t think they’ll understand it, although some may enjoy the illustrations. Parents would definitely need to explain this to young readers. That said, maybe kids today are smarter than me! If you are interested in this book, definitely give it a shot. I’d love to discuss it with someone.

Thank you @netgalley and Vale Book Publishers for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Harry Rides the Danger is a spectacular book. The illustrations are marvelous and there’s a message in the book for people of all ages.

Harry is a little boy with many fears, the most prominent being the fear of Danger. Now, Danger means different things to different people, and we perceive Danger relative to the circumstances, giving it nuances and defining how dangerous something is. But, again, Harry is a little boy, and he’s too young to make the distinctions that older people can. So every night, he goes to bed fearing The Danger. And, every night, an initially formless entity, The Danger itself, comes to Harry’s bedroom door and roars at him and every night Harry is terrified. Is this presence a dream? A manifestation of a little boy’s fear, having been told not to do things because they are dangerous? You have to figure that out for yourself.

One night The Danger appears and it looks kind of like a wolf. Together Harry and The Danger ride off into a world full of Henry’s fears. And at the end, The Danger looks kind of like a big dog and Henry is not frightened, at least not as much.

The pictures are perfect for the story; you can literally see Harry’s fright as he hurls through the darkness. For a child, the pictures alone might be sufficient to tell the story. But for adults, the words are the story, and what those sparse words told me is that when I think I’m afraid of something, maybe it’s not as scary as I thought it was, if I don’t panic but instead inquire of the fear just what danger I’m scared of.

Highly recommended.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, and I am very glad I did.

The cover of this children's book intrigued me.....it really doesn't look very inviting to me, to share with a child....but I thought there must be some redeeming quality about it for children? I didn't really warm to the book at all! The color scheme used carried the scary horror theme throughout pretty effectively....I guess if this is a child's version of a horror story...then it probably works! I also didn't really like that the 'danger' was depicted as a dog form. I suppose that the good thing I can say about it is that I think in the end, that the kid did conquer the 'danger'?! I'm not sure that I'd enjoy reading this to/sharing this with a kid?
I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes, & this is my own fair/honest review.

Timely children’s book about courage and leaning into those things that seem scary. Unique and beautiful artwork that is unexpected, combined with the writing, creates a dreamlike feeling for the reader. Perfect book for kids that crave something a little bit more raw and fierce.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book and share my feedback.

I enjoyed the concept of the book, which is about overcoming fear. The author did this very creatively. I think a lot of kids will be able to relate to the main character.

Story: 5/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Ending: 4/5

A children's horror book? Sign me up! Harry Rides the Danger is a wonderfully dark story of a child not only facing his fears away but actually chasing after them and conquering them. The rhythm and rhyme of the words is exquisite, though may need some explanation for younger children. I loved the dark illustrations which reminded me of a very old book of Polish fairy tales I had as a child. Man, those tales were scary, and so were the pictures! 5-year old me would have loved this book... 8-year old me helped herself to her mom's copy of The Exorcist. Budding horror lovers have got to start somewhere!

Thank you to Vale and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This is a picture book directed at children to help them understand that facing your fears is courageous. Some of the pictures terrified me as an adult! Danger is a dog or just a stuffed animal in Harry's dreams, where he travels to various places where he faces danger and saves the world - especially from forest fires.
I think this is a good story, perhaps more so for older children, as the pictures, in some cases, are scary. I guess that is the point, though -- face your fears, and things aren't as scary as they may seem at first glance.

Ok where to start. The art work in this short graphic novel is beautiful!
Harry wakes up in the night and sees danger standing in the door way, harry faces danger and rides him. This book was an ok read for me that’s why I gave it a 3 star.

This was not what I expected at all but I enjoyed it for what it was..
This book, to me, was about facing fear head on. It is a great way to keep older children interested and to get the message across effectively.
The illustrations for me were the most disturbing part! The child had a weirdly real look whilst being obviously illustrated. I loved that and it added well to the atmosphere

Such a simple yet lovely story and I love the art style. Very quick read yet something I could come back to again and still enjoy.