If you’ve been to an elementary school library or have seen the books that your kids bring home then you’ve run across a book by Lisa Wheeler. From Dino-Baseball through Dino-Basketball and now Dino-Dancing her series of books; with illustrations from Barry Gott, illustrate anthropomorphic dinosaurs doing what kids 5 and up do, or either want to do.
Continue reading Dino-Dancing is elementary school gold
There was something I couldn’t pinpoint during my first read of New Shoes by Sara Varon and it kept changing as I turned each page. This graphic novel is too simple for a 9 year old or it’s too difficult for a 6 year old, in hindsight I think I was just crabby for the first couple of pages because by the ninth page I was grinning and drinking what Francis was selling. It’s set in Guyana, in northern South America and New Shoes is his story; one that’s irrepressibly optimistic and curious, with a side of wanderlust and a penchant for meeting new animal friends.
By the time readers get to the tenth page they already like Francis and realize that he’s a shoe craftsman that uses only finest materials. Twelve pages later we see that he’s been given the job of making shoes for the world famous singer Miss Manatee. “She looks like a walrus” our 8 year old said at this point.
Continue reading New Shoes, the all age graphic novel that wants to be your friend
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Each new comic book day (every Wednesday) there are dozens of new all age comic books. In that all age section most of them will be appropriate for ages 7 and up. Some of them will be OK for younger audiences and we’ll also include some tween titles that fly below the radar, but will be enjoyable for middle school and up. If any of the titles seem too old, too young or otherwise ‘stick out’, that’s the reason why we listed them here. Case in point, True Believers: Venom Flashpoint is not appropriate for 7 year readers, however, kids who are 11 and up will love the action and the content will be OK. Plus its price point is only $1.00, so parents will like it too.
In the podcast this week we’ll chat about Usagi Yojimbo (and why each issue of this comics book is great for 7 and up), a new graphic novel y Phoebe and the Unicorn, Ms. Marvel and Pearls Before Swine’s new book, Floundering Fathers and more. For now though, here are three cool all age comic books that will entertain a wide range of young readers.
Super Sons # 14
Batman has a son. Superman has a son. The two kids become friends and fight evil, meet some of their father’s villains, as well as their offspring. If you have an upper elementary aged kid or older they’ll enjoy this monthly series. There is enough real action for them to enjoy, without it crossing over to the level of violence that parents might not want kids seeing in the monthly Batman or Superman series. That, plus Super Sons also has more things for young readers to take away or …learn from. You don’t read comics to learn, per se, but as Damian and Superboy become friends, they learn about things that even non-super, regular kids can relate to.
Jim Henson Storyteller Fairies
Fairies are back-with a vengeance. Jim Henson Storyteller Fairies #4 of 4 tells the story about fairies and a mortal who has been chosen to live with them. Colored in a sepia fashion and drawn realistically, the final issue in Storyteller Fairies is full of metaphor and life lessons. It’s also beautiful and very easy to enjoy. This is more of an older comic book, but one that can be enjoyed by those in middle school and up, if those readers are prepared for more of a comic book, as art form.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, #64
Most little girls (and some boys) go through a My Little Pony phase. For some girls that phase is longer than others and issue 64 of My Little Pony is out from IDW Publishing is evidence of that. This comic book is well written, brightly colored and the classic stuff that will entice reluctant readers, engage the story time crowd, as well as those slightly older kids that want to read it to themselves. For the record, our oldest son did go through a period when he liked My Little Pony. It was when he was around 5 and we still have those comics in the house.
Humor
Superhero
Action/Science-fiction
Insert tongue fully in cheek and listen to the kids tell you that they want to see Sherlock Gnomes. Sherlock Gnomes is rated PG and will hit movie theaters on March 23. We’re giving away pairs of tickets to the Atlanta sneak preview of Sherlock Gnomes. It’s Thursday, March 22 at Atlantic Station and winners will have the tickets emailed to them. The giveaway ends Tuesday, March 20 at 8PM and to enter just leave a comment in the post or on YouTube.
