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Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (1) (The Guardians) Hardcover – October 4, 2011
| William Joyce (Author, Illustrator) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Laura Geringer (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Before SANTA was SANTA, he was North, Nicholas St. North—a daredevil swordsman whose prowess with double scimitars was legendary. Like any swashbuckling young warrior, North seeks treasure and adventure, leading him to the fiercely guarded village of Santoff Claussen, said to be home to the greatest treasure in all the East, and to an even greater wizard, Ombric Shalazar. But when North arrives, legends of riches have given way to terrors of epic proportions! North must decide whether to seek his fortune…or save the village.
When our rebellious hero gets sucked into the chaos (literally), the fight becomes very personal. The Nightmare King and his evil Fearlings are ruling the night, owning the shadows, and sending waves of fear through all of Santoff Clausen. For North, this is a battle worth fighting...and, he’s not alone. There are five other Guardians out there. He only has to find them in time.
- Print length240 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level2 - 6
- Lexile measure850L
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
- PublisherAtheneum Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateOctober 4, 2011
- ISBN-101442430486
- ISBN-13978-1442430488
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
William Joyce Interviews Nicholas St. North
Before he was Santa, Nicholas St. North led an exciting life full of daring adventures. William Joyce interviews the future Mr. Claus about his past, the other Guardians, and what he thinks of the cast of colorful characters that live at the North Pole.William Joyce: When you were younger, where did you think you'd end up?
Nicholas St. North: Well, they didn't have Las Vegas when I was a kid. Or Disney World, so those just weren't an option. I'm kidding. KIDDING. But the North Pole? Never saw myself there.
Joyce: How do you think you came across in my telling of your story?
Nick St. North: Much better than I expected, to be honest, and since I'm Santa Claus I am, you know, I'm always honest. Your portrayal of me is you know, balanced. You got the good me and the ... wild me. I'm certainly jolly and you caught that. And the temper thing ... you didn't shy away from that. And the bravery and the fun. The fun me. I liked that. Because I'm, you know, fun. FUN! A fun guy.
Joyce: Could you tell us a little about the Guardians of Childhood?
Nick St. North: Great group. The best. Really. So glad to be a member. Sandman, Man in the Moon, Tooth Fairy, the Egg guy, that Frost kid ... just terrific. We all have our own thing, but we work together very, very well. Fighting the Boogeyman, Pitch is his real name. Not many people know that. But, yeah, I think we do a lotta good work together.
Joyce: Which Guardian would you choose to stand beside you in the thick of battle?
Nick St. North: Oh ... now. That's, that's, you know ... They are all, ALL great in their own way. All so talented. Geniuses! I mean it! Even, you know, the egg guy.
Joyce:What do you think makes you such a great Guardian?
Nick St. North: Oh, that's ... No ... I can't ... you're so kind ... Look, I just try to be the best Santa I can be. Firm. Friendly, but fair. That's sort of the motto.
Joyce: If you had a chance to change one thing in your past, would you? What would it be?
Nick St. North: You know, I ... Can we just not go there?
Joyce: If you could learn one bug or animal language, what would it be?
Nick St. North: Gosh. I know almost all of them. That's how I get a lot of my info on the naughty or nice thing. Pets are usually very reliable for that. I speak fluent hamster, which is good, because hamsters, they know EVERYTHING. I even speak leech. Which isn't much help really. There are some Irish accents I have trouble with. I love how they sound, but I need subtitles if it's a movie. And the Jersey Shore kids. Can't understand a word.
Joyce: How are the elves to work with?
Nick St. North: Well, we are all old, old friends. We've known each other since day one. But, honestly, I wish they were a little taller.
Joyce: Taller, you say?
Nick St. North: Yes. They get stepped on A LOT. Especially by the Yeti. It gets messy.
Joyce: Yeti? You mean Abominable Snowmen?
Nick St. North: "Abominable" is not the preferred designation. As native Himalayans, they prefer "Yeti" or Abominable Snowperson.
Joyce: So you have Abominable Snowpersons working at the North Pole?
Nick St. North: Oh yes! They actually do most of the toy development and construction. Which I am still, like, amazed by. I mean their fingers are huge, HUGE. Big as bean bag chairs. But they can do detail work! All the little stuff--eyes on dolls, you name it. They're also awesome warriors, super tidy and excellent at baking. Their cookies? Outta control and Low Cal.
Joyce: What about the elves? They don’t do toys?
Nick St. North: No, no, no, no. That's a huge misconception. The elves just play with the toys as sort of market testing ... to see if they're, you know, fun. Otherwise they're just sort of custodial ... sweeping, mopping. Oh! And they do party decorations and caroling. 20,000 elves singing 'Oh, Christmas Tree'? I get teary just talking about it.
Joyce: What do you think would have happened to you if you weren't chosen to be a Guardian?
Nick St. North: Definitely not retail or politics. They're too, too, I don't know ... pushy. I've always liked gardening. Landscape architect? Or social work? Or maybe directing. Features only. No TV.
