Little big Nate Draws A Blank, board book Big Nate for 0-4

What do Nate Wright and Archie Andrews have in common? Both of them have the ability to cross generations in an entertaining manner with consistent characters who are totally different. Archie Andrews is Archie, that redheaded kid from Riverdale who has appeared in comic books for decades and a steaming hot television show for the past couple of years. The way that Archie has been reshaped to meet different demographics is remarkable. There’s a property that will engage Riverdale fans between the ages of 6 and 75*.

Nate Wright is Big Nate. Big Nate has been one of the most consistently entertaining and laugh out loud comic strips since it debuted in 1991. However, Big Nate has always been in the same middle-school packaging, until now. Little big Nate, Draws A Blank by Lincoln Peirce is board-book Big Nate, but it takes a look at the character as a pre-k kid. The result is a rhyming book that people will enjoy reading to those crawlers or mother’s morning out ages that want to baby step it into the world of Big Nate.

It starts with Nate getting a new box of crayons. However, once he opens them he’s unsure what to draw. Once he gets his creative mojo working what ensues are crayon-drawn pages that kids will know as their own. The octopus is friendly and pink. The skunk is happy and smelly. Toads, crickets and more all jump across the page as Nate offers his two-word commentary on what’s wrong with each of them.

The combination of the art that’s meant to represent the way that a child would draw them, with the all too dismissive nature of a kid is perfect. This is a board book that’s meant to have fun with. It might teach a couple sight words, but its main purpose is to entertain and to kids up to four years old and it’ll do just that.

Draws A Blank offers adults the chance to read the book with funny voices or to simple let the illustrations do the talking. The dog that’s shown shaking, thus flinging off excess hair, obviously has too much hair, he’s very hairy. The illustration is funny. If you elect to do a funny voice emphasizing that the dog needed to brushed that’s fine too.

*75 is completely arbitrary. If you like Archie in any form or Riverdale and you’re over that age then rock on.