Authors: Jennifer L. Holm
Illustrator: Matthew Holm
Year: 2005
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 91
Reading Level: Beginning Reader (ages 4-8)
Genre: Graphic Novel
Series Information: First Book in the Babymouse Series
Location: Elementary School
Time Period: Present Day (2005)
Plot: When Babymouse hears that the most popular girl in school, Felicia Furrypaws, is having a sleepover, Babymouse becomes determined to get an invitation, even if it means helping Felicia cheat on her book report and letting down her best friend, Wilson Weasel. SPOILER! When Babymouse goes to the sleepover, she realizes just how mean Felicia is and just how much they don't have in common. Babymouse realizes that she doesn't need to be popular to be happy, and she leaves the sleepover, and heads over to Wilson's house to make amends.
Comments: I can see why this book is popular. Babymouse is not only a precocious little mouse, she's also extremely imaginative. The pictures in the book are mostly black and white, until Babymouse starts daydreaming, at which point the pages explode with the color pink. Babymouse's imagination turns even the most boring of topics into something fun and exciting. Children probably also enjoy the fact that this is a "thick" book that they can read and understand.
Themes: Sleepovers, Friends, Popularity, Using your Imagination
Red Flags: None
Showing posts with label graphic novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic novel. Show all posts
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Arrival
Author/Illustrator: Shaun Tan
Year: 2006
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Pages: 128
Reading Level: Young Adult
Awards: 2008 ALA Notable Book, 2007 New York Times Best Illustrated award, 2008 Ten Best Books for Young Adults, and many many others
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Location: A new land
Time Period: late 1800s/early 1900s
Plot: A man travels by steamship to a new and exotic land, where the animals, food, words, currency, and almost everything else about the place are completely unfamiliar to him. SPOILER! With the help of friendly people and the companionship of an odd gilled animal that resembles half lizard half dog, the man builds a new life in the country, and sends for his family to join him there.
Comments: This wordless graphic novel was completely different from what I expected it to be. Tan captures the immigrant experience in a somewhat disturbing, surrealistic style, but that is how a person feels when they've moved to a strange new place. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. Depicted in rich sepias and dark blacks and grays, Tan even gives the book the feeling of an old photo album by making some pages look crumpled and mold-spotted, and by including cracks and tears in the pictures. It is obvious that he spent a lot of time on this book, and I appreciated the note he included in the back that talked about all the research he did and how he tried to model his pictures after old photographs of Ellis Island, the Titanic, and other subject-appropriate depictions of the past.
Themes: Immigration, Coping with Change, New Places, Oppression, Friendship
Red Flags: Disturbing images of what immigrants to the new country have left behind: a battlefield strewn with skeletons, large men who are setting the city on fire, long tentacled arms looming over a city.
Multicultural Elements: The main character is Caucasian, but he meets many different people from many different cultures.
Year: 2006
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Pages: 128
Reading Level: Young Adult
Awards: 2008 ALA Notable Book, 2007 New York Times Best Illustrated award, 2008 Ten Best Books for Young Adults, and many many others
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Location: A new land
Time Period: late 1800s/early 1900s
Plot: A man travels by steamship to a new and exotic land, where the animals, food, words, currency, and almost everything else about the place are completely unfamiliar to him. SPOILER! With the help of friendly people and the companionship of an odd gilled animal that resembles half lizard half dog, the man builds a new life in the country, and sends for his family to join him there.
Comments: This wordless graphic novel was completely different from what I expected it to be. Tan captures the immigrant experience in a somewhat disturbing, surrealistic style, but that is how a person feels when they've moved to a strange new place. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. Depicted in rich sepias and dark blacks and grays, Tan even gives the book the feeling of an old photo album by making some pages look crumpled and mold-spotted, and by including cracks and tears in the pictures. It is obvious that he spent a lot of time on this book, and I appreciated the note he included in the back that talked about all the research he did and how he tried to model his pictures after old photographs of Ellis Island, the Titanic, and other subject-appropriate depictions of the past.
Themes: Immigration, Coping with Change, New Places, Oppression, Friendship
Red Flags: Disturbing images of what immigrants to the new country have left behind: a battlefield strewn with skeletons, large men who are setting the city on fire, long tentacled arms looming over a city.
