A Children’s Book of Demons

Leighton integrates a hands-on craft element into this playful guide that invites readers to conjure gentle demons by writing their sigils, which serve as “a phone number” straight to the spirit. The demons necessitate specific summons (a riddler named Corydon requires a sigil “drawn in bright red, the colour of a clown’s nose—preferably while you’re giggling”), and express specific characteristics and abilities that range from pragmatic to gross. They include “Flatulus,” whose talent is passing gas; “Quazitoro,” an expert at finding missing objects; and “Spanglox,” “the best-dressed demon in the underworld,” who offers cutting-edge fashion advice. Leighton’s renderings of the multieyed, multiarmed, sharp-toothed demons are outlandish without being creepy, and the creative concept will likely inspire some readers to create demons of their own. Ages 5–10. [em](July) [/em]