A brand-new, full-color graphic novel series for animal fantasy fans that delivers a daring adventure and a mysterious threat that has animals–prey and predator alike–disappearing.
An orphaned white wolf cub exiled from her pack. A lone snow leopard searching for her missing cub. A bumbling young Pallas’s cat who can’t hold a tune.
In the midst of a brutal winter in the unforgiving Snowlands the mountain sheep begin to go missing. Without their primary food source, the wolf pack faces starvation and blame falls on Feba, an orphaned wolf cub whose white fur the elders see as a bad omen.
When pack leaders vote to banish Feba, and perhaps worse, she runs off into the icy wilderness just as the other wolf cubs go missing. Lost in the treacherous mountains, Feba stumbles upon Usha, a snow leopard searching for her missing cub. While Usha wants nothing more than to continue her journey alone, she grudgingly allows Feba and a skittish young wild cat, Batu, to follow her.
With a snowy trail full of deadly obstacles ahead, the unlikely trio sets out to find the Seeress, a magical being Usha hopes can find her missing son. Each step takes Usha, Feba, and Batu deeper into danger where they encounter other creatures–some helpful, some deceitful–and uncover a widespread peril in the mountains, the fate of the missing cubs, and what having a family truly means.
Morr Meroz is an animation filmmaker, award-winning author, and the founder of Bloop Animation and The Snowlands Company.
After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Morr worked as a character animator in some of the best NYC studios, such as Framestore, MTV, and Aardman Nathan Love.
In 2013, Morr founded Bloop Animation Studios and started producing animated short films. His shorts were screened in film festivals all around the world, including a premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival. In addition to making films, Morr launched Bloop Animation’s educational initiative, which has become a leading animation learning platform with thousands of students that features dozens of courses, tutorials, and guidebooks about animation filmmaking.
In 2020, Morr founded The Snowlands Company to create books and graphic novels, including the new Snowlands graphic novel series. His screenplay Snowlands, which this book is based on, is an Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist, a Second Rounder in the Austin Film Festival, and was the top animation screenplay on the Black List.
This book feels like watching a movie. It is emotional, immersive, captivating with beautiful and expressive art. The story captured me from the very start.
I love the beginning - a female wolf is telling the cubs the story of a frog who happened to come across a leopard. The frog tries to intimidate the leopard by pretending to be a ferocious warrior. The cubs find the story funny. One of the cubs is Feba, a white wolf. White wolves are often seen as cursed and shunned by the pack. But Feba is a cub and so far her mother’s friend and family have been successful in keeping her safe. However, winter is here and food is ever decreasing. The wolf council believes that Feba is the cause of their bad luck and wants to kill her.
Feba would rather face the wilderness than death. She runs away and her path crosses that of a leopard. Leopards tend to be solitary creatures but Usha herself is on a mission to find someone. She doesn’t want Feba to come along but Feba decides to anyway. Their comparison soon grows into friendship as they face dangers together. They meet many animals along the way and are finally led to the reason why food has been so little in the area this winter and who is hunting wolves.
The art in the book is beautifully drawn. I love the expressions of the characters. To be able to show cockiness, playfulness, disgruntledness, love and so many facial expressions in these animal characters is mastery. The themes of friendship, authenticity, leadership, and camaraderie were well portrayed.
Snowlands was darker in mood than I had anticipated. I enjoyed it and would read it again.
Many thanks to the author for providing me a review copy of this book for an honest review.
Cute. A mix of Jungle Book and Warrior Cats vibes. Took a bit of a dark twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, but there were lots of great themes going on.
I really enjoyed this book! The story is feel-good without being saccharine, and the art is engaging and well done throughout the entire 200 and some pages. My only complaint is that there doesn't seem to be a book two.
Snowlands by Morr Meroz is just everything I want a comic to be. It’s profound and sophisticated: it’s imaginative and creative. It is at times literary, funny, erudite, tragic, exciting, intriguing. I just love everything about it. It's graphic novel featuring cute, talking animals and may sound like something straight from the Disney's world, but hold your horses until you read this first installment of a full-color graphic novel series set in fantastic animal kingdom in Snowlands.
