Happy new comic book day, here’s a look at the new all age comic books this week. Our super simple rating system will break it down so that all you need to know is the age of the child you’re getting a book for.
Pre-K: those crawlers, toddlers and early walkers 2-5
E: Anyone in elementary school will enjoy this book.
LE: Lower elementary readers who are 4-8 will enjoy this
book.
UE: Upper elementary readers are those who are 9 and up.
M: M is for middle school, those readers that are 12 and up.
H: H is for high school and you won’t see much of that here.
Humor
Archie and Me #19, E, M
Disney Lion King I Am Simba Little Golden Book, Pre-K
Disney Zootopia: Hard Day’s Work, UE, M
Minions The Despicable Collection, E, M
Superhero
Amazing Spider-Man #25, M, H, H+
Avengers Battle on the Moon Little Golden Book, Pre-K, E
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man TPB Vol 1, UE, M, H
Miraculous Tales Ladybug Cat Noir season 2, Volume 8 Tear of Joy, UE, M
True Believers Absolute Carnage Venom vs. Carnage, M, H, H+
Wonder Twins #6, M, H
Science-fiction/action
Atomic Robo and the Dawn of New Era, M, H
Jim Henson Beneath The Dark Crystal #11, M, H, H+
The MCU film that I compared Spider-Man: Far From Home when
I left the theater was Iron Man 3-and not for good reasons. Elements of the
film have the same bait and switch trick that the later had and I wasn’t a fan.
However, since that film we’ve had almost two dozen entries into the MCU, a
mythos has been created, fandoms built and a series of movie juggernauts
launched. We’ve also had three really entertaining Spider-Man films in three
years and that’s a great thing.
By now the history of Spider-Man and his MCU lineage is established. The snap occurred, was undone, albeit with some casualties and life has pressed on. What Spider-Man: Far From Home gets 100% down correctly (in an entertaining fashion) is how the snap impacted everyone involved. Some of Peter Parker’s contemporaries return as young adults who were nerdy, but now are the prettiest ones at school. Tributes to Iron Man are all over town and the rumor mill is a buzz as to who will helm The Avengers.
Factor all of this on top of the fact that Peter Parker’s
class is taking a trip to Europe. He’s trying to be a friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man, has a crush on a girl, wants to hang out with his best friend and
isn’t sure about his status in the superhero world that’s suddenly gotten weird.
A weird superhero film that focuses on the human elements of
superhero lives calls for a heel that’s not typical; and here enters Mysterio,
AKA, Quentin Beck. The snap comes into play to an extent as alternate Earths
and their terrestrial based heroes are referenced. It tore a hole through
dimensions which caused other people’s bad guys to come over to ours. Don’t
think about things too hard in the film or you’ll see plot holes, but that’s
part of the fun about the film.
It gleefully pokes fun at aspects of the snap while
referencing other heroes that might seem more mature or well suited for this
adventure. The film also lets the secret identity spider out of the bottle on
more than one instance. Holy Michael Keaton Batman, suddenly MJ is Kim
Bassinger as Vicki Vale.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is almost as much of a teen
romance, as it is a superhero movie. There are some nice comedic elements and
two great credit sequences that fans of the MCU need to see. One of them clears
up a couple plot holes and the other one sees the MCU looking down the rabbit
hole.
There are periods in the film where it gets a bit too big
for its britches. One sequence with Mysterio is a bit long, the road trip
element could’ve used a haircut here and there also. 15 minutes shorter and the
film would’ve been a guilt-free summer popcorn flick. It’s longer than ideal
run time doesn’t spoil the film, it just feels padded at times.
Having said that, it’s a fun film that ages 9 and up will
clamor to see and will be the talk of the playground. It also cements
Spider-Man as the youngest superhero that is OK for younger fans. Granted
Spider-Man is high school, but some of the content might not be fine for most
elementary viewers. The length of the film, combined with some language and
mild adult situations will be too much or bore those kids 8 or younger.
Our 9 year-old loved the film and immediately asked when the
next one would come out. As a fan of most films in the MCU, we liked it too,
although not as much as Captain Marvel or some of the recent entries. It’s just
barely above average, and that’s OK for a nice summer romp.
