William JoyceJack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning (5) (The Guardians)

I've long been a fan of William Joyce's work, from "Dinosaur Bob" to "Rollie Pollie Ollie". He has a knack for creating the most unique and whimsical worlds like no other. Years back, I absolutely adored the "Rise of the Guardians" movie, and upon finding out it was based on a series of books penned by one of my favorite authors, I knew I had to give the novels a look. Let it be known that oftentimes, movies CAN benefit books, because if nothing else, the film adaptations can draw attention to novels that may not have been discovered otherwise. After greatly enjoying the previous four installments, I was eager to pick up the final book and see how this grand adventure came to a close.(Please note that this review is coming from someone who saw the movie adaption first. As such, a few comparisons between the two are going to be made.)Picking up after "Sandman and the War of Dreams", our story fast forwards many centuries later, in which the Guardians have long been bringing happiness to the children of the world, and have accepted their more popular nicknames of "Santa Claus", "The Easter Bunny", "The Tooth Fairy", and "The Sandman". The wizard Ombric, who was vaporized during the last great battle with Pitch, now lives in between seconds as Father Time, and Katherine has taken the role of Mother Goose---the protector of stories and imagination, and chronicling the exploits of her friends. And her story weaving skills will soon be of great importance when her friend, Nightlight, returns after being missing for over a century. But his years of being on the run from the Nightmare King have transformed him into a new entity altogether. And in order to stop Pitch once and for all, the Guardians will have to discover how their old friend became the spirit of winter, Jack Frost.Anyone who saw "Rise of the Guardians" first and are expecting much of the same in the books, well....it's exactly like the book, and yet somehow, at the same time, nothing like the book, if that makes any sense. Most of the characters and elements you know from the film are here, but there's plenty of other characters and lore that the film left out. But I wouldn't call this a bad thing, because the movie was purposely telling a different story, with the Guardians already established. So if you enjoyed the film, then you can view this book as a prequel to it--detailing the origins of how the Guardians of Childhood came to be. So the film is less a faithful adaption of the book's plot, and more of a faithful adaption of the characters and lore.Even though this story was written recently, it sounds like a fantasy tale passed down through the ages. This is the most unique fantasy world I've ever heard of or seen, with heroic werewolves, serpent monsters, tree languages, and that's just scratching the surface! Even better is the inclusion of William Joyce's pencil (and charcoal?) illustrations, which are so detailed and wondrous to gaze at.Unlike the previous novels, this final installment comes with a bit of mood whiplash, as we're suddenly shot forward in time to the 1930s, with the Guardians now long fully established and famous throughout the world. But even after all this time, the threat of Pitch still looms, and as such, we finally get some more background information on Nightlight who, up to this point, has been mostly almost a side character, but is now given extreme importance as his transformation into Jack Frost is key in defeating the Nightmare King. It's obvious that Jack has a much more complicated back story here than in the movie, to the point that Movie/Jack is a completely different character, and in some respects, I like the movie version more. Book/Jack is still a bit cheeky and mischievous, but far more mature than his movie counterpart, with a staff that's revealed to be a sentient creature. The movie origin is much more simple and streamlined, with a story about a mystical boy trying to discover his forgotten past, whereas the book is trying to tell the origin of a magical entity learning to act more human, on top of having to wrap up a bunch of dangling plot threads throughout the series. I get the feeling that the author originally envisioned the series going one way, but then once the movie was in production, he altered a few things to make the book fall more in line with the movie. I may be wrong, but nonetheless, that's the vibe I get.Also, when the final showdown with Pitch comes to pass, I can't help but admit that I like the movie's ending a bit more. In the film, Pitch's fate is left more open-ended, implying that the embodiment of fear can never truly be wiped out, but the Guardians will always be around to fight him, whereas here in the book, he's just straight up defeated/destroyed, seemingly permanently. And considering that World War II is just on the horizon in this timeline, seeing this immortal boogieman completely destroyed, while triumphant in the moment, just....doesn't seem right. Still, the way Pitch is destroyed comes as a surprise, and it shows the power and bravery in showing mercy to your enemy.So while the series started off strong, I feel it petered out just a bit in the end. Still, this is one of the best modern fairy tales written in years, and I wish I would've read this series sooner. And despite my feelings on the arguably rushed ending, this is still a fantastic series that any child, or child at heart, will enjoy.

