Member Reviews

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

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This was a bit odd. The storyline was good but the pictures were confusing for the toddler and preschoolers. Wasn't a fan favorite in this house.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Lerner Publishing for the ARC of this cute knight’s picture book!

I loved the art style so much, the story was so cute, and the prose was fun to read. My six year old enjoyed looking for the monsters.

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This is one of the most creative and well-executed collage picture books I've read in the past years. On top of that, I love the story of the little Knight from Little Import that finds a place to be exquisite and helpful to the community. Charlie helps around by saving people and their businesses from amazing annoying monsters (awesome character design) and finding a new place for them.
The book is illustrated with cuts and layers, folds, paints, and textures.
Bold strong colors.
Definitely, one to collect. It will please little artists, inspiring them to create pages like this. (And grown-ups as well.)

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Posted on amazon on pub day

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Important to note: “Absolutely no epic dragon battles! Does not contain any high-speed jousts on horseback! A complete lack of daring princess rescues!” Now that we have that out of the way…

Don’t you love an underdog? Yeah, me too. Pair that with a witty sense of humor, and I’m ready for a grand adventure. Or, in Charlie’s case, perhaps a bit less grand? Biggerborough is a city full of excitement and wonder, but she’s stuck in the town of Little Import. Nothing interesting ever happens here…or does it? Just when Charlie’s beginning to feel like she’ll never make a difference she discovers her friends and neighbors need her help the most.

The Knight of Little Import is a wonderfully encouraging book that shows anyone can make a difference if they care enough to try. I loved Charlie’s spirit, her can-do attitude, and her thoughtfulness when it came to dealing with each monster. Her big heart and plethora of monster knowledge make her the perfect hero, and a great role model to share with your favorite kiddo. I giggled my way through the story of Charlie and her town of Little Import, and I know you and your child will do the same.

Thank you to Netgalley and Carolrhoda Books for allowing me to review this advance copy. I loved the important message, and the beautiful artwork. The Knight of Little Import is set to be published September 5, 2023. Make sure you check it out, and let me know what you think!

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"The Knight of Little Import" is one of my favorite books for 2023. The title is a play-on-words that serves to give the reader a heads up to look closely at what is happening in the book. The overall theme is that the community and commitment to taking care of your neighborhood and its people is what makes a place great. But what I liked most about the book was Hannah Batsel's style and approach to illustration. Batsel uses collage art and mixed media to show the story while hiding funny and cute details in the illustrations. It is truly a gorgeous book and is perfect for anyone who wants to show kids a good story or introduce them to art.

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This is such a creative picture book! I love that each monster mentioned has clues to what it might be disguised as in plain sight on the page. I also kind of like how the beginning of the book starts.

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Thank you Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Books ®, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. This gorgeously illustrated, imaginative book with an important message is a delightful read. Full of humor and seek-and-find elements it’s a fun addition to any shelf.

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This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well, even thought is very short I could really connect with the characters and feel theirs struggles.
I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was.
I will definitely recommend!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

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I received an electronic ARC from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Readers journey to Bigger Borough and see how everything is bigger so must be better. We leave this place behind and travel to Little Import. There we meet Charlie - a small knight who has few battles to fight or monsters to attack. She has studied hard and does find ways to help her neighbors and friends. To her surprise, she rescues much of the town from monsters hiding there.
Batsel makes her point well as readers realize how special things that are of little importance are. This young knight not only saves her town but saves the monsters as well by creating a sanctuary for them. And, that is something bigger places miss as they are so focused on getting bigger and bigger.
The artwork is lovely and fun to study. Each page has connecting details that flesh out the overall story. Terrific read aloud early in a school year.

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I absolutely love the art style of this book, and am looking forward to buying it for my library! I also love that our protagonist, Charlie, happens to be a girl, and it's not a problem or strange for there to be a girl-knight. I also love that while many would solve these problems with violence, Charlie chooses not to, teaching a valuable lesson. And she also learns that small efforts, especially when you're helping others, can make a big difference!

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Charlie wants to be a knight, but his town of Little Import doesn’t have any monsters to slay so what’s he to do? Then lo and behold, they begin appearing all over town (or do they???) Readers will laugh at how the beasts seemingly suddenly appear.

