The tickle party takes on many forms. I don’t know when that magical age ends because our children are eight and ten, which is apparently the prime wrestling or tickle party demographic. Friday Night WrestleFest by J.F. Fox with illustrations by Micah Player knows exactly what happens during these festivals of wrestling and laughter.
It’s new comic book day and there are only a couple things for young readers this week. Disney people will love Moana: The Story of the Movie in Comics as well as, Disney Princess: Follow Your Heart. DC Comics has Batman: The Adventures Continue, this is a six issue mini-series and the first issue is here now. If you loved Batman: The Animated Series then this will be right up your alley. That comic book was an awesome all age comic book that had wit, action and Batman charm, plus it was great for young readers.
If you’ve looking for something new this week check out Science Comics at your local comic book store. These graphic novels are on :01 First Second and present science or non-fiction topics in ways that are educational and fun for those in upper elementary and up.
At first glance A Game of Fox & Squirrels could look like a story that’s akin to Jumanji. There is a board game, some fanciful, talking animals and a couple of pre-teen and teen girls. All of these elements exist, but the crux of A Game of Fox & Squirrels is rooted in drama. As long as middle school readers are looking for a well written book that’s steeped in allegory, with the very real topic of abuse, then they’ll enjoy it.
It’s the giant toilet flushing. It’s out to get me. Either one of those, or some other thought that just happened due to the weather, tide or my mood was what I thought about the ocean when I was a kid. Tide pools were a different story, my relationship with them has always been pleasant, but that ocean. That’s the subject of Jules Vs. The Ocean, an illustrated book by Jessie Sima.
With the exception of holiday books, authors probably can’t assign when their books come out. Keep in mind I have very little idea exactly how the publishing industry works in regards to its relationship with their creators. I doubt that’s it’s some literary cabal that intentionally pulls the strings of interest for readers around the globe. Prove me wrong; show me the secret handshake or the watermark that’s discretely placed in every book. Realizing that is not the case, it’s all the more amazing that You Matter by author/artist Christian Robinson has been released now. It’s a timeless book that would feel at home if it were released in 1968, 1984, 2002 or 2011, but is all the more relevant now.
2020 is certainly an interesting baseball season. Partially because the season isn’t here yet it which gives books like S Is For Slugger, The Ultimate Baseball Alphabet plenty of oxygen to soak up. It’s a fun book that’s meant to entertain those pre-k through early elementary ages who are playing the game, or are big fans of it, some red meat to devour. For the fans it really accomplishes this done mainly to the jarring artwork by Matthew Shipley.
A great children’s illustrated book has a way of channeling into the way that kids think. It’s those centricities or absurd things that children think to themselves that make perfect sense to them, but no one else. This is the art of pretend play and the book is The Fort by Laura Pewdew with illustrations by Adelina Lirius. It manages to perfectly capture how the playground or rogue fort in the woods can dramatically change from one person to the next. It’s a book that exists in every child’s imagination, but is rarely seen in public.
New comic book day is back and this week it’s in a ‘kind of’ manner. There are a handful of great all age comic books out this week, in addition to a couple graphic novels or trade paperbacks. In comic books those young readers will want to look at Casper’s Spooksville, a very special reprinting of Lumberjanes #1 for only $1, Scooby Doo Where Are You? and more.
In graphic novels, if you have an elementary or middle school girl then you need to check out Phoebe and Her Unicorn’s latest, Camping With Unicorns. This series of graphic novels will mainly appeal to girls, but will cross over to boy readers who allow themselves to get lost in these very funny characters. There’s a sense of timeless, Calvin and Hobbes-esque wonder that the comic strip has. If you haven’t read it online or read one of Simpson’s other books they’re certainly worth a look.
Here are all of this week’s all age comic books. To find the closest comic book store to you just go to comic book store locator and put in your zip code.