The Guardians: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King; E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!; Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies

We got this for bedtime reading with our 9 year old. The stories are good, not quite Harry Potter but better then most. They are a little dark though and if you have a kiddo who scares easily- these may be too much for them.

I totally got lost in these books the moment they arrived at my house. I wanted to read them before I went to see the movie Rise of the Gaurdians and I just loved every minute of them all.

The second two books read better than the first one in the series. It is wonderfully packaged, the illustrations are great. There are some playful characters and story choices. The only problem is a sort of simple mindedness in the story points as the tales are told as if the author thought "it doesn't have to make perfect sense as it is written for children" which I think is an excuse for weak writing. It does not hold up well for adult reading, and I think the best in this genre is designed so it can be read by adults. It seemed to get better as it progressed though... it felt like as we got to book three, the rules of the universe became better defined... as were the characters- which allowed the storytelling to start gaining the weight and thought it was screaming out for at the beginning of the series. The story is clearly becoming a more personal one for the author- and as that becomes more evident and we see the author within the character of the villain of the story, the books begin to gain traction and substance. The end of book three is a bit of a cliff hanger- so be forewarned that there is more to the tale than these three books. I look forward to seeing both his writing grow (as it is clear that it will) and I look forward to seeing where he will take his characters.

Story time: I do not like to read heavy things. I have the attention span of a gnat and do not like to sit still. Reading to me is hit or miss, and I still lose interest in things even when they interest me.

That said, The Guardians is a fantastic read. The books are pretty short, maybe 800~ pages in the whole set, and some single page chapters. Large typeface, double spacing, and a rather small size, the pages themselves are awfully short too. These are good books for children to get into reading larger stories, like the middle ground between Cat-in-the-Hat and Harry Potter. (Remember, I haven't read much in my life...) The stories don't play down to the kids they're meant for (7-11) and treat them as the budding individuals they are, and not just silly kids, but still, it holds their hand a bit with touches of humor and lightheartedness mixed in with action and battle. They're adventurous, they're funny, they're sad, these books are a variety of things.

My only issue with them -and it's a small one- is some parts are rushed and a little vaguely written, but at the same time, I can understand why: It's for kids. They might lose interest if it goes into long-winded detail for two whole pages. That and it feeds into their imagination! It lets you paint the image into your head instead of it being spelled out for you. Another problem, they end. :D But that can't be helped.

These books are also great for people who have seen or are going to see "Rise of the Guardians," as it provides a nice bit of back story for the events of the film. Yeah, the Easter Bunny and Toothfairy underwent massive changes and overhauls, but the point still stands, this is how it happened, this is how they met, and this is how they became Guardians and faced off with Pitch Black in the past. So, don't expect Jack Frost. Sorry, Frost fans.

The fourth book of the series hasn't come out yet and won't until maybe November, so I can't say how the whole story unfolds yet, but it it's anything like the previous four, I've already got it pre-ordered! For sub-$30 plus shipping and tax, this bundle is a great deal, less than $10 a book, and they're amazing books. Maybe I'd have written reading logs or finished book reports if these were around when I was a kid. :P

My family loves William Joyce tales and these books are great examples of his skill and imagination. Joyce elaborates on his Man in the Moon picture book by describing the development of the Guardians of Childhood. The stories are filled with fantastic characters, whimsical cities and gripping adventures. You will not be able to put it down. The chapters are relatively short and we typically read one a night. Exceeded our expectations, we cannot wait for more books in the series.

They arrived earlier then the estmated date. My children and I started to read them the same night. While we haven't finished the whole series yet they enjoy listening to it and my oldest (6) has tried to read some of it herself!

These are really great books. They're nicely bound and the box acts as a keeper for the set. Each chapter is about 3 to maybe 8 pages long. I would seriously recommend these books to anyone. Even more so if you've seen The Rise of The Guardians and are interested in reading about the back ground.

Pictures inside these hardcover books are a dull black and white which I found very disappointing as this series is known for their wonderful graphics.

I decided to read these after I saw the wonderful movie and I regret nothing! It's really amazing how entertaining can be a series for kids. I just ordered the Blu-Ray

I bought this because I wanted to learn more from the world of the movie, instead I discovered the one in the books is better. Not that I'm surprised, that almost always happens. They are cute little books, and the illustrations and covers are beautiful.