Venom Wars of the Desert Realm by Michael C. Baumann is an excellent adventure tale for young readers. It’s a classic story of good versus evil set in a world of intelligent animals. The dark forces of evil have defeated King Aridin, the brave eagle, and are gathering their forces to bring every good animal under their power. The dark side is made up mostly of reptiles and flying bugs. The side of the light is populated by birds, mammals, and some of the crawling insects. Our heroes are three courageous hares, young brothers who lost their parents years earlier. They are joined by a brave female owl in their quest to defeat the army of a giant lizard named Hillmaken.

All the elements of a heroic adventure are present in Venom Wars of the Desert Realm. Our heroes, three hares and an owl, are lovable, fun, and self-sacrificing. The young hares are especially enjoyable as they tackle every obstacle and every foe with great fighting skills, hearts of gold, and a little bit of magic. The villains are despicable through and through and easy to dislike. The plot keeps moving at a brisk pace but somehow manages to keep readers guessing at what will happen next. Parents, if you’re looking for a book that will make your young boy or girl want to read, this it. His bio says that Mr. Baumann has four kids. I can tell, after reading his book, that this is one author who has learned a few things about what kids want in a story. With Venom Wars of the Desert Realm, he has successfully incorporated his knowledge into a great book, soon to be a great series.