Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare

William Joyce · Laura Geringer

Oct 2011 · The Guardians Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Forget naughty or nice—this is a battle of good vs. evil.

Discover the origins of St. Nick and follow along as the Guardians start their quest to rid the world of nightmares in the first Guardians chapter book from Academy Award winner William Joyce that inspired the beloved film, The Rise of the Guardians.

Before SANTA was SANTA, he was North, Nicholas St. North—a daredevil swordsman whose prowess with double scimitars was legendary. Like any swashbuckling young warrior, North seeks treasure and adventure, leading him to the fiercely guarded village of Santoff Claussen, said to be home to the greatest treasure in all the East, and to an even greater wizard, Ombric Shalazar. But when North arrives, legends of riches have given way to terrors of epic proportions! North must decide whether to seek his fortune…or save the village.

When our rebellious hero gets sucked into the chaos (literally), the fight becomes very personal. The Nightmare King and his evil Fearlings are ruling the night, owning the shadows, and sending waves of fear through all of Santoff Clausen. For North, this is a battle worth fighting…and, he’s not alone. There are five other Guardians out there. He only has to find them in time.

Ratings and reviews

My family loves the movie Rise of the Guardian so when I heard it was based on a series of books I was quick to order the box set for my third-grade granddaughter as a gift from her elf this holiday season. She has dyslexia and I was not sure if it would be too hard for her to read. It finally arrived, after Christmas but that was okay because she said that Blu sent it to her to read during the school year. She started right with the book Nicholas St North. We quickly became deeply only in love with this book and even when she fell asleep reading ( for the first time ever) her Ducky kept reading all night.. This book is amazing. Better than the movie! So much better!

I got the series in book form for my 9 year old granddaughter, and as she was reading it I became untreated. I got the first three books on audible and have been totally taken with the story. Love it. I would and have recommended to anyone who will listen to me.

This was such a good middle grade fantasy. I really enjoyed the story. It was so imaginative and creative. I will definitely continue the series.

About the author

William Joyce does a lot of stuff but children’s books are his true bailiwick (The Guardians series, Dinosaur Bob series, George Shrinks, and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which is also his Academy Award–winning short film, to name a few). He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. Talk to William Joyce and see upcoming work on Instagram.

Laura Geringer is the author of many highly acclaimed books for children and young adults, including the celebrated A Three Hat Day illustrated by Arnold Lobel; Myth Men, a popular series of graphic novels based on the classic Greek myths; and Sign of the Qin, Book l of the Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh series, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Boom, Boom Go Away illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. She serves on the National Advisory Board of First Book, a charity that has distributed over seventy million books to children in need. Laura lives in New York City.