I wouldn’t have committed to that schedule if I weren’t fairly confident that I could pull off a second book of equal quality. The sequel was scheduled to come out nine months after the first book. Yes! I couldn’t stomach the possibility of making a sequel that wasn’t as fun as the first. Did you feel pressure when working on the sequel? I talked to Abby via email about this entertaining second installment in the series.ĭory Fantasmagory was so well-received. Nuggy, Dory’s fairy godmother, and the nefarious Mrs. It’s a satisfying sequel in every way readers will be happy to see the return of Mary, Dory’s favorite monster, even if Mary is not welcome at school this year-as well as Mr. Dory is determined for them to be best friends, as well as convince her family that Rosabelle isn’t yet another figment of her imagination. It’s a new school year for Dory, and she meets Rosabelle, who cuts her grapes with a knife and wears an “especially poufy” dress. Now I have a second book to recommend, Dory and the Real True Friend, on shelves now. (“Did you give Dory away AGAIN? WHERE’S DORY?” I hear on a regular basis from the next room.)

While enthusiastically talking it up, I find myself giving my copy away, because it is an exceedingly funny story and captures the imagination of young children in a very honest-and never saccharine-way thus my constant need to replenish, much to the distress of my own children.

I personally keep having to replenish my bookshelf with a copy of this first book in the series, since I like to recommend it to children I meet, as well as parents and educators I know who are surrounded by children. This first book in a series, Dory Fantasmagory (named a Kirkus Best Book of 2014), was met with uniformly good reviews and garnered legions of fans. Last year, author-illustrator Abby Hanlon introduced the busy, bustling world of children’s literature to Dory, one of its most memorable new characters.

Abby hanlon