Children's book reviews, all age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
Author: Daddy Mojo
Daddy Mojo is a blog written by Trey Burley, a stay at home dad, fanboy, husband and father. At Daddy Mojo we'll chat about home improvement, giveaways, family, children and poop culture. You can find out more about us at http://about.me/TreyBurley
When I saw that Yellow Kayak was a book that could be described as poetry my inner Fred Savage voice went off. “This isn’t a kissing book, is it?” questioned a young Savage in The Princess Bride. I have that same guarded line of questioning about books too, except ours warns us about poetry and unicorns. Yellow Kayak is a children’s illustrated book that does have rhyming words, but I wouldn’t call it poetry-if only to hold onto our stance of not liking poetry.
Waste. Rubbish. An entertaining book about trash, much less a children’s illustrated book about the subject; without being preachy is an almost impossible task. All That Trash by Meghan McCarthy is about a trash barge and a business plan that started with earnest intentions; but wound up drifting for months while politicians, the media and the public debated the fate of 3,186 tons of garbage from New York.
The year is 1987 and why didn’t garbage from New York simply stay in that area is due to a businessman in Alabama who had a novel and forward thinking idea. Lowell Harrelson owned National Waste Contractors in Alabama and heard about a landfill in New York that was about to run out of space. His idea was to purchase the garbage, put it on a barge (called the Mabro 4000) and then ship it to North Carolina. There the garbage would be buried in a landfill and then have the methane gas that the decomposing garbage collected. The gas would then be converted through a generator into electricity that could be used anywhere along the power grid. Continue reading All That Trash is a solid, fun, educational children’s book
The summer slide can happen anytime. As a greater definition the summer slide is that period when the kids aren’t in school and the things that they learned the previous year start to slip away from their mind. “I can spell cat!”, I remember telling my parents at the end of first grade*. It’s obvious my parents never did after school or summer work books to reinforce my studies. My response to said 7 year old would’ve been, “That is great, but what else can you spell?” As a family we do workbooks almost every day. The Star Wars Workbooks are some of the best out there for introducing or reinforcing math, reading or writing to reluctant kids who need a little Force fun with their education. Continue reading Star Wars Workbooks helps eliminate the summer slide
Busy. That’s the one-word adjective to describe the new all age comic books this week. This week has the most superhero comic books that are OK for young readers that I’ve seen in a very long time. Over in the podcast we’ll talk a bit more in depth about some cool books staring The Avengers, a new Marvel superhero comic for all ages, the classic Underdog, Ghoul Scouts and much more. For now though lets take a look at three go-to all age comic books or graphic novels that will entertain readers as young as 6.
Simpsons Comics
We absolutely love The Simpsons. The television show is still remarkably funny and we watch it from time to time. Simpsons Comics is just as funny as the show and the comic book is accessible to ages 7 and up. Truth be told, our 8 year old has been reading it for two years, but I understand why some parents don’t want their kids reading this comic book that young. This really is OK for kids that young. The sass, attitude and bad habits that happen in the television show that parents don’t want their kids emulating is not present in Simpsons Comics. Those elements were all done vocally. Without the voice talent all that’s left are the words and in this case they’re funny, complemented with sharp are and a timeless appeal.
Teen Titans Go!
Similar to the above title, this comic book is toned down from the television show. Its manic, speed or volume level isn’t present and in its place is just the story. A story that kids 6 and up will want to read, factor in that Teen Titans Go! is only $2.99 and you’ve got spring time reading that is good to go.
The City on the Other Side
Fairies, battling fairies on two sides of a coin, that’s the premise behind The City on the Other Side. This graphic novel was utterly surprising in how much I enjoyed it. In theory, a graphic novel about fairies is not the stuff that I’d hold my breath as I turned the pages; but The City on the Other Side combines action, a fast paced story and a wide range of characters to make this a great graphic novel-that happens to have some fairies in it.
If Phoebe from Friends started a business relationship with Monica, where they’d write a book, the end result might be something like A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean!. The is quirky with a capital “Q” and geared towards middle school readers. Think of this as a book that’s perfectly suited towards fans of Lumberjanes or Adventure Time, but want something more (slightly) grounded in reality, with characters that skew evenly towards boys and girls.
Happy new comic book day, each Wednesday dozens of new comic books are delivered to your local comic book store. In that delivery there are dozens of all age comic books that are great for young readers. Each week we’ll list all of those that are good for readers and dive down a bit deeper on the podcast about a handful of the all age comic books or graphic novels that really stand out. For now, lets look at three
Adventure Time Comics #22
If you have a reluctant reader 9 or older have them check out Adventure Time Comics. This free wheeling monthly series from Boom! Studios allows different artists the opportunity to write and draw Finn, Jake and all of the magical oddidites in Ooo.
