Book Review - 'The Owl House: Hex-cellent Tales from The Boiling Isles' by Steve Behling (Adaptor), John Bailey Owen (Original Writer), Dana Terrace (Original Writer and Creator)

Don't mind me, I'm just having my fill of content from my favourite show of all time as I wait for 'The Long-Lived King' (2026) graphic novel to be published.

I could go on forever about everything I love about 'The Owl House', and how it shaped me as a person, a storyteller, an animation fan, a fantasy fan, a witch fan, and its recipient of joy and hope given to the world - it's no exaggeration that, along with 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' and 'Heartstopper', it pretty much helped me to survive adulthood, not to mention the 2020 pandemic - but I'll keep it short and to the point for the purposes of this review, of a short but funny little book, 'The Owl House: Hex-cellent Tales from The Boiling Isles'.

It's a chapter book that basically retells the season one episodes 'I Was a Teenage Abomination' and 'Adventures in the Elements', dialogue and all, with black and white screencaps from the show throughout, and it can be read in under an hour. Little King reluctantly exposits and brings us up to speed in between the stories, in his own King way. What humour and heart is put into this!

If I have to guess why these episodes specifically were chosen, it would be because of the theme of schooling and learning lessons from mentors, for this official Scholastic/school library-type product. And it's Disney Press, so of course at this point it would be "safe" in its LBGTQ+ content, the cowards. But there is the friendship and found family theme, as well, and the famous Luz Noceda and Amity Blight (Lumity!) are shown to be getting closer in 'Adventures in the Elements', as is faithful to their relationship development. The "school" stuff is far more fun than it sounds, at least.

'Hex-cellent Tales from the Boiling Isles' ends as it should: with the best jokes from King and Hooty.

I would love for there to have been more 'The Owl House' reading material like this. Chapter books of other episodes. A guidebook/worldbuilding book/scrapbook/spell book. Azura chapter samples. But oh well. Disney is terrible; the stale, cowardly, conservative, capitalist tools running it and eating themselves alive never know or care when they have a good thing. They never care for originality and risk.

'The Owl House' - I love and adore you. And so do all your loyal fans after these years. Fans you gave hope, progress, representation and understanding to when they needed them the most. You - and Dana Terrace, whom we all appreciate for everything they are doing - are a beacon; a miracle of a cartoon show and creator.

We cannot wait to see you again soon. You more than deserve to come back.

Final Score (for 'Hex-cellent Tales'): 4/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'How to Be a Witch' by Gabrielle Balkan (Writer), Shana Gozansky (Writer), Carmen Saldaña (Illustrator)

What a lovely, sweet picture book that's a contemporary, introductory guide to real witches and witchcraft for children. I can't believe I'd never heard of it until a few days ago - I just happened to see it on another person's Goodreads shelf. Thank you for that, fellow witchy reader!

'How to Be a Witch' is very inclusive and diverse, which is another reason to love it; that and the adorable, warm and colourful pencilled, illustrious illustrations, the facts - including lots on nature - and the small spells to start with at the book's coda.

'How to Be a Witch' - 'Anyone can be a witch - even you!'


'Witches are people who learn and practice magic,
and use their magic to help and to heal.'


'There's magic inside you, too.
You are brave and bold, creative and smart, caring
and powerful, just as all witches are. So...

Step out into nature, gather your tools, stir up your
potions, create your spells, focus your mind, feel
your power, and share your magic with the world!'


Other recommended witchy picture books: 'Sunday The Sea Witch', 'Witch in Training', 'The Witchling's Wish', 'Leila, the Perfect Witch', 'Once Upon a Witch's Broom', 'The Witching Hour', 'My Mummy is a Witch', 'Witch Hazel', 'A Spoonful of Frogs', and 'Little Witch's To-Do List'.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'I Am NOT a Prince' by Rachael Davis (Writer), Beatrix Hatcher (Illustrator)

Oh, what a delightful, colourful and cute kids' LBGTQ+ fairy tale picture book!

'I Am NOT a Prince' truly is a darling and daringly-told queer coming-of-age tale, all about a little froggy.

I'm not usually into animal stories - much less the often disingenuous and insincere 'animals as metaphor in place of social issues' stories - but this is lovely, infectious and irresistible.

Among its many adorable features are rainbows, an owl, a bear, a lizard wizard (heh), dragons, unicorns, mermaids, princesses, and a ladybug on every page. The rhyming is adorable, too.

(How clever, also, that no gendered pronouns are assigned to Hopp the frog throughout the book.)