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A Knight of Little Import by Hannah Batsel (Carolrhoda Books, September 2023) shares the story of a girl who wants to be a knight, but finds there is not much excitement in the town of Little Import. Since she cannot travel to find dragons to fight, she reads her book of monsters trying to learn about them just in case she does get a chance to leave town. But soon she finds that there are plenty of monsters in Little Import to capture!

Armor-clad Charlie is happy to share her knowledge with those in her town: she just wants to help. She also is much kinder to the monsters than those other knights are. As she helps the townspeople, she finds that her town is much improved.

To me, the creative illustrations are the highlight of The Knight of Little Import. The majority of the scene and setting have a cartoon look, but as the cut-out illustrations overlap and various other media are used, the book becomes a visual delight. The three-dimensional illustrations make the characters and setting just pop off of the page. The art is so unique the paragraph on the copyright page lists 16 different media used to create the illustrations, include acrylic paint, homemade paper, pencil, embroidery thread, and so many more. The end result is a series of pictures that just blew me away.

Knights, monsters, and helping your community: The Knight of Little Import is a fun picture book to add to the shelf.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Oh my, I'll buy this as soon as it comes out!
It was sooo beautiful and creative, I loved the art and how Batsel made it look like there were paper cut-outs on top of drawn backgrounds? Just stunning!

This picture book is about a little knight - who turned out to be a girl, YES! - who lives in the little town of Little Import. She'd like to have monsters to fight, but nothing ever happens, it's not like the big city where she can see knights fighting monsters in the sky from far away! But one day she walks by the baker's shop and he asks her for help: someone has been eating all the pastries! And that is how Charlie starts to find all these weird uncommon monsters who appear, at the inexpert eyes, random objects.

So lovely and creative and stunning and I loved how the descriptions of the monsters were in rhyme and felt so Medieval!

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Embarrassed her small town isn't important enough to be plagued by the monsters she's meant to slay, the young Knight Charlie spends her time reading and imagining visages of the nefarious creatures described in her text. But when the local baker explains his kitchen falls to destruction each night, his description matches a phrase from Charlie's book and she's forced to reconsider her preconceived notions. What follows is an adventure which reminds readers: Even the smallest victories have big impacts on our world.

A beautifully unconventional tale, The Knight of Little Import transports readers into the heroine's world from the very first page. Combining various mediums of art to form vibrant collages, Hannah has created a universe filled with color, imagination, and depth. Upon finishing the story, my daughter (age 5) requested we read it again...and again, and again. With the book's fantastic direction of both art and plot, not only has it secured a place on our shelf, but it has hoisted Hannah Batsel to our list of favorite children's authors.

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The Knight of Little Import

An absolutely darling children's story with a beathtakingly beautiful art style to back it up. The message for children is that everyone can be impactful. One of the easiest 5 star ratings I've ever given.

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I am very impressed with Hannah Batsel’s artwork! And she got a BFA from the University of Georgia, where I’m from - Go Dawgs!

I really enjoyed the story of Charlie, the knight of Little Import. I enjoyed the message too - by attacking small monsters where you are, you can create big changes. I think it can teach kids to open their eyes and see that their actions - big or small- can largely impact others.

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The Knight of Little Import is about a young knight Charlie from the town of Little Import. Charlie is down and sad because Bigger Borough is a bustling city, where the knights are fighting monsters & saving people. As Charlie starts to help the people in Little Import with their monster problems, she begins to learn what an impact she can have.

This is so, so cute. I want to read it to my nephews so badly and I think kids would really love this! I love the unexpected twists of what the monsters look like compared to their descriptions.

A cute, fun read and I'm definitely putting it on my list.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group and Carolrhoda Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The Knight of Little Import was a sweetly illustrated (multimedia for the win!) story of Charlie, a Knight who craves the adventure that Knights in Bigger Borough experience with monsters. Suddenly, Charlie finds and captures monsters in Little Import and brings that adventure to Little Import.

I really enjoyed this short, sweet story and I loved the last final pages of resolution :)

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This picture book has paper-cut illustrations and a seek-and-find element related to the different monsters in the book, which have silly names and designs. This will appeal to kids who enjoy humorous fantasy books, and the silly names and descriptions for the creatures made me think of "How to Train Your Dragon." There isn't much of a plot in this book, just little episodes, but it's cute.

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