Multicultural Elements: The main character is Caucasian, but he meets many different people from many different cultures.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Author/Illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Year: 1997
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Pages: 121
Reading Level: Intermediate (ages 9-12)
Genre: Comedy/Graphic Novel
Series Information: First Book in the Captain Underpants series
Location: Jerome Horwitz Elementary School
Time Period: Present Day (1997)
Plot: George Beard and Harold Hutchins are best friends who attend fourth grade at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. They love to play practical jokes and they love to create a comic book series called Captain Underpants ("Fighting for truth, justise, and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony"). When the school principal, Mr. Krupp, catches George and Harold playing a practical joke, he punishes them by making them his servants. In order to get out of their punishment, George and Harold order a hypno-ring, hoping to hypnotize Mr. Krupp so he will do their bidding instead. When they jokingly use the hypno-ring to make Mr. Krupp become Captain Underpants, Mr. Krupp takes off most of his clothes, uses the red curtains as a cape, and runs out of the school, looking for someone to save. George and Harold follow Mr. Krupp, and the three find themselves in the middle of a plot by Dr. Diaper to take over the world. SPOILER! George, Harold, and Captain Underpants work together to thwart Dr. Diaper and his evil robot henchmen, and they head back to school. George and Harold figure they should probably undo the hypnosis on Mr. Krupp, but they can't find the hypno-ring's instructions, and they end up throwing water on Mr. Krupp to wake him up. Since Mr. Krupp was awakened from his hypnosis the wrong way, any time someone snaps their fingers he becomes Captain Underpants again, setting up the premise for the rest of the series.
Comments: I can certainly see why Captain Underpants is so popular. The story has a lot of things in it that young boys find appealing: superheroes, practical jokers, jokes about bowel movements, and more. Pilkey tells a fun story, and he keeps readers' attention with his sense of humor, cartoon drawings, and one can never forget the Flip-O-Rama, which allows children to make the pictures on the pages move in actions scenes. Some parents might not want to let their children read these books because of some of the jokes, but most of the jokes stay on the clean side and are harmless. A good suggestion for reluctant male readers.
Themes: Superheroes, Practical Jokes
Red Flags: Jokes about bowel movements, Adults dressed only in underwear or diapers.
Multicultural Elements: Although very much a cartoon, George is also an African-American
Year: 1997
Publisher: Blue Sky Press
Pages: 121
Reading Level: Intermediate (ages 9-12)
Genre: Comedy/Graphic Novel
Series Information: First Book in the Captain Underpants series
Location: Jerome Horwitz Elementary School
Time Period: Present Day (1997)
Plot: George Beard and Harold Hutchins are best friends who attend fourth grade at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. They love to play practical jokes and they love to create a comic book series called Captain Underpants ("Fighting for truth, justise, and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony"). When the school principal, Mr. Krupp, catches George and Harold playing a practical joke, he punishes them by making them his servants. In order to get out of their punishment, George and Harold order a hypno-ring, hoping to hypnotize Mr. Krupp so he will do their bidding instead. When they jokingly use the hypno-ring to make Mr. Krupp become Captain Underpants, Mr. Krupp takes off most of his clothes, uses the red curtains as a cape, and runs out of the school, looking for someone to save. George and Harold follow Mr. Krupp, and the three find themselves in the middle of a plot by Dr. Diaper to take over the world. SPOILER! George, Harold, and Captain Underpants work together to thwart Dr. Diaper and his evil robot henchmen, and they head back to school. George and Harold figure they should probably undo the hypnosis on Mr. Krupp, but they can't find the hypno-ring's instructions, and they end up throwing water on Mr. Krupp to wake him up. Since Mr. Krupp was awakened from his hypnosis the wrong way, any time someone snaps their fingers he becomes Captain Underpants again, setting up the premise for the rest of the series.
Comments: I can certainly see why Captain Underpants is so popular. The story has a lot of things in it that young boys find appealing: superheroes, practical jokers, jokes about bowel movements, and more. Pilkey tells a fun story, and he keeps readers' attention with his sense of humor, cartoon drawings, and one can never forget the Flip-O-Rama, which allows children to make the pictures on the pages move in actions scenes. Some parents might not want to let their children read these books because of some of the jokes, but most of the jokes stay on the clean side and are harmless. A good suggestion for reluctant male readers.
Themes: Superheroes, Practical Jokes
Red Flags: Jokes about bowel movements, Adults dressed only in underwear or diapers.
Multicultural Elements: Although very much a cartoon, George is also an African-American
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Flotsam
Author/Illustrator: David Wiesner
Year: 2006
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Beginner (ages 4-8)
Awards: 2007 Caldecott Medal, 2006 Parents' Choice Gold Award, 2007 Quill Book Award
Genre: Wordless Picture Book/Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Series Information: Not part of a series
Location: The Beach and the Ocean
Time Period: Present Day (2006)
Plot: A boy playing at the seashore finds an old underwater camera has washed to shore. The boy can't believe his eyes when he develops the film inside the camera. SPOILER! The camera has been taking pictures of weird undersea adventures: robotic fish, storytime-reading octopi, aliens on a sightseeing trip, etc. The boy is most astonished when he finds a picture that proves many other people have seen these pictures as well. He takes a picture of himself with the camera, and throws it out to sea again, spreading the story on to other people around the world.
