The Big Book of Superpowers and Girl Power-big, fun, great

When it comes to superheroes books and young readers the options can be somewhat limited. Capstone does do a bang up job on their books, but for the most part they are geared to children that can already read. For ages 3 and up we found some great, one would almost say super books that will engage, educate and entertain them. From Downtown Bookworks, The Big Book of Superpowers and The Big Book of Girl Power are two oversized books whose bright, vivid colors will attract kids, while their content will keep kids glued in for a number of reasons. These are all DC heroes and this is a great chance for kids to get a primer on them, especially since these characters do not have consistent appearances in an all age monthly comic book.

 

As we have two boys they were most interested in The Big Book of Superpowers. While this book isn’t entirely focused on guys in the DC Universe it does feature Green Lantern, Superman and Batman on the cover. Old school parents will appreciate the style in which the books are drawn. Each superhero is drawn in a way that best resembles the Bronze Age of comic books from 1970-1985. The art is realistic, but nearly as much as the modern art in today’s characters.

For non-geek parents it’s best described as non hyper-sexualized for the girl super heroes and a slightly less muscular appearance for the guys. Bat Girl, Wonder Woman, Mera and Hawkgirl are drawn in costumes, but not in the more adult way that they appear in contemporary DC Comics. The same goes for Hawkman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and the rest of the guys in The Big Book of Superpowers. They’re big and muscular, but not in a way that’s in line with comic books and not Muscle and Fitness.

The Big Book of Girl Power is all about the women in the DC Universe. The couple of girls featured in The Big Book of Super Powers are drawn in the same fashion. For example, there’s a picture of Bat Girl with a rope around Benedict Arnold while Robin watches.*That leaves a majority of the super heroes like Starfire, Raven, Bumblebee, Cat Woman, Katana, Black Canary and others to be drawn in something close to the Modern Age of comics. Regardless of what style of are they’re in, they’re cool.

This book also has motivational takeaways for each super hero. On Katana’s page it says, ‘Katana worked hard for many years to master her skills’. These are fun sayings that will certainly encourage young girls, teach lessons and help them understand what makes each DC Universe heroine unique.

Both The Big Book of Superpowers and The Big Book of Girl Power are oversized and have bottles of color jumping off each page. The covers have a reflective, foil surface that accentuates the illusion that the 2D heroes are indeed moving.  In theory, any age is great with these books, but kids 4 and up will be best solely because they’ll be more careful in turning the pages.

*Geek parents will recognize that shot from Batman Family, a great comic that happened to be our jam back in the mid-70’s. They’ll also recognize The Flash image on page 15 from the Superman Vs. The Flash oversized issue from that same time period.