There are a few things I didn't care for, but overall, I enjoyed the book.

What can I say about this book? It is a fun read if you are a big fan of anything Disney, but also you really have to take into account that this is written for a younger age. I personally hate saying a book is for this age group, or that age group, but this book does kind of feel dumbed down, so it really fits for a younger age group. Though I don't like when books think they need to dumb things down in order for kids to understand it.

My only problem is that there were parts that I found boring and unneeded. I dragged my feet a lot while reading this. There were so many fantastical things you had to wrap your brain around. I felt the book should have focused on less; it felt like it tried to do too much.

The whole concept is amazing, of course, but also there were bits that were confusing. Maybe because of how unrealistic they were. As a reader, you really need to suspend your belief on some of the stuff this book goes into.

For the most part, I like all the main characters, though I wonder if we really need 7 children. Some of them do not seem to get enough screen time and could probably be condensed into one character.

There were hints of romance, or foreshadowing to romance in later volumes. I did not care for that very much, it felt sudden and out of place.

I also found it so funny how they kept referencing older Disney stuff, like Ashley Tisdale, Raven-Symone and High School Musical. No doubt who the publisher was for this series. I feel like this really dates the books.

There are going to be kids who are like who the heck are those people. I found it interesting, because I grew up with them, but of course I do get annoyed when books name drop so much. I get why it was done for this book, but it was still a little odd and brought me out of the story. I should expect it a little since they are at Disney.

 

I'm holding high hope for the next volume.

The Kingdom Keepers tricked me! I started the series a couple of weeks ago when the sixth (and supposedly FINAL) book was published. If you've read my reviews, you know I never start a series until I can read the whole series at once....a rule I established after enduring the torture of waiting for each new Harry Potter book. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the end of book 6 of The Kingdom Keepers to find there is still more story left! And not just a little! Oh, and book 7--the REAL series ender--isn't going to be published until APRIL 2014! Sigh.

Oh, well. Minor annoyance I suppose. I'll review the series up to book 6, and when book 7 comes out next year I'll just add to it. Enough. On to the review...

I'm always on the lookout for books my kids might enjoy, and The Kingdom Keepers sounded like a lot of fun. Who wouldn't want to wake up each night somewhere in Disney World as a hologram, where you become the only force for good defending the world against the nefarious plans of all the Disney bad guys? Sounds like a good time to me. Turns out, that fun premise makes for some pretty fun adventures, and The Kingdom Keepers reads quickly and easily. The series definitely finished stronger than it started. I enjoyed the last three much more than the first three.

I do wonder how much Disney paid the author to write these books. They are all Disney propaganda at its best (worst?). I also don't like that dads are portrayed as out of touch idiots...that's a problem in our society that deserves a much more in depth discussion. There are several instances were kids lie and keep things from their parents, and even a couple instances when the mom and the son conspire to hide things from the brain dead dad. I don't appreciate that either. However, I'm still happy to let my kids read The Kingdom Keepers. It's exactly for these types of issues I always preread my kids books, and I'll be able to talk about these issues as they come up.

I hope your family has fun reading The Kingdom Keepers. Now I just have to wait for April 2014 to see what happens next!

"Disney at Dawn" is the second of Ridley Pearson's clever Kingdom Keepers series. In this outing the Disney Host Interactive (DHI) kids are participating in a celebration at Orlando's Magic Kingdom when they start noticing animals in the park. Animals belong at Animal Kingdom, of course ... and that's the beginning of the troubles.It seems that the Overtakers, a crew of Disney villains from the first book, have a new plan for taking over the parks ... and it involves the animals.The next thing that happens is that one of the kids' friends, Jez, disappears. Fortunately, she's left behind her diary -- which is filled with drawings of things that start to happen to the kids. With the diary now understood as a series of potential clues, the kids go looking for their friend and take on the Overtakers once again.I enjoyed this book, which is aimed at the 'tween set. It will only make sense if the first book has already been read; it appears that the series must be read in order rather than as stand-alones.

Second half of the book was not bad, first half was not good. Set in Animal Kingdom, Disneyworld - I've never been, so that was interesting to me. Ended in a cliffhanger of sorts, but I don't feel compelled to read the third.