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New All Age Comics for March 9, 2016

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It’s a busy week for humor and science fiction this week in new all age comics. There’s only one superhero book for kids coming out this week and the rest are divided up between those two categories.

Plan ahead now for Free Comic Book Day on May 7, it’s where you can pick up free comics….just as the name states. Many of these titles will be OK for the all age audience and closer to then we’ll highlight all of them.

Adventure Time hits a milestone this week with #50, Aw Yeah Comics from Dark Horse brings out Action Cat & Adventure Bug is what I think will be a fabulous comic about good and evil with art that looks like classic Pink Panther from the 70’s.

Back to the Future #6 starts a brand new story arc, a new Haunted Mansion mini-series from Marvel kicks off this week too. Yes, it’s the same Haunted Mansion as in the ride at Walt Disney World, but, it’s one of the cooler rides at Disney and this comic won’t be graphic, so we’re game. Luna the Vampire #3 ends its mini-series run for this comic that’s great for girls who are looking for a book that’s odd and quite funny. There are also a couple Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (including a team up with Batman!), MLP and Doctor Who books.

The links will take you to TFAW, where you’ll save up to 20% on your comic orders. If you’re looking for the closest comic book store to you just pop in your zip code to the comic book store locator and you’ll be there quicker than a voyage on the Enterprise, but slower than a TARDIS. The music in the podcast if Jazzhar and can be found over at Free Music Archive.

Humor

Superheroes

Sci fi

The Bunny Burrow Buyer’s Book, clever, but familiar

Easter is a great time for bunny books. The Bunny Burrow Buyer’s Book by Steve Light takes a look at the every expanding size of George and Petunia Bunny’s family. They are bunnies after all and the old burrow for two just isn’t cutting it any more. The art and detail in the book will attract readers 4 and up and its vocabulary is simple enough for a 6 year old to read it with a little assistance.

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Comics Squad Lunch is near perfect all age comic fun

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When you go to your local comic book store visit the all age book section. Most likely it’s near the front of the store where they keep the all age graphic novels and chapter books. We saw Comics Squad: Lunch! on top of the counter and immediately fell in love with it. Eight different comic authors have created new stories with a common theme, in this case lunch. This book is the sequel to Comic Squad: Recess and is as perfect an introduction to all age comics as you’ll find.

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New all age comics for February 24, 2016

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There is a certain ‘classic’ vibe about this week’s all age comics. It’s classic, but not stale or musty smelling, it’s the names that you know, but with new stories that can hook new audiences and keep the folks that know the characters from back in the day. This is the week that may parents can take their kids to the comic book store and purchase many of the same names that they knew, as well as, lots of great modern titles that are brand new to them too.

Itty Bitty Hellboy: The Search for the Were-Jaguar #4 is great. This is the all ages version of the great hero Hellboy, the art is goofy, surreal and utterly OK for any aged reader. In humor this week, Donald Duck, Futurama Comics, Peanuts and Mad Magazine are out. Yes, Mad Magazine, at just under $5 this is the same, slightly crude humor that you laughed at and didn’t understand when you were 8 years old and hanging out in your friend’s tree house. The only difference now is that you understand all of the jokes and references. Kids 12 and up will be able to jump right into Mad Magazine and LOL with the best of them.

Back to the Future #5, Kaijumax trade paperback Volume 1, Transformers, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and lots of other comics come out that are great for the all age sci-fi fan also.

In fantasy, older readers will want to check out Mezolith original graphic novel, Vol. 1. It’s 10,000 years ago and this book follows a tribe of hunters in stone age Great Britain. This will be too violent for younger readers, but kids 12 and up will love the art in this just released book on this side of the pond.

Superhero

Humor

Sci fi/Action

Fables/Fantasy

New all age comics for February 17, 2016

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New comic book day this week yields a really good crop of fantasy comics including two Jim Henson creations, Princeless Raven Pirate Princess and Usagi Yojimbo. That last title is one of our favorites for people that are looking for a low key, black and white, utterly creative and fun title about a ninja rabbit in feudal Japan.

There are also lots of staple humor titles like Lumberjanes, Simpsons Comics and Adventure Time. Science fiction is loaded down with two Doctor Whos, 11^th and 10^th Doctor thank you very much, our 6 year old’s favorite comic-Skylanders Superchargers, a Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trade paperback that’s just for the kids.

With superheroes this week the go-to name for most people is released. Teen Titans Go! #14 comes out and this title is just like the cartoon, in a good way.

Your closest comic book store is as close as your keyboard. Just punch in your zip code to the comic book store locator and you’ll all but be beamed over there. For the internet folks just dig into the links and save up to 20% from TFAW.

For the audio set, the Daddy Mojo podcast highlights a couple key issues in each genre. We’ll describe why they rock, who they’re good for and there’s some groovy music in the background. In this week’s podcast the backing music is provided by Jahzzar over at Free Music Archive.

Super heroes

Humor

Sci-fi/Action

Fantasy

They Had A Dream, black American history for YA

Jules Archer is apparently quite the force in non-fiction books for young people. During his lifetime he published over 70 books. We read Jungle Fighters recently and loved it. The way that Archer presented the story of defending New Guinea was approachable and one that young readers could latch onto. With They Had A Dream he writes about four influential leaders of the civil rights movement. Frederick Douglas, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X are written about in this engaging and accessible book.

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Reading Reconsidered, literacy instruction for teachers and parents

I’m a teacher. Once you’ve worked as a teacher you’re always a teacher. When my wife and I became parents we immediately started reading to our children. We also did the other parenting tropes like playing classical music, labeling key things in the house and saying Jumanji to make the dirty diapers disappear. Unfortunately that last one never did work. It’s in the vein of my prior profession that I wanted to read Reading Reconsidered.

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Jungle Fighters is first hand WW II history for tweens and up

Non-fiction can be a tough subject for younger readers to grasp. The subject matter may not be interesting, the text could be written in a way that doesn’t appeal to them or the content requires background information in order to comprehend what they’re reading. Originally published in 1985, Jungle Fighters: A Firsthand Account of the Forgotten New Guinea Campaign by Jules Archer is a great book for ages 12 and up because it deals with the a complex and brutal time in history in a way that young readers can digest.

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