Capstone is bringing Kean Soon’s Jellaby back to print, and I couldn’t be happier. I came across the book on NetGalley, and am so happy that Capstone gave me the chance to read it. Jellaby: The Lost Monster is the first volume in the Jellaby series. The all-ages story about friendship also tackles some big issues within a safe space for kids.
Read the rest of my review over at WhatchaReading!
From Chuck at WhatchaReading:
I haven’t read NFL Rush Zone yet, the series on Nicktoons looks great and I’ve come to expect nothing less than excellence from our pals over at Action Lab. Maybe it’s time to give this one a try?
Read more and get order details at WhatchaReading!
I am a big fan of graphic novels and comic books, and firmly believe they have a place in literacy and the classroom. My friend Chuck has a great comics and comic culture blog over at WhatchaReading, where you can also find my comic book reviews. I realized the other day that we write up a lot of “all-ages” books – books that appeal to younger audiences, rather than teens and adults, as most titles tend to these days, and I’d like to bring some of those reviews to my readers here at MomReadIt. So you’ll be seeing more guest posts, and I’d love some feedback – so speak up!
And now, Chuck’s review for Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant:
We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a few books from :01 (First Second) and I’ve got to admit that this book has sat on my to review pile for a while. I started reading it months ago, finished it quickly and thought it was wonderful. Somehow the review never got started. How about we rectify that oversight immediately.
When I started the book this was literally all I had to go on; From author Tony Cliff: “Delilah Dirk is the heroine of a series of adventure comics set during the early 19th century. Each story is completely self-contained, and they’re suitable for readers of all ages!”
Read the rest over at WhatchaReading.com!
Today, my good friend Chuck posted about reading Zoötrope by Andrea Tsurumi, which looks at a troupe of talking animals getting ready for a big performance. I loved Chuck’s review, so I had to share!
I’m not usually the one around here who talks children’s lit, that falls on the ever capable shoulders of Rosemary , but while looking over the ComiXology Submit Releases from last week this book caught my eye…
With decidedly surreal and moody artwork, and a somehow both soothing and frenetic pace, Zoötrope tells the story of a theater company on the night of a big performance. The troupe is populated by talking animals and the performance is anything but smooth sailing.
Read the rest of his review over at WhatchaReading, then go check out the story!
This is great news – YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association has a great list of books and graphic novels, chosen by librarians, every year. This year, Dark Horse landed six books on the YALSA list, thus assuring that I’ll be able to stock my tweens’ and teens’ shelves with graphic novels aplenty. Great work to all the writers and artists who make these books happen!
“Dark Horse has always considered librarians to be essential to the cause of bringing graphic novels to a broader audience, just as we feel visionary writers and artists push the boundaries of the medium,” said Dark Horse’s VP of book trade sales, Michael Martens. “With the selections of these titles to the 2014 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, the boundaries will be pushed and the audience broadened! Thanks to both YALSA and our authors for making this happen!”
Read the rest of my post and get the link to YALSA’s full list at WhatchaReading.com!
Book Review: Frank and His Friend: Special Collector’s Edition, by Clarence “Otis” Dooley (Curio & Co, 2013)
Recommended for ages 8+
I’m trying something new and fun with this blog, and creating more interesting (I hope!) titles for the reviews. I’ll still note the book title and bibliographic info at the top, as you see above, but I’m hoping that the review titles give you a little more information to draw eyes to the reviews and the great books I write about here.
This time around, I’ve read a trade paperback of a 1970s-era serial comic strip, Frank and His Friend. The premise will remind readers of Calvin and Hobbes, a favorite of mine: a young boy and his stuffed toy, Frank, go on adventures and experience life through a child’s eyes. While Frank doesn’t speak, as Hobbes does, readers will still get some pretty serious life advice from his pairing with his “friend” as they spend time in nature, playing, embracing chocolate chip cookies and avoiding broccoli.
The black and white artwork is simple and elegant, and gets the point of each short story across. There are a mix of panels and full pages in the book, and adults and kids alike will enjoy Frank and His Friend’s stories, which encourages readers to use their imaginations. One on page, the boy clings tightly to Frank with one hand, a balloon clutched in the other, and says, “Hang on tight. You don’t want to get lost in the ether of space.”
The stories invoke some thoughtful moments. When fighting their advancing enemy who suddenly becomes invisible, the boy looks at Frank and sighs, “Typical Monday.” The boy tries on a pair of eyeglasses, presumably belonging to a parent, and declares that he’d “rather look at the world through my own eyes.”
The book is a good idea to give to kids who are surrounded by the chaos of electronics, school, and extracurricular moments, to introduce them to the quiet, peaceful moments of childhood. And adults will enjoy returning to that peaceful time.
Frank and His Friend: Special Collector’s Edition
Writer and Artist: Clarence “Otis” Dooley
Price: $19.95
Pages: 128
Pub Date: December 11, 2013
ISBN: 9783950296631
Diamond Order Code: OCT131033
Recommended for ages 10-14
Drama geeks have their day in Raina Telgemeier’s Drama, a winner of the 2013 Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association. Seventh-grader Callie loves the theatre, even if she can’t hold a tune with a bucket. She’s active on the crew with her school’s theatre group and is set designer for their upcoming production of Moon Over Mississippi. But, as with most tweens, there’s drama in Callie’s personal life in addition to the drama unfolding in the production as she crushes on Greg, who doesn’t seem to be able to give up his on-again, off-again girlfriend Bonnie. She becomes fast friends with new-to-the-school twin brothers Justin and Jesse, both of whom get involved in the production, and she finds herself falling for one of the twins… but he’s sending mixed messages. Can Callie use her shoestring budget to pull together a great set, and figure out her crush drama at the same time?
