Another great addition to the Cardboard Kingdom series! I have enjoyed each one so far. In this one, it's winter break and the kids are finding ways to bridge gaps and differences and play together. Will continue to purchase Sell's books for my library kiddos. What great fun!

I've become quite a fan of the Cardboard Kingdom series for it's rich cast of characters, diverse themes, and thoughtful exploration. It's both fun and meaningful and each section you read provides something new to consider.

Winter has come to the Cardboard Kingdom. So have new rivals; kids from the next-door neighborhood want in on the game, copying the kids in terms of designs and outfits. The Evil Sorceress is not impressed. She says that new people can't just waltz in and copy their abilities.

Then it seems that someone is starting up a violent feud between the two neighborhoods by destroying snow sculptures and drones. The robots swear they didn't touch the drones, and none of the mimic besties and necromancers were near the sculpture. Can the scientists and an unlikely detective help save the day?

Holiday drama is also coming in; adults like aunts, uncles and grandmas may not want to see the cardboard or the monsters out with Christmas dinner. (Oh god, these parts I relate to so hard after having a long set of holidays over the winter.) But maybe you need to let out your feelings, before tensions reach a boiling point.

I had a lot of fun with this latest Cardboard Kingdom installment. The kids are joyous as always, and the mystery fair. And never underestimate the love of a parent who will handmake your character as an action figure. Love is powerful, but understanding needs to come too with playtime. Otherwise, someone will get hurt. The Cardboard Kingdom is about pretend fun, and they strive to keep it that way. Then they can enjoy hot chocolate from the Dragon's Inn.

Another stellar entry in this series. Maybe my favorite one so far? I love checking in on this neighborhood of kids.

I really love this series! It takes play and make believe and inserts real life situations throughout. It has such great interpersonal lessons, too! Teamwork, honesty, standing up for yourself and others, knowing when to admit you’re wrong and apologize. It has so many great lessons while ALSO being super fun! I loved this installment.

I remember when I was a kid, there was nothing more exciting than when my parents or a relative purchased a large appliance, the fun we would have playing with the box was larger than the actual box. For days we would decorate it, and use it as a house or a fort or secret hiding place until the cardboard would be falling appart.

The kids from the Cardboard Kingdom series know this, the use their imagination to build exciting characters and settings for their platime. These are kids playing pretend in the best way possible. I was so excited to get to read this new installment in the series.

The kids and their cardboard costumes really come alive on the page, they have great details and all so original and fun.
I love the spirit of collaboration that goes on in the story, the kids now come together to fight a new foe, the other neighborhood kids who want to copy what they do. But do they have to fight with them, or would it be better for everyone to play together?
Just like the characters in the book, the collaboration between the different authors makes everything work, I love how all the different character stories come together and blend in perfectly for the overall seamless feel of the story.

I also love the story touches on themes of friendship, diversity, acceptance, leadership and conflict resolution.

This series is a great one to check out. I’ve enjoyed all three books, and I honestly think this is the best one yet. My 2 oldest kids read it as well, my 9 yo GN loving kid said his favorite part was The Final battle.

Another fun and adventurous addition to this series. I love how the author balances childhood whimsy and more serious topics to make for a satisfying read.

I really enjoyed the first Cardboard Kingdom and have sought out the sequels. While very good books, the first is still my favorite. Still, this one had a wonderful winter setting and all the familiar characters plus new ones and new ways to learn that everyone can be included without anyone losing out. Some of the issues with family were solved too easily but works with the form and shortness of these books. The images as always are lovely, and I look forward to more adventures from Cardboard Kingdom.

This third installment of the Cardboard Kingdom challenged our characters to push out of their comfort zones and embrace differences. An entire cast of new characters were introduced and with them came new challenges and exciting opportunities. This book really looked at how change can be positive and how new people are easily misunderstood. We saw how quickly conflict can spiral out of control, yet everyone should strive for kindness and compromise which can lead to common ground. Great continuation to this series. My middle school students will love it!

In this third installment of the Cardboard Kingdom series, we follow our group of friends as they have many fun adventures during winter break. The kids are having fun on their break when the kids from the other side of the park start to try to play with them. But the some of the kids think that only certain people can join the Cardboard Kingdom so they soon start a war. Will they be able to become friends in the end? You'll have to read and find out for yourself!

Enjoyable addition to the Cardboard Kingdom series that was much enjoyed by my children. Love that it is set in winter, when play has to be the most creative due to weather. Will definately buy a hard copy when it's released.

ARC from publisher via NetGalley, but the opinions are by own.

I was able to read this book through NetGalley. My boys who are 9 and 7 years old and love this series so we were all excited to see this new one. This third book is just as good as the others. There is lots of action of battles using cardboard swords and snowballs. My 9 year old said his favorite part of the book was the final battle at the end. I would highly recommend this fun graphic novel series.

I love The Cardboard Kingdom, folks. What’s not to love about a collaborative graphic novel that showcases kids learning cooperation and creativity? It’s a perfect match, really. Well, this year is going to see the release of Snow and Sorcery, the third book in Chad Sell’s brilliantly illustrated series. This book, like the others, is a collaboration between Sell and other writers, including Katie Schenkel, Jasmine Walls, and Manuel Betancourt.