Casper and Wendy
Let’s kick it old school with Casper and Wendy. American Mythology does a great job with their old school, retro properties like this one and The Pink Panther. They combine new stories and art-that looks like the real, classic deal, with some classic previously released stories or strips. Casper and Wendy #1 presents Casper meeting the friendly witch in red for the first time in this all age comic book that will be great for kids 5 and up.
Secondhand Heroes: The Last Battle
Secondhand Heroes: The Last Battle is the third and final book in the series by Justin Larsen Hansen. This is an original graphic novel series that ages 9 and up will enjoy as its packed with action, great character development, cool monsters and kids with superpowers. Even though the kids have superpowers, they are rooted in real-life and any age reader will appreciate them. Their powers have consequences, to quote a certain webslinger and this finale is one that upper elementary and older will like reading. One aspect that makes this graphic novel stand out is its art, which is hand drawn and then painted with watercolor, giving the book an earnest, loved appearance, with monsters and superpowers.
At some point in their day most kids who are between six and eight years old are like Lola Dutch. She’s a hyper creative girl who likes to paint, cook and hangs out with her four friends a bear, alligator, pig and crane. Everything she does is in excess. When she goes to the library she checks out so many books that bear has to help push them in her wagon. When she paints it’s a myriad of styles that the masters have done through the ages. It’s so much even that bear has to say, “Lola Dutch, you are just too much”.
There is something different about the Secondhand Heroes graphic novel trilogy by Justin Larocca Hansen. I like to read graphic novels, but aren’t a technical guru when it comes to know how they’re made, but this one looks different. Fans of the previous two books know the deal. The Last Battle puts the finishing touches on Brella, Stretch, everyday superheroes, monsters and more as they hope to put up a fight against the otherworldly Trench.
Secondhand Heroes has everything that a 9 year old reader wants in a graphic novel. Those readers that come in on this final book will be able to jump into the story with ease. While some of the character backstories won’t be immediately known it’ll sort itself out in just a couple of pages when Trench, with his flaming hands and death-green face come around.
For a book called Secondhand Heroes the book is filled with very common heroes. You see back in book one the two brothers, Tuck and Hudson went to an estate sale where their mother got them the lamest things in the world, a scarf and an umbrella. However, it turns out that the person that died in that house was practicing magic and that all of the things for sale in their estate sale possessed some magical abilities.
Tuck, the older brother is given the umbrella, which has the power of flight. Hudson’s scarf is able to become any shape and has a mind of its own, being able to deflect punches, climb things or anything else. In the first two books the brothers have had lots of adventures, discovered other people who got things from the estate sale and found out their nemesis.
The Last Battle picks up with their hometown well aware of people with various abilities and accepting them into everyday life, albeit with disguises so nobody knows who they really are. Stretch and Brella are heroes, but Trench has plans to take them down with the help of some monsters, as well as, humans who are out the edge of society.
Older readers will enjoy the monsters in The Last Battle and they won’t have to wait long. By the sixth page there’s been a mysterious explosion, talking squirrel, friendly monsters and a neighborhood get together. This is a quickly paced graphic novel that doesn’t skimp on the action and has some great characters that kids 9 and up can relate to and identify with. Part of that charm certainly lies in its title, Secondhand Heroes. These are just two average kids who have objects that give them superpowers.
However, these powers do come at a cost and they, as well as, the others who received them have to learn to deal with and manage them.
Secondhand Heroes, The Last Battle is a first rate graphic novel
Younger readers will love the action, monsters and humor. Parents will enjoy all of the above, plus the positive lessons that the characters are taught in the book. This is not a ‘lesson’ graphic novel. It’s just a well written book that kids will want to read with characters that have traits, that young readers will want to emulate or stay away from. The book also stands out as something that boys or girls can enjoy equally. Based on the cover you could say that the two main characters are boys, but there is a great stable of girls, like Elvira and Lorna who kick butt as much, if not more than the boys.
The art in Secondhand Heroes is hand drawn then painted with watercolor. It’s obvious that love, dedication and time that Justin Larocca Hansen put into each book as well as its characters. Readers who are 12 and up won’t bat an eye over the difference in the book’s appearance. Younger readers might need to warm up to the style of art. For example, our 8YO likes graphic novels, but he needed a moment to get up to speed with the action, myriad of monsters and the like before he could really lose himself in the book. Because of that, readers 9 and up will really enjoy Secondhand Heroes, The Last Battle without a primer, warm-up or supervision from their parents.
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