While the wolf pack is suffering a harsh winter in the unforgiving Snowlands, their hunters and scouts disappear, along with the mountain sheep, their main food source. Feba, a young orphaned wolf cub whose white fur many elders believe is an omen, is blamed for the family's lack of food. In order to escape a curse and death sentence, Feba is forced to runaway from her pack - which brings her on an epic adventure.
While wandering in the wild, she encounters many creatures, some of them are eager to join her adventure. On her way in the treacherous mountain, she meets Usha, a snow leopard looking for her cub, and Batu, a skittish young mountain cat. Building allies and friendships along the way, Feba is slowly becoming the moon queen of the wolves she always desired to be.
As the unlikely trio set out on a snowy trail, full of danger, they hope to locate the Seeress, a magical creature they hope can be the key to finding Usha's son. As they explore hidden dangers in the mountains, they discover what it means to truly have a family. While you follow them on these adventures, the author takes you on a tour about friendship, heroism and self-preservation, responsibility and dealing with consequences and suffering.
The story was intriguing and jumps into a fairly fresh realm of Snowlands. The plot sprawls, it's convoluted, it spans across treacherous mountains and a large cast. What keeps it together are the deeply personal stories on various scales. The characters are well developed and illustrated beautifully. They were all described wonderfully, and each has different traits and personalities. The author makes a bold choice to make them lucid cognizant beings. Morr Meroz inspires with this unconventional story
Morr Meroz is a great writer. He's not a great writer just for comics, he's a great writer overall, who happens to have made the graphic novel his medium. Morr Meroz's sequential storytelling provides the meat to this graphic novel. Collin Fogel is definitely a talented designer, and his character designs give the animals a sense of both otherness and familiarity, as their look closely match the natural contours of their bodies and postures.
If fantasy and adventure novels catch your attention, then this is the book for you! It has very descriptive writing that puts images in your head, and the tension and emotions that the characters display might just give you goosebumps! If you have a friend that doesn't read graphic novels, this book would be a good way to show them what the medium is capable of.
Snowlands is an adventure for young hearts (and old). I enjoyed this just as much as I'd imagine a child would! It touches on being cast out, being seen as "the problem", being brave, doing the right thing, and it asks the question "what is family?" (all of this along with a lot of adventure, risk, and immersive and beautiful art!).
The main protagonist is a young wolf cub called Feba. Feba, despite being shut out of her pack by her peers and those in power due to an alleged "curse", is fully her own wolf and values herself which was beautiful and inspiring to see, especially in a graphic novel aimed at a younger audience. We follow Feba's journey as she meets many a character, many who play large rolls in the story and become prominent characters of their own, we also get to see what's going on in Feba's pack back home, as well as getting glimpses of the villains now and again as the story builds. Snowlands: Book One is about Feba, but it feels bigger than that. A lot of graphic novels for kids seem to be pretty streamlined, following a main character without having a ton of depth to the secondary characters or world around them; Snowlands felt more expansive. Which, again, was great to see (or, read?).
I really enjoyed this, more than I'd expected (I'm not a huge fan of animals as characters in general) and am eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series! I'll also definitely be adding this to my "books to recommend to young audiences" list.
*It should be noted that this book does contain a degree of bullying-esque behavior, a character being called a "deformed abomination", and there are a few of scenes involving blood and death.*
Thank you to Morr Meroz for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
this book has a lot of murder and revenge for it to be for children. there are some things that dont really make sense and alot of things feel rushed, the plot dosent seem solid enough to make this into a series but i suspect that a second one is already in the works. it says that the story is from 2021 but it dosent seem like there was much feedback to make changes. im not really sure how much kids will enjoy this, im worried that if the kids get confused they will be detured from reading. I see a lot of people rated it 5 and im glad that people like it but it dosent seem ment for kids. and I do read a lot of kids books as well.