It’s winter, and changes are coming to the Cardboard Kingdom. The neighborhood kids face an unexpected interruption of their community-wide imaginary world when three new kids from the other side of the park show up, and one of their own long-time friends finds himself now living behind enemy lines. With intentions and loyalties being called into question, the Kingdom is at risk of complete collapse. Tempers are running hot and the snowballs are flying fast, and the reality of change may be the greatest threat the kids have ever faced. Imagination and friendship hold the Cardboard Kingdom together, but those bonds are being strained.

Like its predecessors, Snow and Sorcery is fully illustrated by Chad Sell, who manages to capture the beautiful shift between the actual cardboard costumes the kids assemble and their imagined selves. It explores the relationships between a remarkably (and realistically) diverse group of children from different backgrounds, different family structures, and more. It’s a beautiful blend of humor, drama, and heart that, despite my best preparations, still managed to get me to cry at several points. In the Cardboard Kingdom, after all, everyone can be who they want to be.

The Cardboard Kingdom: Snow and Sorcery comes out on Tuesday, November 7th. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My utmost thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for providing an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

This review originally appeared here: https://swordsoftheancients.com/2023/10/28/the-cardboard-kingdom-snow-and-sorcery/

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Honest review from my ten year old daughter:

The kids from the Cardboard Kingdom are back and better than ever.

Chad Sell makes winter break never look more fun, I wanted to jump within the pages!

Hope to read more and more in years to come.

Third in the installment, I tried reading first without the first two and felt lost, so I started at the beginning. It presents more like a comic series than a graphic novel. Shorter stories that sometimes are related and sometimes not. This doesn’t bother the two 10 year olds who assisted me with this review. They had already read the first two and asked to read the first two again before reading the third. They both thought the third was “great” and would read a fourth. They like the author overall and have asked for Doodleville.
As an adult, I do enjoy some graphic novels meant for kids, but this wasn’t one of them. Thats ok. If kids like the first two in the series, they are very likely to like this third book. After finishing the third they asked to collect cardboard to create costumes and stories. You can’t ask for more in a book—inspiring real-life pretend play!

Snow and Sorcery is a cute read that compliments the prior books in the series. The kids are back, and the Cardboard Kingdom is still going strong - even in the snow. However, new kids from across the bridge have emerged and the Cardboard Kingdom crew isn't too sure what to make of them. The book is written in a series of stories, told from the different perspectives of the kids and each contribute to the wider storyline. The short stories could feel a little confusing at times because of the wide cast of characters, but they very much reflected the challenges faced by this age group - making new friends, solving problems as they come up, and figuring out how you fit into the bigger picture. The artwork in this series is fantastic and really makes the story come alive. Overall, I really enjoyed this new addition to the series!

What a fun graphic novel!
I have not seen the previous parts of it, but it did not ruin the enjoyment of this one, so my guess is that it works as a standalone very well!
This is fun, and entertaining, and will keep any young middle-grade-aged reader glued to the pages. The artwork also is beautiful and full of character.

I love this series and was so excited to read. Can’t wait for more books! This series should go on for ever and ever

I regularly read YA and middle school/upper elementary graphic novels, because I actually enjoy them and find that I can read them both for myself and with the target audience in mind. And I genuinely want to like the Sell books because they have such great artwork from start to finish. Doodleville has been okay, with the latest book moving up to a 4 star rating for me. I had high hopes for Cardboard Kingdom, but I realized quickly that this was the series my son, when he was in the right age demographic did not like at all and asked me to skip in the future. I had never read any of them because of that, and going into the third book cold was probably a mistake. But in the end, I'm not sure being caught up on the stories would have helped me to enjoy this any more.

The book is more of an anthology of short snippets that tie together into a bigger story, and that just didn't work for me because you got very little real character development. Sure, there are some characters who emerge quickly, but all in all, I just got really confused and felt that things were disjointed. Adding in the kids from the other neighbourhood didn't help because they were trying to mimic the Cardboard Kingdom crew and thus made me have to second guess who was who. Now, that could be clever on the part of Snell because then you realized that the kids are the same no matter where they live. But I think that would be hard for the age group to really pick that nuance up.

There are some really good lessons to be learned in the story, and if your kids liked the earlier books, then they won't be disappointed (I hope). Just not for me and definitely not for my son. I gave it a 2 star because the artwork is still really nice. But I didn't give it a 3 star because the robots drove me batty.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's through NetGalley.
The adventures continue in volume three. Sadly, the snow creations the Kingdom built get destroyed and they blame the Parkside kids on the other side of the park. Readers follow the short stories and see how one decision can trigger bigger and bigger conflicts. Each set of characters offers their views on what they think happened and what they will do to "fight back." The artwork is stunning as it shows so much more of what is happening to support the text. I appreciate the way the authors work together to create a scenario readers will connect with and perhaps see themselves in. The ending offers the possibility of peace after everyone learns to work together. Love the message of build a bigger kingdom.