I just picked up Amulet: Book One while sitting at the desk at work, and I couldn’t put it down. The artwork is gorgeous, and Kibuishi’s world is fascinating. Navin and Emily move into a creepy old house with their mom after a family tragedy. When their mother is kidnapped on the first night, the two kids are plunged into an alternate world where they fight to save her. They find a magic amulet that helps them navigate this new world.

There are definitely some holes in the story; sometimes the amulet seems good, and other times it seems evil. The plot could use a little work, but I really liked the character development of Emily. I hope we learn a little bit more about Navin’s strengths in future books, but I liked this as a start to a strong graphic novel series for kids. 

By no means am I an expert in the world of graphic novels. In fact, while I understand their importance in modern libraries I often have trouble getting into them myself. But I thought that, for the 10+ set, this had a surprising amount of depth. And I just couldn’t stop looking at it. The illustrations are fantastic, and I hope that Kibuishi’s imagination has even better things in store for young readers.