It’s new comic book day and the spirit if independence all age comic books skewing young and old are nigh. Last week we introduced our rating system and received some nice feedback on it. One thing that we forgot was those books that OK for the very youngest of readers, those pre-k kids. Yes, there are some books that skew that young and will demo up to those in elementary school even. So, in addition to the regular ratings, look for any appropriate for those pre-k readers. It’s been given the very obvious rating of pre-k. If you missed last week’s introduction here’s a recap of how things will be ranked and who they’re appropriate for.
LE: Lower elementary readers will enjoy this book, those are
ages 4-8. It’ll have simple concepts, drawings or ideals that most likely won’t
demo up to those upper elementary aged kids.
UE: Upper elementary readers are those who are 9 and up.
These readers will enjoy a little more action, can handle lots more reading and
want to be in with the cool kids.
E: Elementary is the type of book that covers any age that’s
in elementary school. These are the go-to elementary reads like Scooby-Doo,
Looney Tunes, Marvel Action, Captain Underpants, The Bad Guys and more.
M: M is for middle school, those readers that are 12 and up.
These are readers that can hold their own and handle subject matter that’s more
advanced than elementary school. The books that we cover here at Daddy Mojo
won’t be graphic in this category, obviously, rather it’s material that is too
much for younger audiences, but just right for those in middle school.
H: H is for high school and you won’t see much of that here. Occasionally we’ll cover a hidden gem that is for those older audiences, but that will be the exception.
Humor
Betty and Veronica Friends Forever Back to Storybook Land #1- E
Disney Lion King I am Simba Little Golden Book- Pre-K
Giant Days #52, M, H
My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic #79, E
Simpsons Comics Colossal Compendium Vol. 7, UE, M, H+
Marvel Action Black Panther #2, E, M, H
Ms. Marvel Annual #1, M, H
Avengers: Battle on the Moon Little Golden Book- Pre-K, LE
Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, 3 of 6-UE, M, H
True Believers Absolute Carnage USA, M, H+
True Believers Absolute She-Venom, UE, M, H+
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #46, UE, M, H
Action/Science-fiction
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #6, M, H
Chariles’ Angels vs. Bionic Woman #1, -M, H
Over The Garden Wall Hallow Town, TPB, UE, M, H
Rocko’s Modern Life, #4, UE, M
The Six Million Dollar Man, #5, M, H
Sonic the Hedgehog #18, E, M
Star Trek Too Many Tribbles Golden Book, Pre-K, UE
Star Wars Adventures #23, E, M, H
One great thing about children’s books is that it can educate and entertain readers about the most unlikely topics. For example we have a book about flies that both kids have read and we’ll continue to keep it for their kids in twenty years or so. Moth, An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas and Daniel Egnues is another such book. Moths are the light beer of the insect world. They’re the annoying creatures that eat sweaters and the enemy of cedar closets everywhere. And now, it’s an absolutely amazing illustrated book that’s not at all what you expect with timeless art that will make it a mandatory entry into your children’s library of ‘keeper’ books.
The guide through the book is the peppered moth. Peppered moths apparently have a large disparity in their black and white allotment, with some looking like spotted zebras and others resembling patchy black panthers, albeit with wings and weighing an ounce just after they eat a huge meal. Here I thought they were simply these flittering creatures that tried to make holes in my clothing, but nay.
Moths have been evolving, thus the title, Moth, An Evolution Story. The Peppered Moth started out one way, which had its own benefits, but then changed. This evolution created a period of chaos for some moths. They were able to be seen by different predators, but more easily obscured by others who used to eat them.
The only constant is change, isn’t it? Children will pick up
on the fact that a Peppered Moth isn’t the most spectacular animal. They’re a
common thing, quite innocuous really, they make noise when they bonk against
the window while being attracted to the light on the other side. However, even
the common fluttering, sweater eating creature outside of the house has
changed-what you’re going through or thinking about is normal and expected.
The change aspect is one way to look at Moth, An Evolution Story. There is also the science aspect that younger science minded kids will look at the book from. There are also those artistic kids who will be drawn in to the book through its illustrations. The illustrations are gorgeous and look three-dimensional. Looking at these illustrations and then other children’s illustrated books is akin to looking at the animation in Toy Story 4 and Toy Story. This is a book where you’ll come for the story, but stay for the art OR, come for the art and stay for the story.
