Collection: Fantasy

All You Need Is a Pencil, Paper and Your Imagination!

Ever wondered how you could become a character designer for video games, film or animation? Veteran art director and concept artist Marc Taro Holmes shares proven methods for honing the skills and building the portfolio necessary to become a pro gaming artist. This is the first and only work-at-your-own pace home study program that teaches the crucial insider knowledge needed to break into the entertainment-design industry and develop your own style--all you need are a pencil, paper and your imagination.

The projects within this straightforward guide are constructed to help you apply your existing drawing and digital art skills to character design. Or, if you're still working on your skills, it will help you improve while at the same time turning your mind into an idea-generating machine.

Unlock the Secrets to Character and Creature Design

- Follow the creature design process from start to finish: 35 projects are divided into 4 challenge levels, ranging from brainstorming and drawing character blueprints to completing market-ready illustrations. As the levels advance, the projects become more complex.
- Learn to solve design problems: Every project introduces you to an open-ended fictional assignment inspired by industry experience. Each project has a list of minimum deliverables--the basics to get to the next stage--plus bonus goals. You receive virtual merit badges for each achievement you complete.
- Think like a pro: Over the 155 possible artistic achievements, you'll be asked to find a solution to every type of conceptual problem you might encounter as a professional creature or character designer.
- Build your portfolio: Work toward creating an outstanding portfolio. Improve your skills and push yourself to create a fine-tuned presentation that could get you your eventual dream job.
"This is a workout for the imagination, a boot camp for creativity." --Marc Taro Holmes

This beautifully styled book for girls is full of everything you will ever want to know about Flower Fairies. Featuring stories, poems, recipes, craft ideas, fairy facts, and tips for how to spot fairies in your own garden, this stunning gift book brings the glorious world of the Flower Fairies to life.

BabyLit(R) is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature, and little ones will love Peter Pan: A BabyLit(R) Adventure Primer.

With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and adorable illustrations by Sugar's Alison Oliver, this book is a must for every savvy parent's nursery library. Collect all of the classic literature-inspired BabyLit primers!

Bullies beware! A freak accident gives five middle school bullies super powers. But instead of being able to transform into cool super-beings, they take on the characteristics of the kids they bully. Sure their abilities may be at an all-time high, but do they really have what it takes to save their school when their self-esteem is at an all-time low? "The Offenders is the best use of detention since The Breakfast Club - funny, exciting, and the most charming thing I've read in ages. Writing something entertaining is tough, but writing something important is even tougher. Jerry and his boys have made it look easy." - Drew Pearce, writer of Iron Man 3

The first book in a thrilling fantasy trilogy starring one of the animal kingdom's most hunted heroes. Foxcraft is full of excitement and heart, and a touch of magic.

Isla and her brother are two young foxes living just outside the lands of the furless -- humans. The life of a fox is filled with dangers, but Isla has begun to learn mysterious skills meant to help her survive. Then the unthinkable happens. Returning to her den, Isla finds it set ablaze and surrounded by strange foxes, and her family is nowhere in sight. Forced to flee, she escapes into the cold, gray world of the furless. Now Isla must navigate this bewildering and deadly terrain, all while being hunted by a ruthless enemy. In order to survive, she will need to master the ancient arts of her kind -- magical gifts of cunning known only to foxes. She must unravel the secrets of foxcraft.

"A Blade So Black is the fantasy book I've been waiting for my whole life."
--Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give

For fans of Marissa Meyer, L.L. McKinney's A Blade So Black delivers an irresistible urban fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland... but it's not the Wonderland you remember.

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she's ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head... literally.

Debut author L.L. McKinney delivers an action-packed twist on an old classic, full of romance and otherworldly intrigue.

And don't miss the thrilling sequel, A Dream So Dark!

An Imprint Book

"Mixing elements of Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Delectable." --Entertainment Weekly

A dysfunctional royal family, a generation's old secret, and a strange book with the names of those closest to the Crown written within its pages all serve as the backdrop for Fynn's surreal adventure through life, death, and the strange place that lies in between.

Following a disastrous summer punctuated by mysteries and deaths, Fynneas and Hollyn are sent from the comfort of their lives in Estheria to spend the next ten months at the Morancy Academy of Military Arts, located on a tropical archipelago. There, the boys will have to come to terms with their quirky instructors, volatile classmates, and their own tumultuous relationship if they have any hope of surviving the monsters, nightmares, and magic that await them on their quest to not only survive their first year, but to emerge as the Champion of the end of year Games.

Before Shrek made it big on the silver screen, there was William Steig's SHREK!, a book about an ordinary ogre who leaves his swampy childhood home to go out and see the world.

Ordinary, that is, if a foul and hideous being who ends up marrying the most stunningly ugly princess on the planet is what you consider ordinary.

