Astoria author releases children’s puzzle book

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Make your way through 100 brain-teasing puzzles, riddles and challenges alongside alien-wizard Ace to help him find a beloved crystal and restore sunny days to Witloo.

Astoria-based author Danielle Hall released her second book, “The 100 Best Brain Teasers for Kids” on May 4. Geared towards kids ages 8 to 12, Hall’s latest creation is a puzzle book, filled with math and word puzzles, logic problems and a few riddles to keep kids entertained while they problem-solve.

The book is split up into five levels of play. At the end of each level there is a piece of a secret code, Hall said. By the end of the book, kids put those five pieces together to solve an overarching secret code.

The premise follows two groups of alien wizards, the Witloomites and the Flarkspurians. The Flarkspurians, who Hall describes as pranksters, have captured the Witloomites’ beloved crystal.

“It is an adventure. Without the crystal, the planet gets endless rainy days, which I think our Oregon Coast audience will really relate to,” Hall said.

The idea is that the Flarkspurians have hidden the important crystal somewhere on Earth. Kids here on Earth need to help the main character, Ace, find the crystal to restore sunny days to their alien planet.

Illustrations for the book were done by Moko Ko, an illustrator based in Lima, Peru.

“The illustrations in this book are really phenomenal. They’re really something special,” Hall said. “Moko really brought these characters to life.”

Hall noted that inclusivity was an important part of putting together the book. The book’s main character, Ace, is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.

“It was important to me to have the LGBTQ+ representation,” she said.

Hall polled her Instagram audience, including teachers and librarians, asking them what kids in their classrooms have never seen their name in a book or souvenir shop.

“I got a lot of answers. And I used those for my character names in the various puzzles,” she said.

Where to purchase the book

‘The 100 Best Brain Teasers for Kids’ by Danielle Hall is available to purchase at Lucy’s Bookstore and online.

Before transitioning her career to writing and game creation, Hall was an English teacher for junior and high school students.

“I’ve been out of the classroom for four or five years and I’ve been focused on making games and teaching resources, and now writing puzzle books,” Hall said.

Hall’s recent writing experience takes the form of creating escape rooms for kids, including a Romeo and Juliet-themed escape room as well as one inspired by Odyssey. Teachers would use these games in their classrooms to engage students in these texts in a new and exciting way.

“My idea was to combine the experience in escape rooms with a book. I wanted to expand and do more than just riddles, and I knew I wanted an overall adventure this time,” Hall said.

While the book is fun, it also is a learning opportunity for kids. Hall wanted to create some screen-free fun for kids during a time when so much of their learning and social interactions are on computers, she said.

“Computer screens used to be something that for kids were an escape from school — and then they became school, family, clubs and church all at the same time,” Hall said.

Hall said she thinks kids having opportunities to play games like this will remind kids how being clever and creative are fun, and that school doesn’t always have to be a grind in front of a screen.

From her teaching experience, Hall said she understands how teachers don’t always have the time to come up with engaging and creative curriculum.

“As a teacher you want to do exciting things with your students but you don’t always have the time or emotional energy to spend 30 hours making a game,” Hall said. “So instead, I can spend 30 or 40 hours making a game and then all teachers have to do is print it out and play it.”

Last year, Hall released a children’s riddle book.

Signed copies of “The 100 Best Brain Teasers for Kids” will be available at Lucy’s Books in Astoria. It is also available for purchase on Amazon.