Who is Adam Blade

My son has been an Adam Blade fan for years. After finishing up the Harry Potter series, we looked around for a new series and selected Blade's Beast Quest series.

This turned out to be a great choice because these are great books for boys -- really great books for children to read. We read a couple chapters every night and it always leaves my son wanting more. The characters, adventures, and beasts have truly captivated his imagination and he often incorporates Beast Quest stories into his imaginative play.

These stories have all the standard fairy tale adventure story elements -- an evil wizard, a beleaguered kingdom in need of a champion, and a young hero plus magic, friendship, and bravery.

Harry Potter whetted my son's appetite for magical, adventurous tales but in many ways this series is more appropriate for his age.

The stories are engaging with characters who are good role models for young children. The magic and adventure are appealing but there is not the same element of darkness that you find in Harry Potter. There is destruction and violence but it is balanced by more hopefulness and goodness than in the Potter books.

One aspect that my son likes very much is that in order to "win" the hero does not need to kill the beasts. He only must unlock a magical collar that makes the beast "bad". Once the beast is freed then it becomes a guardian for the kingdom.