Sara Varon has created graphic novels packed with friendly, anthropomorphic robots or animals who make shoes, knit scarves and are otherwise the kind of neighbors that you want to have. Hold Hands is a picture book that skews younger than Varon’s other work, while featuring the same, cartoon realistic animals that you wish were your neighbors. This is the kind of feel-good, rhyming, illustrated book that ages three-six will love as a goodnight book.
One expects excellence from a Cirque du Soleil show. It’s as
high as one can get in the world of acrobatics and performance. It’s a brand
unto itself, all you have to do is say you’re going to a Cirque show and you
have an idea of what to expect. That fact is completely put in its head in
Volta. It starts out similar to other shows, where a loosely constructed story
is laid out. However, even as you’re watching the first act, which was a team
of people jumping rope; it’s obvious that Volta has an energy that you haven’t seen
in a Cirque du Soleil show in a while. For me it was evident that the
performers were having fun. Sure they were jumping rope and doing Double Dutch,
moving as quickly as touching the ground seven times in one second. They were doing that; but the performers were
grinning from ear to ear, high-fiving one another and utterly enjoying
themselves.
Have you heard that the spookiest holiday of the year is
just around the corner? It’s also a great week for all age comic books and a
couple great releases are getting into the seasonal act. Betty and Veronica
Supernatural Stories, Star Wars Adventures gets spooky with Vader’s Castle and
there are still some fab Halloween Comic Fest Mini-Comics for you to get.
In the podcast we’ll chat about Dilbert Turns 30, a new
Super Sons novel-The Foxglove Mission by Ridley Pearson, Swamp Thing,
Lumberjanes and more.
For now, here’s the list of those all age comic books that’ll
be appropriate for readers as young as elementary school, but can skew just a
bit older too.
Jared Chapman has cornered the market in joyful toilet training books. That’s a narrow niche, but for those parents who are trying to get their child out of diapers and into underwear this is the most important segment of books that you can read. Mind you, Vegetables in Holiday Underwear is not a wonky toilet training book. Instead, it’s the third book in this series by Chapman to illustrate that has vegetables (and sometimes fruits) talking about underwear (or bathing suits), wanting to wear it and having an amazingly fun time doing it. If there’s a kid from 3-7 years old in your orbit this book will provide laughs aplenty, and just might solve their diaper issue.
Stuart Gibbs Level Up. The name of the book is Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation. However, when we were reading it that’s what we kept thinking of the book in our head. Stuart Gibbs, the author of Spy School book series that upper elementary and middle students love has really upped his game with Charlie Thorne. This is the series that fans of Spy School need if they want their action and story just a bit older than Ben Ripley. A side vision in my mind had Gibbs thinking to himself, “You want a book that has more action and will demo just slightly higher? Take that!” He’ll then drop the mic and challenge someone to a dance off in the street.
Is that real? Does it really exist? Those are the qualifiers for anything that our second grader is reading now. It’s the exact opposite of his brother who was more into madcap humor, science-fiction and Captain Underpants. Nay, his younger brother is mainly attracted to non-fiction. When he read Red Rover, Curiosity on Mars for the first time he peppered me with all sorts of questions about Mars, if people lived there, if water existed there and how the probe was getting its power.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil has a moment late in the film
where it almost redeems itself. It’s a hook that, had left it would in place
would’ve made for a more satisfying film. Alas, a couple of minutes after the
twist it resumes its jumbled, bloated course. Mistress of Evil feels like the
seedling of a Disney princess film, but then forces in some Lord of the Rings
action and end battle sequence that’s looking for an Avenger. Our 8 year-old,
who is able to sit through two-hour films, was squirming 45 minutes into this
one and it only got worse (for all of us).
Tis two weeks before Halloween and all through the comic
book shop lay those all age comic books good for ages 5 and up. Well, some of
them anyway-and for that really young crowd check out Star Wars A Merry Sithmas
Pop-Up book. It’s from Disney and a chance to make your own pop-up book. The 3D
elements won’t be board book quality, so while the presentation is great for those
young ones, just keep their hands a safe distance away. For those readers who
are slightly older Star Wars Adventures: Vader’s Castle or Marvel Action Black
Panther, both of these comic books are highly entertaining and great for ages 7
and up.
In the podcast we’ll chat about Charlie Brown, Scooby Doo, a
great What Is The Story book about Doctor Who and a Superman book that middle
schoolers might be down with.
Humor
Archie Married Life 10 Years Later, #3, E
Archie, #708, UE, M
Surviving The Great Indoors, E, M, H
Casper’s Haunted Halloween, E
Ducktales Silence & Science, #2 of 3, UE, M
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, #83, E, M
Scooby Doo Where Are You?, #101, E, M, H
Unplugged and Unpopular, M, H
Superhero
Dollar Comics, Batman #497, UE, M, H
Magnificent Ms. Marvel, UE, M, H
Marvel Action Black Panther #4, UE, M, H
Superman Smashes the Klan, UE, M
True Believers X-Men Rictor, UE, M, H
True Believers X-Men Jubilee, UE, M, H
Wonder Woman Giant #1, UE, M, H
Action/Science-fiction
Starcadia Quest #2 of 3, UE, M
Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle, #3, UE, M
What Is The Story of Doctor Who, UE, M