Joyce: How would you most like to be remembered?
Nick St. North: Probably the whole Christmas Day thing. And my work with reindeer. Proud of that. And the kids. Yeah. My work with the kids, that's the biggie.
Review
--"BOOKLIST, "November 1, 2011
"The authors do a great job of creating excitement and intrigue, and for those who love to wend their way through extraordinary tales, this novel will not disappoint. The illustrations are wonderful charcoal, graphite, and digital renderings that convey all the magic and fear contained within the story. Fans of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers (Hyperion, 2004) may want to give this book a try."
SLJ, January 2012
"William Joyce's magnificently creative illustrations, rendered in charcoal, graphite, and digital media have an old world feel that extends the text. In the world of fantasy, this book rises above the rest."
--"Library Media Connection, "March/April 2012
"Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King stole my son! The book came into our house, and the boy disappeared, for hours. Eventually he returned, but it seems that his imagination never came all the way back. A part of him will always remain tangled in the deep, dark, dazzling, insouciant mythology of this latest and most wonderful of William Joyce's worlds."
--Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay"
About the Author
Laura Geringer is the author of many highly acclaimed books for children and young adults, including the celebrated A Three Hat Day illustrated by Arnold Lobel; Myth Men, a popular series of graphic novels based on the classic Greek myths; and Sign of the Qin, Book l of the Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh series, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Boom, Boom Go Away illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. She serves on the National Advisory Board of First Book, a charity that has distributed over seventy million books to children in need. Laura lives in New York City.
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Product details
- Publisher : Atheneum Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (October 4, 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1442430486
- ISBN-13 : 978-1442430488
- Reading age : 6 - 10 years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 850L
- Grade level : 2 - 6
- Item Weight : 13.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #764,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,999 in Children's Christmas Books (Books)
- #9,613 in Children's Folk Tales & Myths (Books)
- #14,097 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

A true luminary and creative spirit, William Joyce has put his personal stamp on children’s media in every direction. His picture books include George Shrinks, Dinosaur Bob and Santa Calls; he’s won three Emmy awards for his Rolie Polie Olie animated series; developed character concepts for Toy Story and A Bug’s Life; and his films include Robots and Meet the Robinsons. He’s currently co-directing The Guardians for DREAMWORKS, and is producing The Leaf Men, based on his picturebook. He lives in Shreveport, LA, and is the founder of Moonbot Studios.

Laura Geringer Bass is the author of over 20 highly acclaimed books for children, tweens, and teens.
Her new novel for middle graders about friendship, love, and loss -- The Girl With More Than One Heart -- is the lyrical story of a courageous girl who imagines she needs an extra heart to navigate her grief after the death of her dad. It will be published by Abrams this Spring.
Laura serves on the National Advisory Board of First Book, a non-profit organization that has delivered over 170 million books to children in need and as a mentor for Girls Write Now and Prison Writes, teaching teens at risk.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
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This book would be very good for a young reader, and would be certain to spark their imagination. The only reason I gave it a Four star is simply the price point alone. This is a very short book. I bought it digitally and - I must not be super familiar with Kindle for I didn't notice - but it was only ~120 pages on my tiny Kindle Paper White, which meant that I ended up reading the entire book in essentially the span that it took my toddler to nap. This isn't a problem - generally - with books, but at ~7.XX for a digital copy that ended up being a pretty poor deal for ~2ish hours; and was a disappointing surprise (though perhaps I should've somehow noticed the length of the book beforehand). I hope the rest of the series isn't this brief - for I genuinely liked the book and am interested in continuing reading.
I picked this up after watching Rise of the Guardians, obviously (great movie, by the way). The story was so heartwarming and I fell in love with the characters, so when I heard mention of the novels, I had to check them out. I didn't plan to read them at first, but when I read the first chapter, I was hooked on the writing.
The novel is written in storybook style. Meaning, it's all tell and very little show. Dialogue is scarce. But this is a children's book, and there's nothing wrong with this format. In fact, I very much enjoyed it. I thought it carried some words and phrases a bit too complicated for younger children to get (five year olds, for instance, would probably constantly ask questions) but I really enjoyed the read. It was a nice length too. I finished it in two nights, and it didn't feel too long or too short. I think it's great for people of all ages, and especially an amazing holiday read. It's something I would revisit and I know I'd enjoy reading the other books. I haven't decided yet if I will, but I'd like to eventually.
While this novel is supposed to focus on St. Nick, it also focuses on many other characters, which was great fun. The battle with Pitch was tricky and intense. I also loved the presence of the "spectral boy," which, if I'm right, is another version of Jack Frost, but I'm still not completely confident of that. His powers seem to revolve more around light than snow. Who knows? It's still very entertaining. I hold a lot of regard for the author for his work with children's stories. This was a great debut. I'm definitely rooting to see all six books completed!
Top reviews from other countries
There are several other books written by Joyce in the same vein which are also fabulous.