Stunningly illustrated graphic novel with everything a graphic novel fan could want: emotional poignancy, intruguing plot, and memorable characters. Can't wait for the next book in the series!
Thanks to Goodreads giveaways and The Snowlands Company for the book.
Morr Meroz is well known for creating the Youtube channel Blop Animation, which has over 250K subscribers. He is also responsible for making the Bloop Animation course available online. Aside from teaching animation, he is also a talented storyteller, and in 2021, he and artist Collin Fogel created their first graphic novel Snowlands Book One: Blood Moon. As for my thoughts, I hope this novel gets more attention because both Meroz and Fogel have made something extraordinary.
In the Snowlands, Feba is a white wolf ostracized by the other young wolves in the pack. The elder wolves think she is responsible for the lack of sheep to hunt and the missing or worse, murder of the wolf cubs as white wolves are believed to be a sign of bad luck. When Feba overhears the elder wolves that they may want to banish Feba from the pack, Feba runs away and tries to figure out how to start a new life on her own when she runs into a lone leopard named Usha. She reluctantly allows her to tag along to help Feba find her place in life. Little do they know that they are about to discover the mystery of the missing wolf cubs and what happened to the sheep. To make things worse, Feba and Usha encounter many dangers that will challenge their skills to survive.
The story takes much inspiration from other stories like “The Lion King” but introduces a lot of tweaks and exciting ideas to separate itself from the latter. Make no mistake, this narrative is not just a cutesy talking animal adventure; this story introduces itself with a hint of an edge by including some cumbersome moments and even light violence. It's very appreciated when a graphic novel mainly aimed at kids treats its audience like they are grown-up readers. It's not all sadness and violence though, as there are plenty of fun and uplifting moments. Still, it's impressive that the author Mor Meroz took a considerable risk to tell a story with emotional depth and violent stakes. While this story might be more suitable for older kids, it's still a great way to introduce young ones to poetic and adventurous storytelling.
The Characters are a lot of fun, and each has an identifiable trait that makes them interesting to follow. Feba is charming and determined, and her journey into accepting who she is and being ostracized from her pack is endearing. Usha the Leopard is the reluctant adult who learns to admire Feba’s motives and even harbors a few secrets of her own. Batu is the adorable little cute animal who can only speak one word, which is his own name, but thankfully, he doesn’t become too annoying and only involves himself when the time is right. The rest of the characters are either good or evil, and each has a hand in moving the adventure forward. These characters are well written, and it will be nice to see them go on more adventures in future novels.
The Illustrations feel like a combination of the Disney style with the style of realistic illustrations. Artist Collin Fogel does a great job creating engaging and atmospheric settings with well-designed characters roaming about. The character designs are more than just cute, especially regarding Feba, who, while adorable, can also be a strong-willed leader just by her actions and facial expressions. The backgrounds are perfectly snowy, but they can also get spiritual and mystical. There is also a few shots of violence with some blood in it. Parents need not worry, though, because it's not gory or like an adult comic book, and it's honestly okay to show kids some violence as long as it's not overly constant. These illustrations will engage kids and will even spark the imaginations of some adults reading along.
For the first book in the series, Morr Meroz and Collin Fogel have created an enchanting tale with heart, charm, and fantasy-like storytelling. It may be a little bit much for very young readers as there are some heavy topics and light violence. Still, it’s great to see a children's graphic novel that takes some bold risks and does not lend itself to being just a cutesy children's adventure, even though nothing is wrong with those. I enjoyed this story a lot, and I look forward to seeing more from Morr Meroz and company with new stories about the Snowlands if there are new books in the making.
Action, heart, danger, friendship, and family love mix with evil plots of revenge to form an exciting adventure, while fighting to survive snow and ice.
Feba has never fit in with the rest of the wolf pack thanks to her white fur and the loss of her mother at birth. When food grows scarce and wolves start to die from a mysterious beast, she's blamed for the 'curse' and forced to leave. As a cub, her survival in the cold landscape is anything but guaranteed, but when she runs across two possible friends, her hopes grow despite the circumstances. But there's a much larger and more dangerous plot leaving death in its wake, and Feba is more a part of it than she knows.