Comments: What an interesting story! Told in a wordless graphic novel format, it is the detail of the pictures that clue one in on the storyline. Because of this, older children who understand the importance of plot and detail will appreciate this story a lot more than youger children who merely look at the odd pictures.
Themes: Cameras, Underwater Adventures, Sending messages to people around the world.
Red Flags: None
Year: 2006
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Beginner (ages 4-8)
Awards: 2007 Caldecott Medal, 2006 Parents' Choice Gold Award, 2007 Quill Book Award
Genre: Wordless Picture Book/Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Series Information: Not part of a series
Location: The Beach and the Ocean
Time Period: Present Day (2006)
Plot: A boy playing at the seashore finds an old underwater camera has washed to shore. The boy can't believe his eyes when he develops the film inside the camera. SPOILER! The camera has been taking pictures of weird undersea adventures: robotic fish, storytime-reading octopi, aliens on a sightseeing trip, etc. The boy is most astonished when he finds a picture that proves many other people have seen these pictures as well. He takes a picture of himself with the camera, and throws it out to sea again, spreading the story on to other people around the world.
Comments: What an interesting story! Told in a wordless graphic novel format, it is the detail of the pictures that clue one in on the storyline. Because of this, older children who understand the importance of plot and detail will appreciate this story a lot more than youger children who merely look at the odd pictures.
Themes: Cameras, Underwater Adventures, Sending messages to people around the world.
Red Flags: None
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Author: Brian Selznick
Year: 2007
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 533
Reading Level: Intermediate (ages 9-12)
Awards: 2008 Caldecott Award
Genre: Mystery/Fantasy/Picture/Chapter Book
Series Information: None
Location: Paris, France
Time period: 1931
Plot: Hugo Cabret is an orphan who tries to survive by living in the train station, stealing what he needs from the station shops. In his spare time Hugo works on an automaton his father had found and was putting together before he died. Hugo hopes the automaton carries a message to him from his father. In his quest for parts for the automaton, Hugo meets an eccentric old toy maker, Papa Georges, and his goddaughter Isabel, from whom he learns a lot about magic, mechanics, the first movies, and what it means to have a friend.
Comments: I was very intrigued by the idea behind this book. The book is set up much like a movie, beginning with instructions to the reader to pretend that they are sitting in a theater, waiting for the curtain to go up. After that, the pictures begin. Most books use pictures to give an idea of what the text is saying. This book uses detailed pencil drawings to depict the action of the story, and only uses words when absolutely necessary. For example, instead of saying, “Isabel collided with an old man as she was running across the station,” four pictures show Isabel running into the man and slowly falling to the ground. Instead of being weird, this medium helps move the story along. Since this is a story about the first moving pictures, treating the story as if it is a moving picture itself adds to the ambience and magic of the tale.
Red Flags: Homelessness, nervous breakdowns
Year: 2007
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 533
Reading Level: Intermediate (ages 9-12)
Awards: 2008 Caldecott Award
Genre: Mystery/Fantasy/Picture/Chapter Book
Series Information: None
Location: Paris, France
Time period: 1931
Plot: Hugo Cabret is an orphan who tries to survive by living in the train station, stealing what he needs from the station shops. In his spare time Hugo works on an automaton his father had found and was putting together before he died. Hugo hopes the automaton carries a message to him from his father. In his quest for parts for the automaton, Hugo meets an eccentric old toy maker, Papa Georges, and his goddaughter Isabel, from whom he learns a lot about magic, mechanics, the first movies, and what it means to have a friend.
Comments: I was very intrigued by the idea behind this book. The book is set up much like a movie, beginning with instructions to the reader to pretend that they are sitting in a theater, waiting for the curtain to go up. After that, the pictures begin. Most books use pictures to give an idea of what the text is saying. This book uses detailed pencil drawings to depict the action of the story, and only uses words when absolutely necessary. For example, instead of saying, “Isabel collided with an old man as she was running across the station,” four pictures show Isabel running into the man and slowly falling to the ground. Instead of being weird, this medium helps move the story along. Since this is a story about the first moving pictures, treating the story as if it is a moving picture itself adds to the ambience and magic of the tale.
Red Flags: Homelessness, nervous breakdowns
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