Children's book reviews, all age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
Is losing one’s tooth a time to panic or a rite of passage? How someone answers that might depend on how old they are and whether or not they’re a vampire. I mean, what if the very definition of what embodies you (or at least, what you think embodies you) were to change? In I Love My Fangs! the specific change that’s being referenced is one that every adult experienced 20 times. The first couple of times might have been traumatic, but after that, it was all gravy and tooth fairy expectations.
Alien Superstar was one of the best middle-school books of 2019. It crackled with humor, action, and a carefree vibe that ages 9 and up want to experience. Buddy Burger is the titular alien in the book. He’s escaped his home planet because there was an uprising happening that wasn’t bringing the best of the planet to the forefront. His grandmother put him in a ship and sent him to Earth where he crashed onto the backlot of a theme park that also does television production. From here his actual alien form allowed him to be the perfect ‘costumed’ performer on a hit show. It also helped that his costume, Zane Tracy, which is his human form, is a very cute teenage boy. In Alien Superstar Lights, Camera, Danger! Buddy is back and elements from his past are here too. Are they on his side or have they been an evil squadron?
The Scary Book is a delightfully, age-appropriate scary-silly book with pop-up elements. As an adult, I loved reading this. If my kids were young enough to enjoy the fact that I was reading a book to them, they’d love this. What’s surprising about The Scary Book is the creatures really do have an edge, despite all of its silliness. All but one of the animals has a mouth that’s printed on folded cardboard paper that folds out. This gives the illusion that the animal’s mouths are much bigger than they actually are, much like those folded pages in the back of Mad Magazine do.
One of our favorite books from 2019 was Creepy and True Mummies Exposed! Certainly, a major part of my initial curiosity in that book was the fact that I’ve loved mummies, the science of them, cultures that perfected them, and the ghoulish specter that exists inside my imagination of seeing them. The layout and presentation that book was perfect because it blended science, travel, adventure, and imagination into one package that was great for middle school readers and up. Author Kerrie Logan Hollihan dives into the series again with Creepy and True Ghosts Unveiled! It has the same presentation that I loved in the first book but looks at a topic that is difficult to actually prove.
“It’s like a poetry book about animals, mountains and the things that live in the mountains”, our 10-year-old said when he read World of Wonder Mountains. Well, to an extent he is correct in that upper-elementary school overview. The first page he turned to was one of the more poetic pages. It’s about the snow lion and spotlights her massive paws as they maw the snowy crags in some of the impossibly high mountains. It could be viewed as poetry. You could also see it as a snippet into what happens in that spot, at that particular moment to that certain animal.
Until a couple of years ago, I easily confused a mnemonic device with onomatopoeias. Shortly after doing this I’d flip flop my stance on both of them and reminisce about Johnny Mnemonic, the lovably cheesy film from 1995. Fun fact: that film takes place in 2021. After teaching onomatopoeias to a handful of Chinese students online, as well as incorporating that into my science lessons at school-BAM, I’ll never forget what they are. Sounds All Around takes a global look at these words that sound like what they are, and in turn, has created an entirely new genre of graphic novels.
This week in all age comic books has two of the best releases that we’ve seen this year. Each of them is very different and will attract a reader. First up is Investigators, Take the Plunge which is the second book in this series by John Patrick Green. This graphic novel is hilarious, well written, jammed with action, and has jokes that will work for elementary school readers and way up. My wife loved the book. I loved the book and readers ages 8 and up looking something akin to Dog Man need to read this. Investigators, Take the Plunge follows two alligators who try to solve a crime that’s laden with puns, visual gags, and jokes that work for young kids and different ones that skew just a bit older.
My Pencil and Me is by Sara Varon. It’s an illustrated book that breaks the third wall for young readers. This could be a read-along book for those aged five and up. It centers on a writer who’s having trouble writing. Her pencil starts talking to her and the creative insanity grows tenfold from there. The illustrations are great for young ages and feature all manner of animals playing baseball or engaging in the story of the pencil and Varon. This is a great, good-night book that will remain in your forever bookshelf. It’s a shorter book than Varon usually writes. Her previous books like New Shoes have been good but had a softer sense of humor. My Pencil and Me is humor that’s front and center that will make adults laugh and kids want to read (and laugh).
In comic books this week check out My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #90, Star Wars Adventures Battle Wars #5 of 5, or Stranger Things Science Camp #1 of 4. That last title will be appropriate for those mid-middle school students who have seen the show. For all of this week’s comic books just check out the books after the link.
Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter will feel familiar, but it’s a character and story that is new to you. On the cover, we see a teen-aged-girl who is exploring a giant cavern-esque area with two friends. She’s carrying a headlight with a massive head, like the one that only construction engineers or professional spelunkers would use. The cover’s font could easily be mistaken for entry into the National Treasure film franchise. In addition to that, there are several things within the story that older readers will recognize as influences for the story. However, Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is aimed at readers aged nine through middle school and they might not know or even catch those references.
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