Moth, An Evolution Story is as balanced as it can be between art and story. Either way that you look at the book from, it’s fascinating, educational, beautiful or one that young readers will effortlessly follow you with.
Our 9 year old is a hanger on to The Bad Guys and we are 100% OK with that. He’s going into fourth grade and has been reading The Bad Guys since the end of first grade. In real world time I know that‘s not a long time, but through the eyes of a kid’s library it can be an eternity. Two years ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of reading the stuff that he’s reading now. These books have no pictures, chapters that are more than a dozen pages long and might even mention the subject of boys and girls ‘liking’ each other.
The ninth book in The Bad Guys series of books from Scholastic is called The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf. Each book in this series has our title characters in such elementary school adventures as in…The Furball Strikes Back, in Attack of the Zittens, in Do-You-Think-He-Saurus and other books that your kids aged five and older have already read. When you visit an elementary school library ask where their copies of any books featuring The Bad Guys are. You’ll see a handful of beaten up, dog-eared books with yellowed pages that most likely have some degree of little hand prints all of them. These books have been loved, read, re-read and had their spine tapped several times in order to extend their life span.
Our 9 year-old has been counting the days until The Big Bad Wolf was released. We got to the store and saw a couple of older books by Aaron Blabey on the shelf, but no sight of the new one. At first he was dejected and looked like he might cry. He was certain, absolutely positive that it was hitting stores on this day. I suggested that he ask a person at the store where the book is. This is an important leap of faith for him because he’s not one to ask questions to people that he doesn’t know.
However, as we were
buying some other stuff I suggest that he go to Guest Services and ask them. No
sooner had I looked up then I saw his every growing flip-flop covered feet
blazing a train to see where the book was. Guest Services directed us to the
area where the book should’ve been, but it wasn’t. Again I suggested that he go
ask someone in a red vest about the book. They checked their computer; saw that
it was in the back, still in the box, but that they’d go get a copy for us.
I kid you not, our nine year-old was skipping up and down
the isle with nervous energy. After a couple of minutes he grew tired of this
and started to peek around the corner like he was scouting out a drive-by for a
teenage girl in 10 years. “He’s got it. He’s got it!” I heard.
For adults who need to know what the plot’s about, Mr. Wolf gets blown up to a massive sized monster and The Bad Guys need to find a way to stop him ASAP. Toss in some new friends, lots of humor, a few potty jokes, some more humor, several dashes of action and you’ll see why elementary readers will absolutely love this series. They don’t need to know the series before reading The Big Bad Wolf. Most elementary school kids will know the characters, their role in the story and are already eager to be the first ones to tell the other kids that they’ve read the new book. A bonus for parents is that The Bad Guys,Big Bad Wolf only retails for $5.99, even less if you shop around.
Our children don’t know art per se. They’ve been to the High Museum of Art many times and know what art is, they just don’t know the key players. I don’t even know a majority of the classic artists. I might recognize their style, but their catalog and finer points will fall between my mental sofa cushion. However, I know animals and I know to count. It’s only because of the fact that I’m an adult and have experienced pop culture that I know some of the artist referenced in this children’s board book.
Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me, is a board book for those crawlers to toddlers (and the adults who are reading to them) who want to shake up the palette of their counting books. Each page has a number with its respective number of animals who are presented in the style of the artist that it’s referencing. We see 4 Matisse Monkeys, 6 Kandinsky Kangaroos, 8 Seurat Sloths and seven other counting lessons that are done whilst channeling classic artists.
I had to mention those three artists because two of them I hadn’t heard of. Even the title of the book, Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, and 3 is referencing an artist and not the author of the book. The actual author of the book is Grace Helmer, a London-based illustrator who has quite the career ahead of her as a forger, should she want to go on the other side of the law.
The colors and patterns in the book are fabulous and will draw in your eyes. Factor in that Kahlo’s Koalas isn’t even intended for adults and you’ve got a book that crawlers through pre-K will gnaw on for ages. This board book was originally published by LOM ART in England last year. However, it’s not off putting or inaccessible at all. This is a counting, board book with great art that just might happen to inspire kids or parents about the masters. Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me is available in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing for $8.99.
It’s new comic book day and there are lots of great all age comic books out this week. We also had an idea while listening to a panel at HeroesCon. The panel featured some creators who have done children’s comics or literature and was a lively chat about what young readers want, how parents can help them and obstacles that get in the way. There is not a consistent rating system for all of the comic book or graphic novel publishers, so we created one.
