The Extincts

In this madcap debut from Cossanteli, young George Drake answers an odd help-wanted sign and discovers a place unlike any other, filled with animals real and mythological, contemporary and presumed extinct. On Wormestall Farm, Mrs. Lind and her gruff assistant, Lo, teach George how to avoid the kraken in the bathroom and how to feed the ichthyosaur without becoming food himself. When pets begin disappearing from town, rumors swirl about the Squermington Wyrm, a legendary local beast, and George’s job suddenly involves capturing a lost basilisk while avoiding Diamond Pye, an demoniac taxidermist intent on bagging exotic animals to win the Golden Brain Spoon, taxidermy’s highest honor. George gets help from Prudence, Diamond’s unhappy charge, and the two team up on an adventurous and often dangerous romp to try to save the residents of Wormestall Farm, get rid of Diamond Pye, and return peace to Squermington. Fans of unusual animals and mythology will enjoy this exciting mix of fantasy and realistic fiction, and Muradov’s swoopy spot illustrations make most of these cryptids and other creatures more cute than menacing. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)