Customer Reviews

Collinsfort Village

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(0)
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Since Joe is my brother, I had to read his book. I knew it would be good because Joe is a great story teller and full of thoughts of fantasy and whim. I was not, however, expecting to be so blown away by the story and his writing style. What I loved the most was his description of the characters, how they looked and expecially how they moved. I felt the embarassment and frustration poor Griff felt when he caught his wing in the supermarket automatic doors. I got goose gumps when Griff described the beauty of a dragon taking flight. I don't want to say anymore, but anyone that enjoys fantasy and losing themselves in a story will surely enjoy this book.

I will make no bones about it... I'm 52 years old, but after reading Joe Ekaitis' "Collinsfort Village", I'd felt like a kid once again!

Mr. Ekaitis has taken his artistic talents (and sense of humor) and carried them over into literary form, to create a masterpiece (for all ages) on his very first try!

The intermingling of both humans and mythical creatures - set in a modern-day, make-believe world - makes one long for such a parallel universe to actually exist. Having characters like Bear and Griff converse with humans like Dennis (and even Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show"!) seem like 'second nature' to all concerned; and yet, it still leaves the imagination open to readers, such as myself. (After all, what sort of topics would YOU discuss with a twenty-foot-tall griffin?) I can already see the potential of this work produced as a made-for-TV movie (with CGI effects for the three leading animal characters)...

I like the idea of dividing the story into three separate parts (the introduction of the characters and the inevitable discovery by Dennis of Griff's secret identity; the reunion of Griff and Dorian the dragon in California two years later; and the finale about Dorian's own deep, dark secret, and how Griff and Dennis remedy the situation), which means that some readers don't have to go through the whole book in one sitting (as I'd done, upon receiving a copy of it from a friend of mine). Just read one part per day, and you'll be thoroughly entertained as well.

And although Joe is a very talented artist in his own right, it was most unselfish of him to allow Nick Greenwood to provide some of the book's wonderful illustrations (both on the cover and on some pages).

Needless to say, I'm glad that Mr. Ekaitis left the story open-ended, for the potential of writing a sequel; but whether he writes one or not, he has already left his mark in the world of fantasy literature. "Collinsfort Village" is a 'feel good' book on several levels (never boring and never tedious), and I hope that Joe continues to persue his interest in writing more imaginative works like this one.

- Jed Martinez, Margate, FL

On a mountain above Collinsfort Village, Colorado lives a lovable seven-foot tall, basketball-lovin' bear (Bear) and his cavemate, Griff-- a twenty foot tall griffin who writes best-selling novels under a pen name. One eight-year-old boy who's a big fan of these novels is about to discover his favorite author's secret identity. And together (two years later), all three are to encounter a mystery involving Amelia Earhardt--and hopefully get an artistic dragon to fly again.

Ekaitis' novel takes the ordinary world and injects some unusual
characters: anthropomorphic animals with hobbies and talents all
their own. There's a lot of humor here, like how the boy discovers the real author of his favorite books (or so he thinks); the clumsy efforts by Griff to be better than
his grizzly roommate, and Bear's practical joke on the
literary griffin.

After Griff tries to be as popular with the locals as Bear
if not more so--with disastrous results-- Bear tells his
friend that "they like you just as much as they like me,
but for different reasons". In other words, there's no
need to pretend to be someone else; just be yourself
and people will love you for whom you really are.

All I know is I'd love to live in a town where a huge griffin
reads to the kids at the library, and a bear shows his
basketball expertise (Memphis Grizzlies, here he comes!)

Dennis reads the stories of author, Karolyne von Frakenburgh,but when he finds a clue from the letter that fell from the sky he finds out who the real author is, Griff, a half eagle half lion who reads books to children in the library.Bear is a grizzly bear who workes for a phone company. They all work together to try and solve a mystery. throughout this book they learn about the true meaning of friendship, and they go through difficulties and they fine ways to resolve them. In my opinion my favorite character is Dennis because he's like the regular normal guy and I think he's very cool. My favorite chapter is when dennis finds out who the real Karolyne von frankenburg really is, Griff. In a scale of 1-10 I'll give this book a 9.9 I really enjoyed this book and I hope you do to. :)

If there had been books like Collinsfort Village to read when I was younger, I wouldn't hate having to read at 12. I haven't found many books that hold my attention, beyond the cover, but Collinsfort Village is unlike any book I have ever read, it's like having several books within a book, and not only can hold my attention, it pulls me into the story. From author Joe Ekaitis' writings of Griff, you are able to get a clear picture of Griff's writings as Karolyne von Frankenburgh. I wish I was lucky as Dennis and could really read all of Karolyne von Frankenburgh's griffin novels, that would be cool.

