If your kid has already burned through the How to Train Your Dragon series, you're likely staring at this cover wondering if Cowell can catch lightning twice. The short answer is yes, but the vibe is different. While her previous work felt like a Viking epic filtered through a schoolboy’s notebook, The Wizards of Once feels more like a dark, ancient folk tale told at a breakneck pace.
The power of the doodle
The first thing you’ll notice is that the book is physically busy. Cowell’s illustrations are scratchy, chaotic, and everywhere. This isn't a "novel with a few pictures" situation; the art is the narrative. If you have a reader who gets intimidated by dense blocks of text, this is your secret weapon. The sketches break up the prose so effectively that kids often don't realize they've just knocked out thirty pages in one sitting. It's a high-stimulus reading experience that mirrors how kids actually think—messy, fast, and full of side notes.
A protagonist who is actually a brat
Xar, our lead Wizard, is not your typical noble hero. He is arrogant, impulsive, and frequently a total handful. He’s the son of the King of Wizards, but he has zero magic, and he handles that insecurity by being loud and reckless.
I like this because it’s honest. Most kids aren't perfectly stoic heroes; they’re frustrated, they make bad calls, and they try too hard to be cool. Pairing him with Wish—a Warrior girl who is his polar opposite in temperament but shares his "misfit" status—creates a dynamic that’s more about friction than instant friendship. Watching them figure out that neither of their tribes has the full truth is the real hook of the series.
The read-aloud sweet spot
While this is a solid solo read for the 8-to-12 crowd, it’s an elite candidate for a family read-aloud. The narrator’s voice in the writing is distinct and a bit cheeky, making it easy to do the "voices" without feeling ridiculous.
The worldbuilding is deep enough to keep you interested as an adult, but the chapters are snappy enough to prevent the "just one more page" plea from turning into a thirty-minute hostage situation. If you’re looking for a bridge between early chapter books and the much heavier, darker YA fantasy that looms in their middle school future, this hits the bullseye.
It’s worth noting that there are four books in the series. Since the first one ends on a significant cliffhanger, you might want to have the second one standing by on the shelf. Once the "deadly witch" plot kicks into gear, most kids aren't going to want to wait for a shipping window to find out what happens to Xar and Wish.