LE: Lower elementary readers will enjoy this book, those are ages 4-8. It’ll have simple concepts, drawings or ideals that most likely won’t demo up to those upper elementary aged kids.
UE: Upper elementary readers are those who are 9 and up. These readers will enjoy a little more action, can handle lots more reading and want to be in with the cool kids.
E: Elementary is the type of book that covers any age that’s in elementary school. These are the go-to elementary reads like Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, Marvel Action, Teen Titans Go!, Captain Underpants, The Bad Guys and more.
M: M is for middle school, those readers that are 12 and up. These are readers that can hold their own and handle subject matter that’s more advanced than elementary school. The books that we cover here at Daddy Mojo won’t be graphic in this category, obviously, rather it’s material that is too much for younger audiences, but just right for those in middle school.
H: H is for high school and you won’t see much of that here. Occasionally we’ll cover a hidden gem that is for those older audiences, but that will be the exception.
This week in the podcast we’ll chat about The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf. This is rated E (for elementary) in that it’s great for those in first grade, but those in fourth grade and older will also want to read it. Disney Afternoon Giant #5 is rated M (for middle school), not because of content, but because of the sheer amount of reading that’s required to enjoy it. Also in the podcast we’ll talks about The Bad Guys, Marvel Rising, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Descendents, Spider-Man and much more.
Humor
Adventure-UE,M
Archie Jumbo Comics Digest-UE, M
Disney Afternoon Giant-M
Dugout-UE,M
Hotel Transylvania-E, M
My Little Pony-E
My teacher is a robot-E
Rocky & Bullwinkle-UE
Runaways- M
The Big Bad Pizza Battle- E
The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf- E
Toy Story 1 & 2-UE,M
Superhero
Friendly-UE, M
Magnificent Ms. Marvel-UE, M
Marvel Rising, E
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-UE, M
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur-UE, M
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur TPB-UE, M
Spider-Man Annual-E, M
Spider-Man: Reptilian Rage-M
True Believers-UE, M
True Believers-UE, M
Action/science-fiction
Descendents- E, M
Diabolical summer-M, H
Invader Zim-UE, M
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge-UE, M
Stephen Universe-UE, M
Transformers Ghostbusters-E, M
Usagi Yojimbo-UE, M
Do you know an elementary school reader (or older) that’s looking for a way to learn more about Washington, D.C.? Granted, that is a massive age range. We’re certainly older than elementary school, yet are utterly fascinated by Washington, D.C. from A-Z. This book has dozens upon dozens of facts about Washington, D.C. that are presented in short paragraphs or a couple sentences. They’re complimented with realistically drawn pencil illustrations in a beautiful or in an over the top manner that really drives home what the text is teaching. The book says that it’s intended for ages 6-10, and while that’s true, it also serves as a jumping off point for more research for those older readers.
A great example is that we’re planning a trip to Washington,
D.C. and have been re-reading this to our 7 year-old. I found out that members
of our extended family wanted to visit the statue of Albert Einstein. A. I didn’t
know that there was a huge, five times life statue of him, but that. B. If you
rub his nose you’re supposed to get smarter. Granted, part of that increased
intelligence could be trying to successfully navigate the bronze statue up to
his nose. Three points of contact does the trick nine out of ten times.
Most of the letters have a couple of facts associated with
it. One of the notable exceptions is S and S is for Smithsonian. In 1829, James
Smithsonian, an Englishman left half a million dollars to the city of Washington.
His will, specifically stated that the money be used to increase the knowledge
of men. 190 years later and the Smithsonian is one of the largest and most well
known museums in the world.
It’s impossible to read Washington, D.C from A-Z without walking away with some tidbit of information. Some of those kibbles will root out and motivate people to read more about them. If you’re like our 7 year-old, then it’ll inspire a base amount of immediate curiosity-with some cool illustrations about this place that your family is going.
This is also one of those great books to read when you visit an elementary school. Just bring the book and ask the class to provide you with a letter and then you read facts about that letter as it pertains to Washington, D.C. That’s one of our favorite activities to do when we’re the mystery reader and if you time this as to when they’re learning about our nation’s capital it’s win/win.
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Superhero
Adventures of the Super Sons- UE, M