Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

In this compilation of stories from the world of Wingfeather (Aerwiar), the most important thing for Christian parents to know about is the presence of one uncharacteristically heavy/mature story. Near the end of this book is a tale of a man whose child is kidnapped right in front of his eyes (this ties back to the “black carriage” concern we pointed out in our review of the first book). This scene plays out in detail to the young reader. This (understandably) leads the man and his wife into deep depression and despair, full of guilt and shame. The couple becomes completely cold to each other until the man decides he must go after the perpetrators, one of which he kills. When his rescue attempt fails, he goes on a long journey that shifts into an allegorical type tale of a broken man’s journey to bring his grievance before a holy God. It includes a dive into something that parallels eastern religious thought (which eventually is shown to fall short of fulfillment) and progresses to the point where the man is literally inches from taking his own life. Hopelessness, anger and accusation against “the Maker’s” good is communicated throughout the majority of this story. Now, it must be said, this is a really good story that leads to deep and true revelations about humanity and “the Maker”, but it is a story that is likely only appropriate for adults and much more mature children/teens. If you want to check this story out ahead of time or save it for something you walk through with a more mature child, it is titled, “The Place Beyond the Map”. — Another item to point out revolves around comic books. In the introduction to the book, the author mentions having a love of comic books. Then later one part of the compilation is a short story that appears in comic book form in the middle of the book. While this story is nothing too concerning, its drawings are a tad dark/strange and pointing children towards comics in a positive way is something Christian parents should have pause over. It also doesn’t wrap up in a “good” way, but hangs, never to be resolved. Comics continue to grow darker and darker over time and Christians should be very cautious with this. — There is one story that features an unlikely hero that is much like Disney’s Aladdin character. He steals to survive and lives all throughout the city completely on his own, which the story does glorify a bit, making it seem full of adventure. — There is a pirate tale that someone tells, where a woman is described as ugly and people from a village try and eventually succeed in wooing/stealing her from her husband. — There is a story that revolves around dragon hunting that is pretty detailed and will remind many people of modern-day whale hunting. — A few of the stories have perilous parts and strong statements that readers of the original story will be familiar with. Some of these include: ‘stop or I will carve a second smile in that scrawny throat of yours’, ‘I’ll sell your skin to the Fangs for slippers’, ‘I’ll use your giblets for marbles’, etc. There are also a few random mentions that should be pointed out: The term ghost appears several times (e.g., men being haunted by ghosts of what they have done) as well as instances of fat man, moron and specter. One author/illustrator bio in the back also mentions enjoying whiskey.