Adara and Einar are at a crossroads. With no allies left in the fae realm, they only have one option left to unlock Adara's powers--the dragons who fled Ediria nearly twenty years ago.

In order to find the dragons, Adara will have to travel to the heart of Mount Furian and access the portal they used to escape. And since Einar cannot cross the portal himself, she will have to travel to this dangerous new realm and convince the dragons to help her without her staunchest ally by her side.

The last thing Einar wants is to send Adara through the portal, not when they are so close to completing the mating bond. But time is of the essence as Nox's dark power grows every day, and sacrifices must be made. If Adara does not stop Nox soon, the Mother of Shadows will unleash a terrible evil upon Ediria that even the Radiants cannot withstand. And Adara and Einar will lose not only each other, but everything they hold dear...

The second book in Erin Hunter's #1 nationally bestselling Warriors series

Join the legion of fans who have made Erin Hunter's Warriors series a bestselling phenomenon. More thrilling adventures, epic action, and fierce warrior cats await in Warriors #2: Fire and Ice.

Deep in the heart of the forest, four Clans of warrior cats coexist in uneasy harmony--but uncertain times are upon them, and dangers threaten the precarious balance of the forest.

Fireheart is a ThunderClan warrior now, but his troubles are far from over. The cats of rival RiverClan grow restless, while WindClan is weak and faces threats from all sides. Now Fireheart faces not only imminent battle, but betrayal from within his own Clan.

The children of the Grace Field House orphanage must escape a macabre fate before it's too late.

Life at Grace Field House is good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious food and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems...

While attempting to locate the Seven Walls, Emma and Ray find themselves trapped in a mysterious world. Can they escape this labyrinth and make the promise that will finally bring about peace? Meanwhile, Norman has his own plans...

It's time for the Halloween Ball, and Bea Black is on the planning committee. Will she be able to come up with ideas for the ball that impress--and continue to practice magic while keeping it all a secret from her dad and best friend?

Bea Black is STILL at witch school, despite her best efforts to get her dad to move her to another school. And with the Halloween Ball on the horizon--only the biggest event of the school year--Bea is selected to be on the planning committee! Will she be able to come up with ideas for the ball that impress--and master her wand skills while still keeping her magic a secret from her dad? Features black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Told through Bea's diary entries, the Diary of an Accidental Witch series invites readers to follow Bea on a humorous journey of self-discovery as she learns where she truly belongs.

Do you believe in magic? Mia and her friends do! And when they meet the Star Animals, a whole world of magical adventures unfolds in this new chapter book from the Star Friends series featuring black and white illustrations throughout.

Ever since Mia and her friends stopped Aunt Carol from using dark magic to cause trouble in their small town, life has been peaceful for the girls and their Star Animals. But it seems that peace was only temporary as the girls and their Star Animals are going to have to use all of their Star Magic skills to battle the latest threat....

In the Star Friends chapter book series, Mia and her friends Lexi, Sita, and Violet all discover that they are Star Friends -- they can communicate with the animals that have traveled from the Star World. The animals show the girls how to use their unique magic abilities to do good. A whole world of magical adventures awaits!

What's in a name?

In order to defeat the Nightmare Knight, legend dictates that the Dream Sword must be autographed by seven princesses. But things get a bit complicated when our heroes discover that the Flower Kingdom has no royalty! Luckily, the "king" of fashion, Mr. R is on the hunt for the new face of his style empire, and whoever catches his eye will be named... (wait for it...) "Princess R"!

Who will claim the coveted title? And why does it feel like we're forgetting something important...?

Adapted from the popular webcomic series, Cucumber Quest: The Flower Kingdom is the fourth graphic novel in a clever, adorable, and hilarious four-volume heroic adventure series from Gigi D.G. that is sure to make you hungry for sweets and action.

2014 Locus Awards Finalist, Nonfiction Category

In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book's topics range from the "alien" experience of blacks in America to the "wake up" cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.

Perfect for fans of the Storm Runner and Aru Shah series, this "intriguing, fast-paced" (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade fantasy follows a young girl who must venture to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King in Korea to save her parents from an evil diviner spirit.Twelve-year old Lia Park just wants to fit in. Her parents work with a mysterious organization that makes them ridiculously overprotective. Lia's every move has been scrutinized since she was born, and she'd love to have the option of doing something exciting for once. So when she gets invited to the biggest birthday party of the year--and her parents say she can't go--Lia sneaks out. But her first act of rebellion not only breaks her parents' rules, but also an ancient protection spell, allowing an evil diviner spirit to kidnap and ransom her parents for a powerful jewel that her family has guarded for years. With just the clothes on her back and some very rusty magical skills, Lia finds herself chasing mysterious clues that take her to her grandmother's home in Korea. From there, she has to make their way to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King, the only person who knows where the powerful jewel might be. Along with her friend, Joon, Lia must dig deep and find courage to stand up for those who are weak--and become the hero her parents need.