Good luck and see you at the movies!
If you’ve been to an elementary school library or have seen the books that your kids bring home then you’ve run across a book by Lisa Wheeler. From Dino-Baseball through Dino-Basketball and now Dino-Dancing her series of books; with illustrations from Barry Gott, illustrate anthropomorphic dinosaurs doing what kids 5 and up do, or either want to do.
For example, Dino-Racing is a favorite of our children, but they’re still at least 10 years away from driving anything. As a parent, I love this series because it extends the life cycle of our children’s interest in dinosaurs. Our oldest lost interest in dinosaurs when he was 6, but when he was in it, he was passionate about them. He could identify most of them based on their appearance and going to any dinosaur exhibit in town was mandatory.
Continue reading Dino-Dancing is elementary school gold
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It’s new comic book day and each Wednesday dozens of new all ages comics, in addition to those that are geared to older audiences hit stores. These are the comics that can be enjoyed by kids as young as 5 in some cases and we’ll provide age suggestions for some of them here in the post, as well as YouTube and Podcast version. Over there we’ll chat about How to Tame a Human Tornado, a new Peanuts collection, Big Nate, Rocko’s Modern Life and two comics that are so cool that they let different creators with different styles, take turns with their classic characters. For now, let’s look at three all ages comics or graphic novels that will entertain readers as young as 5, with some reading assistance of course.
Big Nate
Big Nate is back. Big Nate, Silent But Deadly is Lincoln Pierce’s 27th collection of stories about the classic kid that any kid (or adult) can relate to. I am a huge fan of folks that can create daily comic strips and still make them funny, day in and day out. Big Nate is near the top of that class in its ability to make you laugh, think, remember the way that you acted in sixth grade and smile. The emotions for Big Nate range from laugh out loud funny, to knowing someone like a character in the comic strip to learning how to effectively handle your emotions. Big Nate, Silent But Deadly is all color, with a pull out poster and has collected comic strips that anyone 7 will love.
New Shoes
Based on its description this is not a graphic novel that I would like. A shoemaker donkey in a South American village who uses only the best materials has to go out to the forest to locate supplies for some shoes. The client in this case is Miss Manatee, Francis’ favorite singer so it’s a job that he wants to do really well. Along the way they meet some friends, have fun, learn about animals and a couple lessons too. New Shoes is too difficult for a 5 year old to read it, but they’ll love looking at the big, bright colors and will laugh at the story. Older audiences (like me….) will be disarmed by the amiable charm and feelings of love and comfort that plot out of the book the moment it’s opened.
Cosmo
An original all ages comic book is tough to find. There are the classics and those other properties that are fun for young readers, but never found a niche. Cosmo was launched in the late 50’s, using the name Cosmo The Merry Martian. That title would seem too odd in today’s vernacular, so Archie Comics simply brought back Cosmo. Cosmo has enough outer space action and creative fun for readers as young as 6 to enjoy without parents having any concern about its content.
Humor
Super
Action
Because Sakaar is too far away to get to in a timely manner, we had our own Contest of Champions in the backyard. In a perfect world the Grandmaster would be there to emcee and/or pardon some in the crowd. However, until that’s an option we had the kids play in the back yard while I organized the Backyard Games Contest. The best part for parents is that these games are all but free and can be done using things that you’ve already got, or will soon receive like boxes in the mail.
Continue reading Contest of Champions, in my backyard-with scaled down Hulk and Thor
Video games when I was a kid were simple on so many levels. It was just me and a friend, at his house, because he had an Atari and my parents wouldn’t let me have one. It’s a whole new world now and In Real Life is a graphic novel by Cory Doctorow with art by Jen Wang that examines the relationships and economics that takes place in-and out of video games. It’s the trinkets, jobs or vehicles that players can purchase with real money whilst playing the game. In Real Life takes a look at the sub-culture of those that sell things in games who are usually in impoverished conditions in emerging markets; as well as the different levels of players who take part in the game.
Continue reading In Real Life, where avatars meet real-world consequences
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