Kick Push, an illustrated book that runs with enthusiasm to kids 6 and up

A book that reaches out and grabs the nape of your neck is a rare thing. It’s not something that you’re expecting as it slams your senses, wakes up your eyes, and takes you on a trip to a place that you’ve never been before. Kick Push is an illustrated book that lovingly yells at you until you pay attention. At first, it seems like that manic, out-of-control student whose only goal is to distract the teacher from the lesson of the day. But then, after you spend a couple of pages with Kick Push you realize that it’s a picture book that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before and will challenge you in all the right ways.

Ivan is an upper-elementary kid whose nickname is Epic. Epic has just moved to a new city and is looking for some friends. He’s really good at skateboarding, and because that’s an activity that can be done on any concrete surface, he should be at home and have some social glue to meet new friends. While his tricks are still there, he gets bummed out that nobody is there to appreciate his kicks, pushes, or other gnarly moves that he’s capable of doing.

So, he gives up boarding and puts it in the garbage can. His dad realizes what’s up and preemptively takes it out and simply tells him to try other sports. It’s here where lesser books would’ve had the figurative Benny Hill theme song playing as Epic tried various other activities and floundered about. The same cliché of an 80’s montage showing the character’s struggles and growth could also be inserted, in an illustrated manner of course.

Instead, his sports malaise only lasts for four pages when his parents pull out the skateboard and ask him to jaunt to the bodega to get himself a treat. It’s here where Epic rediscovers his jam. He goes in and out of people playing sports, jumps over obstacles, and rides past cool places in the neighborhood until he finally arrives at the store.

Once inside the store he realizes that there’s a crowd of people behind him, all with their own skateboards who saw him doing his tricks. This new, massive-sized crew goes about boarding around town until they get to Epic’s neighborhood.

Kick Push is an illustrated book that readers could describe in many ways. It’s empowering. It’s about trying new things. It’s a fish-out-of-water book that kids can learn from. It’s diverse. It’s an engaging book that teaches a lesson, all the while entertaining readers. The great and unexpected thing about Kick Push is that it’s all of these things and more.

It’s by Frank Morrison and his illustrations in Kick Push run, move, and seemingly have as much action as the bearings in Epic’s wheels. What’s more is that the art is refreshing, different and a style that’s not often seen in illustrated books. When paired in conjunction with its title, Kick Push and its art feel initially like a kinetic graffiti ride.

This is where the hesitation in some older readers might kick in. Graffiti is a blight on our city’s streets and you don’t want a children’s book that resembles it. Yeah, you might be thinking that. However, Kick Push is a book that is a bright light to a moth who is reading to elementary school students.  By the fifth page the graffiti aspects that you aren’t a fan of are blended seamlessly into an artistic amalgam that have this illustrated book running with kinetic energy and enthusiasm. Moreover, this is a book that kids will want to read. They’ll identify with the things that Epic is going through. At some point in time, every kid has been the ‘new kid’ or has had to try a new thing. Kick Push takes the lesson that kids have to experience and learn by being the new kid, and turns it into a skateboarding adventure that they’ll want to read.

Kick Push, Be Your Epic Self is by Frank Morrison and available on Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

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