August 1, 2017 | Page 2 of 3

Unicorn Princesses is 7-10 year old, girl reading fun

Our seven year old ran into the office looking for something to read. He quickly picked up Unicorn Princesses Sunbeam’s Shine and asked me why I was reading it. From the bright yellow unicorn on the cover to the glitter in its hair and collar it’s obvious that this series is not intended for boys. “Eewww, I don’t want to read that”, he said, “but Susie would probably love to read it”. She’s his typical friend at school that loves unicorns, horses and more unicorns. In other words, The Unicorn Princesses book series by Emily Bliss on Bloomsbury Children’s Books are her jam.

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Guardians of the Galaxy 1000 Dot-to-Dot adds up to fun for 7 and up

Our seven year old doesn’t know who Thanos is. Truth be told, I don’t know the complete mythos of Thanos either, other than the fact that he’s the top of the food chain in villains for Marvel Comics. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was a great movie. The monthly comic book is one of the most consistently entertaining comics for us and now Guardians of the Galaxy 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book by Thunder Bay Press continues in their line of challenging, yet achievable mind puzzles.

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Future Quest Presents: Space Ghost is beautiful intrigue for 9 and up

Future Quest was a mini-series put out by DC Comics in 2016. I was quite excited for it initially because it was bringing back some of the classic Hanna-Barbera characters. When the mini-series came out I was lukewarm to it at best because it was light on action. While it was great to see some of the old school characters being introduced to new audiences it left us wanting more. Apparently that was the purpose of Future Quest all along because now that series has ended and in its place if Future Quest Presents: Space Ghost.

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Sea Monkey & Bob grow on you like a barnacle

Size doesn’t matter, but sometimes it helps. Sea Monkey & Bob is an early reader book from Aaron Reynolds with illustrations by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. It’s about a Puffer Fish and a Sea Monkey. They’re swimming around the sea, talking about their fears, specifically, one is scared that they’re going to sink while the other one is nervous about floating. Can you guess which animal has which concern?

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Super Manny Stands Up! to the simple things for greater good

A book that gently explores bullying from the observer’s point of view didn’t initially sound like it would be of interest to young readers. Adults know that bullies act that way because they’re insecure or are also being bullied. It’s a harder concept to convey that to children. We’ve talked to our seven year old about bullies and people who incessantly pick on others but are met with the same disdainful look every time. Super Manny Stands Up! by Kelly DiPucchio with illustrations by Stephanie Graegin manages to parlay this tricky relationship in a way that children will understand.

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Best all ages comics for August 16, 2017

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Happy New Comic Book Day! Every Wednesday lots of new books make your way to local stores and we’re taking a look at the best all ages comics for the week. Specifically, these five are great titles that you can jump into without knowing what happened in previous issues. It’s not as if you’re starting out with issue #1, in most cases, but readers as young as five can jump into some of these all ages comics. The music in the podcast is from Forget The Whale, over at Free Music Archive.

Jumpa: The Origin of Wonder Woman’s Kanga

What? Wonder Woman has a pet kangaroo? Apparently she’s had one for a long time and this book is geared to really young readers five and up, with a story by Steve Korte and art by Art Baltazar. There’s also a Super Pets book out featuring Streaky, Supergirl’s cat, Ace, Batman’s dog and Krypto who is Superman’s dog.

Uncle Scrooge

Our five year old loves all things Disney. Whatever they put in that magical elixir he certainly got his fair share. Uncle Scrooge #29 is out this week and is indeed one of the great all ages comics, but it’ll be best enjoyed by kids who are seven and up. That is entirely due to the vocabulary and that ages younger than that might not be able to read it on their own. These Walt Disney titles from IDW are printed in English for the first time and usually translated from Italian, French or Spanish.

Future Quest Presents

Future Quest, the DC Comics series that reintroduced the classic Hanna-Barbara characters to comic books ended its mini-series run. In its place is Future Quest Present and issue #1 from this mini-series is out this week. Future Quest brought the team together to modern times. Now in Future Quest Presents we get stories that are strictly devoted to certain characters. First up is Space Ghost, his quest to rebuild the Space Force and mysterious new villains. Future Quest Presents has content that will be OK for ages seven and up, but might require too much reading for them to really enjoy it. Ages nine and up who like cool science fiction with adventure will get the most out of this series.

Teen Titans Go!

People as young as five can pick up Teen Titans Go!, making it one of the go-to all ages comics each month it comes out. The visuals are bright, the action is silly, it has superheroes that they know from the television show and it’s only $2.99.

Doctor Who

We’ve talked about Doctor Who in the podcast lots and some folks aren’t convinced that it can be classed as an all ages comics. Ages nine and up will get the most out of this comic book. There is not anything graphic about Doctor Who, but it’s more complex than most of the younger skewing comics. It’s science fiction that fans of the show will immediately dig. There’s also a sly sense of humor in the comic that is evident by its cover homage to The Matrix.

Humor

Superhero

Action/science-fiction

The Sandwich Generation is real-and doesn’t include bacon, Part One

The Sandwich Generation is the term used to describe people who are caring for young children, as well as an older parent. This is part one to an ongoing series where we’ll document things that might help others. The Sandwich Generation is an interesting period that has pros and cons. Pro: Your children get to experience time with their grandparents. Con: Depending on your family or their medical condition this could also be a con. There are a couple other downsides that occur to those who are dealing with this. We’re knee deep in dealing with the Sandwich Generation and have a couple helpful things you’ll want to consider. Every situation is different. Some of these tips will translate to anyone, while others are more specific and will only resonate with those who in a medical Sandwich Generation situation. (say that five times fast)

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The Rise of the Rusty Robo-Cat is doodle-rific for creative kids

The Rise of the Rusty Robo-Cat is the third book in the Doodle Adventures book series by Mike Lowery. Just a couple weeks prior to its release our 7 year old asked when the next doodle book was coming out. It’s fascinating what kids remember and what they like isn’t it? I didn’t even think that he remembered The Pesky Pizza Pirate and here he was asking if another book was coming out.

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