Summer Reading Club 1: Mysterious Creatures

The BC Summer Reading Club week 1 theme is "Mysterious Creatures: real or mythical/imaginary." Check out these suggestions & encounter tales of the peculiar!

Updated July 3, 2024
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A very short, entirely true history of unicorns
Laskow, Sarah 
Paper Book
From cuddly pool floats to rainbow-colored toast toppings, unicorns--the darlings of Instagram--have never been more exciting or more popular. Are unicorns real? Their popularity and enduring role in human culture certainly is. How can you win a fight against a unicorn? Why do...

Non-fiction

A is for axolotl an unusual animal ABC
Macorol, Catherine, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
Incredible animals await in Catherine Macorol's A Is for Axolotl--not the tame or the merely wild, but the strangest, most fascinating creatures of all! Readers will join an alphabet adventure that spans the globe as they climb trees with the binturong (also known as...

Non-fiction

The strangest thing in the sea and other curious creatures of the deep
Poliquin, Rachel, 1975- author. 
Paper Book
A feathery tutu dancing through the water? A tiptoeing rock wearing a wig? A mountain of skulls on the ocean floor? Not everything is quite as it seems in this fascinating exploration of 12 bizarre and little-known sea animals. The question-and-answer approach and gatefolds in this innovative and...

Non-fiction

The book of mythical beasts & magical creatures
Krensky, Stephen 
Paper Book
Meet your favorite monsters, fairies, heroes, and tricksters from all around the world in this guide to mythical creatures. Enter the enchanting world of mythical creatures from all around the world and explore the history behind them in this illustrated mythology book for...

Non-fiction

Anglerfish the seadevil of the deep
Alexander, Elaine M. 
Paper Book
Deep in the darkest part of the ocean, visit a primordial, fierce-toothed fish that draws in prey with its own bioluminescent lure. Dive thirteen thousand feet below the ocean's surface, where no ray of sunlight can penetrate. Resources are scarce, and fellow inhabitants scarcer....

Non-fiction

Narhwal the arctic unicorn
Anderson, Justin 
Paper Book
Discover the majestic unicorn of the sea with this suspenseful narrative from a BBC filmmaker and gorgeous art from an award-winning illustrator. With a crack and a creak, the frozen sea begins to melt--the ice splits apart and a new pathway forms.

Non-fiction

The teeny-weeny unicorn
Harris, Shawn (Artist), author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
Meet this pint-sized unicorn in this funny, modern fairy tale about perception and self-confidence from a Caldecott-Honor winning creator. Once upon a time, in a land where horses were mythical beasts, there lived a unicorn-a Teeny-Weeny Unicorn. He lived with his family in a...

Picturebook

The hidden world of gnomes
Soloy, Lauren, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
This book is an introduction to the hidden folk called gnomes, who live in a happy place they call The Pocket. Where is The Pocket, you ask? Well, it's all around you, all the time. Gnomes are curious little creatures, and they're very shy. But after reading this book, you will learn to spot the...

Picturebook

Margaret's unicorn
Smith, Briony May, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
A perfect gift for the unicorn lovers in your life, this lovely and utterly transporting picture book tells the story of what every little girl wishes would happen to her: a girl finds and takes care of a lost baby unicorn. Margaret's whole world changes when her family moves to...

Picturebook

A Narwhal and Jelly book. 1, Narwhal unicorn of the sea
Clanton, Ben, 1988- author, artist. 
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling series "Hilarious and charming. The most lovable duo since Frog and Toad." --NYT-bestselling creator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, Dav Pilkey Narwhal is a happy-go-lucky narwhal. Jelly is a no...

Graphic novel

The Tea Dragon Society
O'Neill, Katie (Cartoonist), author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The TeaDragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, ablacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in theenchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a...

Graphic novel

How to train your dragon /
Cowell, Cressida.
Paper Book
Read the New York Times bestselling book that inspired the hit movies! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a...

Intermediate fiction

Bob
Mass, Wendy, 1967- author. 
Paper Book
It's been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy's grandmother in Australia. Now that she's back, Livy has the feeling she's forgotten something really, really important about Gran's house. It turns out she's right. Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed...

Intermediate fiction

The last
Applegate, Katherine 
Paper Book
In this first book of an epic middle grade series, Katherine Applegate takes us on an unforgettable journey. A New York Times bestseller from the beloved author of the action-packed Animorphs series and the award-winning The One and Only Ivan. Byx is the youngest member of...

Intermediate fiction

The lonely lake monster
Selfors, Suzanne. 
Paper Book
Pearl Petal and Ben Silverstein can't wait for their first official day as apprentices of Dr. Woo, veterinarian for imaginary creatures. That is, until they are tasked with clipping the sasquatch's toenails. Gross! Then Pearl spots a monster in the lake behind the hospital...

Intermediate fiction

The incredibly dead pets of Rex Dexter Narwhal I'm around
Reynolds, Aaron, 1970- author. 
Paper Book
This wet, wild, and hilariously illustrated story from a New York Times bestselling author takes readers on a wacky adventure that spirals out of control as soon as our pet hero discovers a narwhal hanging out in his bedroom. Rex Dexter is cursed . . ....

Intermediate fiction

How to heal a gryphon
Cannistra, Meg 
Paper Book
"A funny, fantastical mystery. . . Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan." --Laura Ruby, Two-Time National Book Award Finalist and author of the YORK Trilogy "I could live with these characters and in this world for a good long while. Bring on the sequel!" --New York Times...

Intermediate fiction

Willodeen
Applegate, Katherine 
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odder and The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate, a heartfelt story about a girl who risks everything to help a handmade creature who comes to life. The earth is old and we are not, and that...

Intermediate fiction


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