I usually don't compare books to other reads, tales, films and whatnots, but this one reminded me of The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Ice Age (without the slap-stick comedy)...and all of that with an original twist to create an exciting read. In other words, this is quite the adventure, and if I could, I would have jumped right into book two to see where Feba and her friends would head next. (I'll quickly throw in that this does not end with a cliff-hanger but wraps up the story very nicely).
These characters have heart, goals, problems, things to overcome, make mistakes, and either find their way through...or don't. It's not a humorous read and takes a solid approach, meaning that animals do die, the evil is deadly, and there is blood-shed. So, sensitive readers might have some problems. But this one isn't overly dark or violent, either. Especially older middle grade readers, who love adventure, will have something to sink their teeth into and enjoy. The tale does take on harder scenes, but these do deepen the story and have purpose to drive the plot and character arcs. It's action with tension well done. Think of Scar and his hyenas from The Lion King, and you'll be on the right track.
The graphics make this world and invite to sink into adventure pure. The love put into each character is evident, and the scenes are very well depicted, letting the atmosphere and emotions come through in the colors and lines. These are easy to look at and build each moment to combine seamlessly with the written text. I got lost in the story and read this one in one sitting, since it is very hard to put down.
I do highly recommend this read and am placing this one on my list as a possible favorite of the year. I received an ARC and was completely caught up in this read.
Feba, the white wolf cub, is constantly shunned by her pack. Believed to be a symbol of ill fortune, Feba finds herself at the edge of doom. Her only option is to flee her homeland and hope for a brighter tomorrow. But endless danger surrounds Feba, as she hurtles headlong into an adventure that will mean life or death for all she loves. Joined by new companions of all kinds, Feba must use her wits and wisdom to survive in the harsh, unforgiving prehistoric world in which she lives.
A graphic novel that takes place in the snowy mountains of the Snowlands, a setting clearly inspired by the Himalayas, Snowlands: A Blood Moon by Morr Meroz and Collin Fogel is an exceptional adventure. No humans appear in the harsh landscape formed of stone and cold; this is the era where the wild reigns supreme. The story is intense, gripping, and fast-moving, with a solid message of cooperation and forgiveness while finding a way to survive. The characters, Feba the courageous; Usha, the regal; and even Myo, the exceptionally disturbing, each have a level of depth that is impressive. I found myself forming a deep connection with this circle of friends, all searching for a place they could truly call home.
The art of Collin Fogel is nothing short of incredible, as each animal, including every single member of the wolf pack, is distinctive and full of life. Add gorgeous colors by Davi Comodo and a satisfying ending; there’s a lot to love in this action-packed graphic novel.
There are not any detractions to speak of at all in this amazing story of survival. There is, however, quite a bit of violence, fatalities, and blood on the panel, showcasing the harsh environment in which Feba and her friends live. Perfect for readers 13 and up who love stories of survival, courage, and wit.
Snowlands: A Blood Moon has a perfect balance of incredible storytelling, rich artwork, and a stunning conclusion. A tale of the true value of friendship in a world where survival is key is the thrilling start to what I hope will be a long-term series full of exceptional adventure.
This graphic novel was awesome! I don't haven't read many graphic novels in my lifetime, so I can't really compare this to anything. It is a bit similar to The Snowcat Prince, since it is about a small animal going on an adventure, learning important things, and returning to their home, a hero. Except this one's about a wolf.
I think I actually like the protagonist of this book more than the one in The Snowcat Prince; she is just more charming. And I also like the side characters in this book, but I like the foxshifter in The Snowcat Prince more.
This story is really epic; and also very cinematic. It's like watching a movie. Unsurprising, though, because I read that the author is also an animation filmmaker! That is so cool!
This and Snowcat Prince both really good, and I'm glad I bought the ebooks for both!
