These two sequels to Adam Rex’s Gumluck the Wizard are fun but go read that first book in the series if you haven’t, it’s too great a start to miss. Rex’s stories are hilarious and make the best read-alouds in large part because his illustrations are also fabulous. Everyone will find something to enjoy in these books.
The Story of Gumluck and the Dragon’s Eggs (Book Two) by Adam Rex. Chronicle, 2024. 9781797214511. 126pp.
The story of the kind (and kinda hapless) wizard Gumluck, his ghostly friend Butterscotch, and Helvetica (a crow) starts with Helvica looking for a place to lay her eggs. Gumluck keeps wrecking her nests (in the nicest way) so she finds a huge dead tree, the perfect place, and lays three eggs there. Unfortunately, it’s a dragon’s nest. Things get weirder when Helvetica tries to convince the resident dragon that Helvetica, is, in fact, a dragon herself.
The Story of Gumluck and the Heroes (Book Three) by Adam Rex. Chronicle, 2025. 9781797214528. 136pp.
(minor spoiler) Helvetica and her three baby crows now live with Gumluck. He’s trying to invite the Very Wise Wizard Who Lives in the Moon to stay at their house when the moon is too small for her to stay home. (The moon has quite a bureaucracy, as evidenced by all of the Moonboss’s assistants and such who stop by to help with arrangements.) The wizard eventually shows up, hands out many gifts, and then asks for a favor; she knows some folks who need Gumluck’s help, adventurers who want a wizard on their quest. They are a fighter with a giant sword, an elvish archer, and a thief who doesn’t seem to want anyone to know she’s a raccoon. This party of adventurers provides Rex with a chance to skewer a few D&D tropes and also to show the value of kindness in the most hilarious ways. It will be enjoyable to kids and adults alike, but particularly to geeky adults with certain gaming habits.