I love Jack Frost. I was so excited about this book and it did not disappoint in terms of being about Jack Frost and exploring lots of aspects of his character/past. In terms of story, however, I felt like things were left unfinished at the end or too easily solved.It's also confusing because he has a different past in the books than in the movie.Still love this book and will probably keep it forever because Jack. If you love the character, you might like this book.

My kids enjoyed the story but the copy we received had blank pages and part of the story was missing.

This is a great ending for the series of books. I'm so glad that I enjoyed reading them. The movie was good but the stories were better in my opinion.

The main story is poignant, tender, and exciting, and the ending – very satisfying - may bring a happy tear. Author Joyce is a great storyteller and he shares some wonderful thoughts, one of the best being a description of the power of a story. (The villain can’t stand this fact, but it’s quite true.) And there are many other warm, inspiring thoughts in this book that make it special. Also, we see how Jack Frost becomes a leader as he comes to the rescue time and again, find out more about the mysterious pain in his hand, learn the history of his Twiner friend, and we see his Guardian friends join together with their unique talents to support him in what everyone hopes is a final battle.I recommend this book for 3rd through 5th grades, depending on the reader’s abilities. As a mom and librarian who hasn’t yet read the previous books in the series, I viewed this on its own merits. I can see kids avidly reading it and being eager to find out the ending. It contains suspense and danger and we see the power of good come forth in response. It is a little difficult getting through the first part of the book with all the lengthy descriptions and backstories of the other Guardians. I think it wasn’t necessary to provide descriptions of so many characters and events from previous books; this story can stand on its own easily. The white font on black pages in the center of the book will be appealing to kids, although a little harder to read than black on white. Finally, Joyce is quite multi-talented, as his drawings are creative and add much to the story. This is one of the better books for elementary school ages, and – parents – your kids will want to come back for more.

I enjoyed the previous four books in The Guardians, so I was excited to see that the fifth installment finally came out. The story, like all the ones in this series, is charming. Other reviews have already mentioned almost everything I could think to say about it, so I have nothing to add there except that I didn't really care for the idea of Nightlight becoming Jack Frost. I personally would have preferred for them to stay separate characters to maybe tie in with the Rise of the Guardians movie better, but I guess the concept works well enough in the book, so whatever. Anyway, I can usually finish one of these novels within a day or two, so they aren't long, but I find them to be the perfect length. My main gripe with the book itself is that the cover art does not match with the rest of the books. Which is a shame, because the art style of the others is lovely and true to the actual illustrations in the books.Despite my nitpicks, Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning is a satisfying conclusion to The Guardians series and a fine book in its own right.

My 9 year old daughter absolutely loves this collection. Very well written and full of imagination. Well worth getting especially if you’re a fan of Rise of the Guardians like we are.

Enjoyable story

Lo que me gusto de el libro: la historia, los personajes, el mensaje que transmite y que lo puede leer toda la familia.El diseño es del libro precioso y el cierre perfecto de una saga de libros espectacular.Viene con muchos dibujos que mejoran la lectura para los niños.Lo recomiendo para aquellos que gustan de leer historias llenas de fantasía y aventura, y de la emoción de ser niños.

Hat der Autor sich jetzt am auf seinem Werk basierenden Animationsfilm orientiert oder hatte er den Filmemachern vorher schon verraten, wie alles ausgeht?Wie dem auch sei, ich bin kein Jack Frost Fangirl, war aber mit dem Buch und dem Ende der Geschichte recht zufrieden.

Book had a small black marker on the bottom of the pages, similar to what library's do but I bought it used so I was expecting something, aside from that the book is in really good condition, no bent pages, no rips or tares and is surprisingly the biggest book in the set so I'm excited to start reading it.