Sara Flutterbye and the Spooky Woods

by John Hallis

In this beautifully illustrated book, Professor Sara Flutterbye is excited to be visiting the little town of Baraboo from the Big City. She explains to her waitress at Birdie's Cafe that she's planning to camp in the Spooky Woods while she looks for the elusive giant butterflies rumored to live there. Abby, her waitress, tells her that no one stays overnight in those woods because people who do never return. Sara assures her that she's a seasoned camper and not to worry. Lucky for Sara, Abby does worry. She shares her concerns with her best friend, Leisha, and the two decide to keep a close eye on their visitor. Thanks to their special friend, Tanager, they soon find out that Sara is in big trouble. Can Abby, Leisha, and Tanager rescue Sara in time? Will Sara find the mysterious giant butterflies?

50 pages, Paperback

Published December 28, 2016

Reviews

[Brandi]

Cute book with a unique story. It is well written and age appropriate. The illustrations are really cute and add to the story. I would definitely recommend this book to younger audiences and would not hesitate to share it with my nieces.

My copy of this book was obtained from the Goodreads website and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

[Nancy]

This is a great book for young girls that are 3rd-5th grade (7-10). It is a bit exciting without actually being too scary and it features a strong scientific female main character. It is a short book that is well divided into manageable chapters for an early reader. If your child is not up to reading independently a 200 page book or gets bored of some of the slower paced books, then I suggest you get this one. I have a BA and MA in education and would feel comfortable recommending this for school programs, after-school libraries or summer reading lists. My 9 year old who is easily spooked loved this book and I appreciated how the females were portrayed. None of the negative female stereotypes I typically see are here!

[Dionne]

This book uses some literary devices such as foreshadowing but the narrative writing and dialogue is somewhat choppy and has gaps. The plot overall would keep a tween/teenager engaged but has some gaps due to missing details and is somewhat predictable. The illustrations are well done and realistic.

[Susan Csoke]

Sara comes to Baraboo, Wisconsin in search of Butterflies. She is fixated on camping overnight at Spooky Woods. A forbidden place that people only visit during the day. A lovely, exhilerating story!!!!! THANK YOU GOOD READS FIRST READS FOR THIS FREE BOOK!!!!!

[Louise Scholl]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. It is a gift for my niece, and I'm positive she will love it. I give books as gifts instead of toys.

[Evan]

I can't believe I'm going to say this about a children's book, but the following contains spoilers. Aiyeeee~

This is a cute little book for young girls. The story features a young woman exploring the titular Spooky Woods on her quest to photograph mythical giant butterflies purported to live within. She soon finds herself captured by a menacing creature, but her escape is facilitated by some magical new friends. The text is embellished with many great illustrations that should help capture the attention of burgeoning young readers.

On a side note, I would like to speculate on another reviewer's opinion that the book's subject is inappropriate, as I disagree. The only thing I think parents would find objectionable is the suspense created around the potential harm that might come to our protagonist: our bad guy intends to cook and eat his captive. If this worries you too much, now you can steer clear. However, I think this story is very unlikely to spurn nightmares, though of course the judgment is ultimately your own.

Personally, I think this book is a good choice for young girls and should lend itself well to a parent reading aloud with daughter on knee. I look forward to sharing this book with my niece.