Overall I loved how reading this book made me feel all of the emotions experienced by the characters. The writing is so real, all of the characters are like your best friends.

After reading Collinsfort Village, I can't wait to read more books by Joe Ekaitis.

I recommend this book to anyone and especially for those like me who hate reading. This is one book, once you start reading, I promise, the only things you will hate, is having to put it down and the story itself having to come to an end.

I absolutely loved Collinsfort Village! I would recommend this book to anyone. The way that Joe Ekaitis wrote it made me believe that it was true!

This book is great for kids, ages 8-14, and maybe even older. Anyone younger than eight may want to wait to read it so that they will understand it better.

If this book was rated on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a 20; that's how good it is!

After reading it, I am hoping for a sequel. I am sure it will be just as good as the first, if not better.

I enjoyed this book and I believe that kids will find it equally enjoyable. The author successfully blends fantasy characters into everyday modern life. The author is very good at telling the story and making the characters come alive without being overly verbose, a hard thing for most authors to master. He does a good job of developing the characters and includes the little day to day details that, to me, make a story more realistic and believable. The book emphasizes friendship, trust, honesty, and just being yourself. All of which are good lessons for todays youth, as is the emphasis on reading and the arts. This emphasis is not pushy (i.e. - a kid turn-off) and is part of the character development. I think most kids will see a little bit of themselves in the characters and will enjoy the book even more for it.

After reading Joe Ekaitis's short story, REVENGE OF THE GINGERBREAD MAN, I just had to read this book. Why? Because the short story was so highly creative AND because it was extremely well-written and edited. In other words: The short story captured the true essence of this author's talent, making it impossible not to reach the conclusion that JOE EKAITIS HAS REAL TALENT!

The short story whetted my appetite for more, and Ekaitis didn't let me down when writing COLLINSFORT VILLAGE.

As some of the other reviewers have noted, the main characters are: a griffin (Griff) who writes fantasy novels under a pseudonym; a bear (Bear, what else?) who shares cave-duties with Grif and drives around town in his very own SUV; and a dragon (Dorian) who no longer flies due to something that happened years before. And wait until you learn their very unusual real names; Ekaitis certainly has a wild imagination, even in naming his characters.

And last, but not least, is the human boy, little eight-year-old Dennis Pearson, who plays a big role in the book. As all good books do, several of the fantasy characters have BIG secrets. While Bear, being Griff's best friend, knows his secret, Dennis is the first "outsider" to discover the truth about Griff. And the dragon also has a secret. When Griff enlists Dennis's help in the adventure to discover Dorian's secret (in order to help him solve his major problem), the story gets very exciting.

I particularly appreciate the way that Ekaitis wove a personal bit of American aeronautical history into this awesome story, bending the facts to fit the part, to be sure (that's what fantasy is all about), but highly entertaining and original.

The character development is so excellent that you will feel as though you know these funny, lovable, intelligent fantasy characters. I accepted Griff, Bear, and Dorian as though I had known them all my life; it wasn't strange at all to me that, in addition to their own natural habits (like flying and breathing fire), they took on human attributes too (like talking, walking, writing, etc.) It takes talent to make that kind of impression on your readers ... to make your characters come alive.

WHAT AN AWESOME DEBUT NOVEL. Best of luck to this author. I eagerly anticipate reading his next novel. (End note: This book is supposed to be for teens, but I think it will appeal to all ages. I'm not a teen and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.)

Reviewed by Betty Dravis, 2007
The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley

Im sure i will like it, as Joe is a funny and has a vivid imagination on fanasty stories he has developed over the years. Very good cartoonist also.

Collinsfort Village by Joe Ekaitis is the colorful and clever tale of Dennis Pearson, a boy who's childhood was filled with the fantastic literature of Karolyne von Frankenburgh, a writer who has never been seen in public. Young readers will willing follow the novel adventures of Dennis and his two friends -- Bear the suburban-driving grizzly bear who works for the local phone company and Griff the dragon-slaying griffin who reads stories to children at the local library. Collinsfort Village will captivates the total attention of its young readers with this hilarious investigation in an attempt to find the missing author and in the process, discover a completely different world. Documenting Joe Ekaitis as a skilled author and an imaginative storyteller, Collinsfort Village is very strongly recommended to the attention of young fantasy adventure fans.