There was something I couldn’t pinpoint during my first read of New Shoes by Sara Varon and it kept changing as I turned each page. This graphic novel is too simple for a 9 year old or it’s too difficult for a 6 year old, in hindsight I think I was just crabby for the first couple of pages because by the ninth page I was grinning and drinking what Francis was selling. It’s set in Guyana, in northern South America and New Shoes is his story; one that’s irrepressibly optimistic and curious, with a side of wanderlust and a penchant for meeting new animal friends.
By the time readers get to the tenth page they already like Francis and realize that he’s a shoe craftsman that uses only finest materials. Twelve pages later we see that he’s been given the job of making shoes for the world famous singer Miss Manatee. “She looks like a walrus” our 8 year old said at this point.
No, that’s actually a manatee, they’re much bigger, move slower and don’t have tusks. “Tusks are those big teeth up front”, I quickly told him.
He settled back into the story of New Shoes. This is a graphic novel that he was able to read by himself without any assistance, but I wanted to read some of it with him. You see, the materials that Francis uses for his shoes require a special grass that can only be found in the jungle which is hours away. He doesn’t know the way to the area, but his monkey friend Nigel does, but he’s not home now. Thankfully his bird friend Rhoda knows how to get there so they team up with her simply asking for a pair of shoes in return.
The two pack up lots of snacks and make their way through the jungle where they meet a group of capybaras. They exchange pleasantries and are surprised when Francis can’t swim in order to cross the river. The capybaras teach him to swim, which is a required skill given all of the rivers in the area-and also point him in the direction of where Nigel was going.
They also see a yellow-banded poison dart frog and meet a toucan who lets them know that Nigel was captured by some bush dogs. Here their adventure takes on the added component of finding Nigel and figuring out why he was taken, in addition to getting the Tiger Grass that is required for the shoes.
What was a simple tale had now taken on a more complex story, one that kept me, as well, as the 8 year old who I thought wouldn’t like New Shoes. Of course, complex is relative and in New Shoes our friends meet new friends, all of whom help each other, which leads Francis to his biggest problem. What I, as an adult, liked about New Shoes is that it presented things in a way that lead the friends to solve them. The problems weren’t put forth as deal killers or impossibly difficult tasks, rather, the animals treated them as ways to earnestly help those who need it.
New Shoes is a real treat that leaves young readers effortless turning the pages. There are chapter breaks so that younger readers who need assistance can have stop points, just in case it’s a good-night book. Of course, those same readers will want to stay up later and look at the bright images, which is OK and part of discovering good books. That same age will see lots of sight words for them to help mom and dad read, in addition to discovering lots of others.
“What’s that?”, our 8 year old asked. I explained to him that Calypso is a type of music that very popular in the Caribbean Sea area. You see, Miss Manatee is playing a concert in Francis’ town and she’s world-famous for performing…you guessed it. New Shoes ends with all of the friends listening to a concert from their new friend, Miss Manatee.
This is as charming a graphic novel as you’ll find. Readers 5 through 9 will get the most out of it, but even older kids, if they let themselves, will fall head over heels with this amiable, beautifully illustrated tail, or tale, depending on which animal is on the page.
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