I won a copy to read and review. I don't read many graphic novels but this one sounded interesting and I have younger family members who would also want to read this series of books.
The story begins with the wolf pack rejecting one of their own. Feba flees and then finds a new group of animals to belong with. Various conflicts and dangers arise. The new family group must work together to escape.
This turned a bit darker than expected. Good triumphs over evil and Feba is welcomed back to the pack. I would read the next book in the series to find out how the main characters are doing.
Would recommend to those who enjoy graphic novels, animal characters and fantasy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a really fast read. I got the sense that some scenes were at least partially inspired by The Lion King, but overall the plot is vastly different. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it as I neared the end until a powerful moment occurred and made a good story great.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this graphic novel through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Okay first things first, such a cute found-family story. Feba, our little white wolf main character has a heartwarming story of determination and learns to come into her confidence.
The illustration work is top tier and the ARC is majority B&W so I’m very excited to see what the full color looks like. If your kid loves the Warrior cat series or Wings of Fire, they’ll definitely love this one coming out in February!
I READ THE SAMPLE AND COULDNT STOP- OMG ITS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING!!!!! MAKE MORE SOON, I NEED TO KNOW WHATS GONNA HAPPEN AFTER-
I really liked.this book. The story is a good journey of finding one's self and belonging, no matter how others mY see you. This story and art is a great start. The surprise of seeing some sketches in the back of the book was an added bonus. I hope to see this continue.
Some of the most fun I’ve had with a graphic novel in years. This story will resonate with anyone who ever felt like they were alone in their struggle, and will be wildly entertaining on the way. The themes are somewhat simplified and will be easily understood by young readers, but the story and characters pull no punches.
I had high expectations and I was surprised at how good this was. Good story and great artwork, albeit I feel like the art got better as it went on. Not bad from the beginning by any means but still. Also, I thought the mink antagonists were a strong highlight. Overall great graphic novel, very high quality. Here’s hoping the next book comes soon.
*I got this book for review* I had such a fun time with this one. I think this book was a fun quick read!! I liked the characters! I gave this book 4 stars and the characters were the highlight!! I would love to reread this when we get all the pretty 🤩 illustrations! I think this book would be great for early readers transition out of picture books!! It gave me lion king vibes!!!
I received an ARC of this book for my honest opinion but my 8-year old son got ahold of it and won’t give it back. While he does not want to explain why he likes it (*shrug* I just like it), he has been reading it over and over since I received it and every time he finishes it, he asks if the second is out yet.
Counting books in my reading challenge that I copyedited or proofread, when they're available here on Goodreads for me to add in a timely manner. It's only fair. It's a damn lot of reading I'm not including otherwise.
I loooved reading over this one. Such a cute, cinematic story - I hope I get to work on the sequel!
Got an ARC in at the store, sounded like a good one. Really liked the storyline, the illustrations and the found family aspect throughout the book. Can't wait to share this one with our young readers. Reminded me of The Lion King meets the Warriors series. I think our young reader customers are going to love it.
I've just been impressed since the announcement of the book's release and after reading the summary I'm already excited to discover the entire content.
I highly encourage you to check it out. It's definitely worth it
My 9 year old daughter swept through this in 20 minutes. She excitedly pointed out all the characters on the front cover and told me all about their adventures. When I told her its only Book 1, she demanded Book 2 now! So, we are eagerly awaiting book 2.
This book was a little sad put it was a great story I do have to say there’s blood so if you don’t like blood or anything about death you might want to find another book but if you don’t mid it this is a great book! One of the best I’ve read!
4.5 ⭐️ *bookseller review* Thanks to publisher for providing an ARC copy Very cinematic Incredible art Good plot & plot twist Only reason I didn’t give 5⭐️ is because it is kinda violent for a kids book 😅 I’d recommend to ages 10 and above
I loved the art and the characters! I just wasn’t a fan of how dark it got, and all the sacrificing ritual stuff was creepy. Other than that it was good.