'I Am NOT a Prince' - one of the best, most charming LBGTQ+ children's picture books out there, alongside 'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo', 'And Tango Makes Three', 'Prince & Knight', 'My Magic Family', 'My Shadow is Pink', ''Twas the Night Before Pride', 'Steven Universe: The Answer', 'The Big Day', 'Cinder & Ella', 'Maiden & Princess', 'Heather Has Two Mummies', 'Molly's Family', 'Love, Violet', 'Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn', 'Marley's Pride', and 'ABC Pride'.

Anyone can be a hero. And a hero for self-acceptance, self-love, and pride.

And I think I really like frogs. They're cute, aren't they?

Free cheers for diverse princesses! Hip hop hooray!

Hops away!

Final Score: 5/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Girl Rebels: From Greta Thunberg to Malala, Five Inspirational Tales of Courage' by Various

I happened upon this at a random shop today, and wow am I glad to read about real, inspiring women and girls again. It's what I, and everybody else, needs.

'Girl Rebels: From Greta Thunberg to Malala, Five Inspirational Tales of Courage' is a comic collection telling the real life journeys and triumphs of six extraordinary, altruistic, noble, selfless, brave, determined young girl activists (plus others, such as their sisters), who never gave up in a toxic, violent, patriarchal world that hates and fears them, and loves to tear them down at every opportunity:

Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Syrian swimming champion and refugee (and saviour of and voice for refugees) Yusra Mardini, her sister Sara Mardini, school shooting survivor and fighter for US gun control Emma (X) González (and her surviving school friends, including Jaclyn Corin), and Bali/Indonesian ecologists and founders of Bye Bye Plastic Bags Melati Wijsen and Isabel Wijsen.

They are far from the only young women fighting for a better world today - in ethics and politics - but they are who the book covers.

Through all the darkness, there is light: it is truly inspirational and life-affirming to be reminded of what humans, when they work together, are capable of; with enough courage, brains, heart, passion, and perseverance, and the unrelenting resolve to tell the truth, to make their voices heard, no matter the obstacles.

I guess my four out of five star rating is due to a couple tiny issues I have with an artwork or two, including outright errors (although a lot of it is great, don't get me wrong), and current 2026 cynicism and hopelessness (this came out in 2023).

With every reminder that, inexplicably and inescapably, things are in fact getting worse, and the world is run by literally the worst people - that evil is real, that monsters are real, and capitalism and the white supremacist patriarchy and the right wing have made it possible - it's books like 'Girl Rebels' that also remind us that hope still exists. And it is thanks to the incredible efforts and bravery of girls and women, the pioneers of progress and caring about others, and therefore society's oldest targets of scapegoating, scorn, hate, fear and bigotry.

Girls should run the world. They are the ones who can save us all. And here is the proof. Here is why.

We just have to listen to them.

(It's great to read about Greta and Malala again, as well.)

Final Score: 4/5

Happy Women in STEM Day

 Happy International Day for Women and Girls in Science! Past and present! 🧪🧪🧪🥼🥼🥼🥽🥽🥽

Graphic Novel Review - 'Arcana: The Lost Heirs' by Sam Prentice-Jones

A nice, contemporary queer fantasy graphic novel, reminiscent of 'Les Normaux' and 'Doughnuts and Doom', with even a bit of 'Wash Day Diaries', and Marvel's 'Runaways' for older readers.

I like 'Arcana''s motif around tarot cards, and what they represent for each of the key players in the story, and just the overall magic, friendship and found family theme. Nearly every character is so nice and sweet!

These witches - these "lost heirs" - are great as a group. They are wonderfully diverse, and open, understanding and communicative - there are no secrets between them, there is trust, unlike with their shifty older authority figures - and their Halloween party costumes near the end of the comic are fantastic!

There is explicit queer and trans rep, and a character who is referred to by he/him/they/them pronouns; plus a vast array of POC and body positive rep.

The art is adorable, simplistic, colourful and expressive.

And it's a British queer fantasy series!

'Arcana: The Lost Heirs' is a first volume and it ends on a cliffhanger, but I really like these characters, their individual lives, their relationships with one another, and the magic system implemented. Its slowly growing dark mystery is intriguing, too (what exactly is the curse that the young witch team must break?). There is another important theme of breaking and changing archaic traditions and "family legacies" in modern times for necessary reasons, and nepotism, toxic and abusive patriarchal roles, and generational trauma.

Overall, I recommend it for any fantasy lover.

Though, as a sidenote, it is a bit odd for a story about witches and a secret witch society/government/MI6 to not have familiars, or any animal at all present.

Final Score: 4/5

Scribble #152

Diamond Haiku:

Fear an Independent Woman

Whore. Witch.

They call me names,

They sentence me to death.

They wanted to

For a long time before,

As I kept to myself.

I'm different.

Slut. Witch.