Wonder Woman The Contest

Wonder Woman The Contest
written by Nina Jaffe
illustrated by Ben Caldwell
created by William Moulton Marston
children's fiction ages 4-7

This book shows part of the origins of Wonder Woman and how she came to live among us mortals. Parents and grandparents who grew up with Wonder Woman comics and the television show will be pleased with this G rated slim volume. The children will probably want to read the whole series so I recommend buying the whole series for your library or your home.

Adventures of Max and Pinky: Superheroes

Adventures of Max and Pinky: Superheroes
by
Maxwell Eaton, III
children's fiction
ages 3-6
or adults can read it as a funny comic strip

Today Max the boy is pretending he is a superhero. His sidekick stuffed pig, Pinky, wants to be one, too, but Max wants Pinky to be a sidekick. Pinky doesn't appreciate being demoted to sidekick, but the sidekick comes through in the end.
If you have not read any Max and Pinky, give these funny guys a try. I wonder if they will base a children's television series on this? They certainly could.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Classic Comics Retelling)

Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Classic Comics Retelling)
by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
children's fantasy fiction, ages 6-10

I have read the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz many, many times, as well as at least 40 other Oz books and comics, saw the Broadway musical, Wicked, viewed the MGM movie and other movies about Oz, and watched the television show, so I am VERY familiar with this story.
In this case, Eric Shanower has condensed the plot to make this an accessible read for voracious readers and reluctant readers alike. Skottie Young's illustrations are NOTHING like the previous illustrations I have seen in Oz books, although there have been so many different comic book takes on Oz (some of which are not at all true to Baum's original intentions) that I can not say if other comic book illustrators have given Dorothy and friends a similar treatment.
The results are the old shown and told in a fresh way. Fans of Baum (and Shanower has his fans as well) are in for a treat with this book and the bonus feature - a sketchbook in the back of the book showing different ideas that the illustrator toyed with in developing the book. Graphic arts students would enjoy that part. I recommend this book for public and school libraries across America (and other countries as well). I am not sure if I would put it in the juvenile, or YA sections of the library, though. It can be enjoyed by many ages of audience. My library has it under "Y, graphic novels".

Adventures of Captain Underpants

Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel
by
Dav Pilkey
children's fiction
ages 5-10

Dav Pilkey is an Ohio author born in Cleveland and raised in Lorain. He went to Kent State University. This book is set at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, Piqua, Ohio, 45356, as we find out on page 46 when George and Harold, the main characters, receive a package in the mail. If you search for Jerome Horwitz, you will find that he is best known as Curly of Larry, Curly, and Moe fame.

I had read "Halloweiner" and a few "Dumb Bunnies" books before, but for some reason I had not read Captain Underpants until this week. Years ago I had tried out the website that tells readers what their secret identity names would be in Captain Underpants' world, but didn't read the book.
http://www.scholastic.com/captainunderpants/namechanger.htm
By the way, my villain nom de guerre is Snotty Chucklenose, but years ago it was Snotty Lizardbrain.
This week I read this book with a 5 and 6 year old. The 5 year old laughed out loud over and over again and jumped up and down. Pilkey uses well established pranks, information that every American kid knows about superheroes, and his own experiences in grade school to established the Captain Underpants world of fun.
George and Harold are every teacher's nightmare. They pull pranks. They misbehave. They constantly interrupt in class. The principal thinks he has figured out a way to end all these shenanigans, but George and Harold have the last word. Everything in this book series is over the top - bigger, higher, faster, more absurd.
Captain Underpants has become a well established presence in school and public libraries - be that for good or evil purposes. Some teachers love it because it gets reluctant readers to read. Other teachers loath it because it shows students behaving badly and gives them ideas. Librarians as well are divided on loving or hating these books for their crass presentation. Either way, these beginner chapter books in the Captain Underpants series are very funny (in a poopy- farty, third grade, Bart Simpson kind of way).

Captain Underpants trivia
http://www.pilkey.com/bookview.php?id=3

Hands off my comics!

Dayton Daily News, 4 October 1948, page 15