I’m in a third-grade class right now. A mere ten minutes ago I was teaching the kids writing while some of the brighter kids started talking about the books they’re reading. Rick Riordan was the main author that those kids were talking about. Some of these nine-year-old students aren’t as advanced when it comes to reading. I heard some of the kids call their books ‘baby books’, so I had to jump in and clear things up.
This is not a ‘baby book’, nor is it actually the book that those kids were reading. It also may not be the first time that readers in your house have seen a Super Turbo book.
What we have here is Super Turbo Saves the Day!, an all-age graphic novel from Little Simon. This is truly for all ages. Those kids who are only five years old can pick up Super Turbo and make some sight words or at least really enjoy the pictures. Getting your pre-k or kindergarten-aged student to eagerly look forward to carrying around a book, even if they can’t read all of the words yet is half of the battle.
The images in Super Turbo and big, cartoonish, funny and will suck in anybody who opens the book. Our 11-year-old loves graphic novels and couldn’t resist it. Granted he did say that the book was too simple for him to read, albeit with a snide hint of pending middle school to his voice. It is supposed to be too easy for you, I thought with a snide hint of middle-aged dad attitude.
The graphic novels in the Little Simon imprint are designed for those ages 5-9. If they’re on the younger scale then it’s a gateway towards reading, if they’re on the older end of that scale then it’s positive reinforcement that they are able to read-and not just baby chapter books and Dick and Jane.
For example, our nine-year-old reluctant reader who needs to concentrate on comprehension is able to read all of the words in Super Turbo. He might break a handful of the words out into syllables, but he can read and understand them. The fact that it’s a graphic novel also helps him work on his comprehension. The pictures are there to act as a guide when Super Turbo meets the rest of the heroes who live in the school. Our son could certainly gleam the basics of the story just by looking at the illustrations. In the case of Super Turbo, and the other graphic novels in the Little Simon imprint, it’s the fact that they’re accompanied with text that makes reluctant readers dive in and pay attention.
As Turbo goes around the school he sees all manner of elementary school-appropriate danger and mystery. The tone of the book strikes us as a younger, gentler and easier-to-read version of Dog Man, minus any potty humor or jokey elements that might skew those books towards middle school. Super Turbo Saves The Day is wholesome, without being boring. The art is big, cartoonish, and fun to look at. It’s also got a classic appearance that makes the art feel new and full of action as the pets make their way through the school.
Granted, this is scaled-down action where the hamster is one of the largest characters in the book. That fact is only exacerbated when they meet the class mice or rats, depending on who you ask.
Super Turbo Saves the Day! is glorious, goofy fun that will have the most appeal to those elementary-aged students in first through fourth grades. Older students will also enjoy it, but in the same comfort-book-food way that they like Captain Underpants or Dog Man. The beauty of the book in the Little Simon imprint is that these are all-age graphic novels, a genre that has had very little representation up until now.
Super Turbo Saves the Day! is by Edgar Powers with art by Salvatore Costanza and available from Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
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