Raina Telgemeier won an Eisner Award for her previous graphic novel, Smile – another tween drama – and she knows tweens. She can tap into the not-so-in-crowd with ease, telling a great story about the kids you may not see at the cool table, but who aren’t at the angsty goth table, either. Their drama is self-contained, part of growing up, but these seem to be overall happy kids, most of whom have a decent idea of who they are or are on their way to figuring it out. She includes positive, honest-feeling portrayals of LGBT characters. The cartoon art allows the reader to relax into the story and just melt into the setting. I enjoyed spending time with Raina’s characters, and look forward to meeting some more when I pick up Smile.
Ms. Telgemeier’s website offers free webcomics and media, her blog, author appearance information, and a store.
Recommended for ages 8-13
Colonial spy Nathan Hale is sentenced to death by hanging – but WAIT! He’s got stories to tell! His executioner and the British soldier standing guard are intrigued. Off he goes into yet another Hazardous Tale from history, this time, about the infamous Donner Party.
You’ve heard of the Donner Party, if only as a horrific joke. During the Westward Expanion, they were a group of pioneers headed for California who got caught in the brutal winter of 1846 and resorted to cannibalism to survive. Nathan Hale’s book tells the story of the Donner-Reed party, focusing primarily on James Reed, whose “shortcut” caused the doomed wagon train to stray off course into brutal territory.
Written as a graphic novel, this book is a great read for middle schoolers and even the reluctant high schooler. The story cuts between Nathan Hale, the British soldier and the executioner as Hale tells the story, and the story of the Donner-Reed party. The characters are detailed, and kids will love the executioner, who really, REALLY doesn’t want to hear bad news about any of the animals in the story. There are well-drawn diagrams and graphics teaching readers about the members of the party, maps of the territory traveled, and informational bits that enhance the story for all.
Hale doesn’t shy away from the more brutal aspects of this story, but he doesn’t glorify them, either. He presents the facts, even illustrating a specter of death coming for the travelers, with their names, as they pass away, listed on Death’s cloak.
This was my first Hazardous Tale from Mr. Hale, but it certainly won’t be my last. Stock this book in your bookshelves, teachers and parents, and watch kids scramble to learn about history.
Mr. Hale’s website offers information about his other books, his blog (which includes sneak peeks at his artwork for future books!), and a section dedicated to Correction Baby, who helps edit all of his books. Check it out!
Recommended for ages 9-12
Calamity Jack is the sequel to the graphic novel Rapunzel’s Revenge and gives readers the backstory on Rapunzel’s buddy, Jack. Like Rapunzel, this is a fun, new take on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale geared to attract older readers.
When readers first meet Jack in Rapunzel’s Revenge, he’s a guy on the run. Calamity Jack tells the story of why he’s on the run and who he’s running from – a kid who can’t stay out of trouble, Jack ends up getting himself, and by extension, his mother, into trouble with the local giants that run his town. He steals a goose that he hears is due to lay a golden egg and goes on the run, hoping that any golden eggs will pay for the destruction of his mother’s bakery. After his early adventures with Rapunzel, she accompanies him back to his hometown where they hope to reunite Jack with his mother – and find the town under siege by giant ants, his mother a prisoner of the giants, and a sneaking suspicion that the giants are at the heart of all the town’s problems.
Recommended for ages 9-12
In YA and kids’ lit powerhouse couple Shannon and Dean Hale’s retelling of the Rapunzel tale, “Punzie”, as her friend Calamity Jack calls her, isn’t sitting around waiting for some prince to rescue her – she’s taking the matter into her own… hair.
Rapunzel grows up in the care of Mother Gothel, an evil woman with growth magic that she wields to keep the people of the surrounding lands under her control and to bleed them for all of their money. If they cannot pay her taxes, she dries up their land. She enslaves citizens to work in her mines. Rapunzel believes Mother Gothel is her own mother until one day, she ventures outside to the palace wall and meets her real mother. Furious with Gothel’s lies and cruelty, she demands answers from Gothel; Gothel responds by having Rapunzel taken to a forest and enclosed in a tree for four years. Her growth magic assures that Rapunzel has food to eat and small creature comforts; the growth magic also extends to Rapunzel’s famous hair, which grows and grows. Gothel visits Rapunzel every year to see if she will agree to live by Gothel’s ways as her daughter, but when Rapunzel refuses for the last time, she uses her growth magic to seal Rapunzel up in the tree for good. Luckily for Rapunzel, one of the palace guards taught her how to tie a good lasso. She manages to escape and meets Jack, a young man on the run whose only possessions are the clothes on his back, a goose named Goldy, and a magic bean… who could Jack be running from in this fractured fairy tale? Will Jack be able to help Rapunzel brave the arid lands and get her back to Gothel’s palace so she can free her mother and end Gothel’s reign of terror?
This book is great fun for boys and girls alike. It is a graphic novel that draws on two favorite fairy tales – Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk – with a modern twist that will appeal to kids who are on that cusp of being teenagers, but still appreciate the comfort of a good fairy tale. Rapunzel is a strong female character who ends up saving her friend Jack as often as he saves her, and Jack is a funny charmer who finds himself feeling very awkward around the beautiful Rapunzel. It’s a classic good versus evil tale with action and snappy banter, magic and a strong sense of right, wrong, and justice.
Shannon Hale is the Newbery Award-winning author (for Princess Academy) who writes for ‘tweens, teens, and adults. Dean Hale, her husband, writes children’s books and has written both Rapunzel’s Revenge and its sequel, Calamity Jack, with Ms. Hale. Her blog offers links to information about her books, events and games. She also offers a list of favorite books for both children and adults, including some recommendations by her husband.
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