We learn that Henry's greatest, secret wish is to learn to play baseball. He is spending the summer with his Aunt Dotty, Uncle Frank and their daughters, his cousins, Penelope, Henrietta and Anastasia.

Henry York finds himself arriving in Henry, Kansas on a bus. 100 Cupboards is a story that reveals itself slowly and, for the first few chapters seems almost like it might not be a fantasy at all. Wilson's writing reminds me a bit of one of Wendy Mass' characters or even Owen Birnbaum from Ellen Potter's amazing book SLOB. His writing in 'our world' is as engrossing and compelling as his descriptions of the 'other worlds'and their inhabitants that come later. Wilson is a thoughtful writer who spends time giving shape to Henry as well as describing the geography of his new home town. Sometimes the information in the journal is not complete.īut, before I delve further into the fantasy aspects of the story, I need to begin where ND Wilson begins, in Henry, Kansas. Taken from the journal of Henry's grandfather, this map also includes notations for every cupboard that, in the best cases, tells where the door opens to, specific to the geography of the place, the name of the place and what time it is following, such as alternate past, yesterday, now, alternate future and so on. The illustration is not a map of a fantasy realm, magical city or underworld empire, but of the 99 doors of varying shapes and sizes that serve as portals to other times and places. Besides having a really cool new magical animal in it, 100 Cupboards has one of the best maps in a fantasy book I have seen in a while. And, I have read that this is to be a trilogy, although I could not confirm that on the author's website. Since the main character of 100 Cupboards, Henry York, is not united with his raggant until the end of the story, I can't tell you if it grows to the size of an adult rhinoceros, but perhaps that question is answered Book 2 in the series, Dandelion Fire. Raggants are sent to find someone and can only do this once as a raggant stays with the person it finds until it dies, never letting anyone see it fly. Sort of a thinking girl's unicorn, the raggant looks like a chubby, cuddly baby rhinoceros with wings and is used sort of like a homing pigeon or a bloodhound.

ND Wilsonwins the award for the creation of the best fantasy creature you might actually like to have as a pet, the raggant, as does Jeff Nentrup, for bringing it to life with his painterly talents.

The Door Before by N.D. Wilson