It’s a nice selection of books this week, from floppies to trades to even manga! Gon Volume 4 comes out this week, but it’s got a teen rating, and from my daughter’s reaction to it, I don’t think it fits on this list despite being wordless. There’s plenty of other books to fill the gap though, that cover every taste. Cat lovers should not only check out the final volume in Greystripe’s adventure with Warriors Volume 3, but also the Dayan Collection from Dark Horse.
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
By James Sturm & Rich Tommaso
Ages 12+
Jump at the Sun
$16.99 hc/$9.99 pbk
This story is told from the point of view of amateur baseball player, Emmett Wilson, who is struck out (and injured) by Satchel Paige and forced to go back home to work as a sharecropper. We learn more about what life was like in the South between the years 1929 and 1944 than we do about Satchel Paige himself. This story isn’t meant to be about when Satchel Paige was born, or what his childhood was like, but rather this story talks about the man behind the ball: His pompous attitude and smug self-assurance in contrast to the time and place he lived in: Jim Crow South. When the reader finishes reading this book and gets a sense of the world Satchel Paige lived in, they’ll be left wondering where he found the courage to be those things.
Hey everyone! Like the new logo? We changed the name and URL of this site because of an unfortunate coincidence, but don’t worry—the old URL will still get you here, at least for a while.
There’s a preview of the YA (15+) vampire graphic novel Life Sucks up at MySpace right now, and here’s an old-ish review by Elizabeth Bird at the School Library Journal. I’m reading it right now myself, so watch for a review in a few weeks.
Xavier Guilbert interviews Linda Medley about Castle Waiting at the French zine du9. (Link is to the English version.)
ComicMix goes the extra mile and has an actual kid, Lillian Baker (daughter of Kyle) do the reporting on the Archie panel from NYCC’s Kids Day.
At Comics in the Classroom, Scott Tingley reviews Ray Friesen’s Another Dirt Sandwich, after a failed attempt to get his wife to do the heavy lifting.
Chris Wilson checks out the first three issues of White Picket Fences and recommends it with some reservations at The Graphic Classroom.
Greg McElhatton has a nice review of vol. 1 of Jellaby at Read About Comics.
Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty
By Matthew Loux
Oni Press, $5.95
Rating: Youth (Age 7+)
Reading Matthew Loux’s Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty reminded me of a favorite childhood book: Robert McCloskey’s Burt Dow, Deep Water Man, a tall tale about a Maine lobsterman who finds himself marooned inside a whale. Loux’s story adopts a similar approach, blending Down East realism with a touch of the fantastic to good effect.
Salt Water Taffy takes place in the fictional town of Chowder Bay, ME, where eleven-year-old Jack Putnam and his younger brother Benny are vacationing with their parents. Initially, Jack resists Chowder Bay’s charms, bemoaning the lack of modern comforts: television, cell phones, video games. But as he and Benny begin exploring the town and meeting the locals, Jack abandons his too-cool-for-school pose and throws himself into searching for Old Salty, Maine’s answer to the Loch Ness monster. [Read more →]
It’s all-mythology picks this week. Having studied cultural anthropology in college, I can’t help but want to promote more books the will foster greater cultural understanding. Stories from cultures that we still see as strange and mysterious can really grab hold of a child’s imagination. And even more than that, expand their understand of other people who think and believe different than them. This week’s picks features both eastern and western myths and fairy tales. I’m also going to start highlighting books that may appeal to the very young. I’m going to label these books Y7, for easier identification. [Read more →]
Kaput & Zösky
Written by Lewis Trondheim; illustrated by Eric Cartier
Translated by Edward Gauvin
First Second, $13.95
Ages 8+
Review may contain spoilers.
Kaput and Zösky are two aliens determined to rule the world. Any world. Sadly, they aren’t very good at their job. Even when the two intrepid destroyers do manage to take over a planet, something invariably goes wrong.
Thirteen stories in this collection feature Kaput, a short, round, redheaded ball of evil who wants nothing more than to blast his way to merciless power, and Zösky, who is tall, yellow-eared, and willing to at least attempt to strategize before blasting his way to merciless power. Together the two win a planet through a lucky spin of the wheel and then give it back because there was no butt-kicking involved, run from a planet where the inhabitants follow Kaput’s every suggestion, and escape from a planet ruled by vampires by belching garlic breath. [Read more →]
I’m working on writing up the ICv2 panel on graphic novels for tweens, but real life keeps getting in the way. In the meantime, check out this week’s Publishers Weekly Comics Week, which has extensive coverage of NYCC, including this roundup of children’s publishing panels and short takes on a variety of other events, including the girls’ comics panel and the Minx panel.
Blog@Newsarama gets a peek at the new Supergirl, from DC’s upcoming Supergirl: Tales of an Eighth Grade Something. And hey, she looks like a kid! Newsarama also has a video of Dan Didio talking to DC coordinating editor Jann Jones about the kid-friendly Tiny Titans line.
Some nice reviews out this week: At Read About Comics, Greg McElhatton enjoys vol. 1 of Salt Water Taffy, and at Thought Balloonists, Charles Hatfield discusses Joann Sfar’s Little Vampire and Craig Fischer adds his two cents.
Here’s a preview of Kid Houdini and the Silver-Dollar Misfits, a graphic novel due out from Viper Press in June. Newsarama recently interviewed the creator, Dwight McPherson.
Gon is an interesting title; because it is wordless, and about animals, and has a cute dinosaur on the cover, you might think it’s a children’s book. But the inside art is more detailed and intense than the covers, and the action can be a bit much for children. John Jakala has an interesting story about his two-year-old daughter picking it up and instinctively reading it the right way, but she didn’t do as well with vol. 2. At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson’s daughter Krissy also remarked that it was too violent. Grownups love it, though.
If you’re in the Boston area, check this out: Josh Elder, writer of Mail Order Ninja and one of the guiding spirits behind Kids Love Comics, will be answering questions about comics at the main branch of the Boston Public Library this evening, April 22, at 7 p.m.
Marina Neira checks out another of the Harvey Comics Classics reprints, this one of Hot Stuff, the adorable little devil.
Kids and tweens [graphic novels] are due for a big explosion this year.
That’s what ICv2 publisher and comics maven Milton Greipp said yesterday at the ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference. I’m here in New York for the New York Comic-Con, and it seems like everyone is talking about how comics suddenly are going to be for kids again. I’ll be posting about the panels at the con as the weekend goes on. If you’re thinking about coming, check out Blog@Newsarama’s post on five things kids, teens, and parents can do at NYCC.
I loved the Harvey Comics line as a child—Richie Rich, Little Audrey, all the gang. So I’m interested to see that Dark Horse is publishing some collected versions. Marina Neira has a review of vol. 2 of Richie Rich and some news about a collection of the Harvey Girls comics.
At Manga Life, Park Cooper talks to teenage girls about why they like manga.
Reviews: At Comics-and-more, Dave Ferraro reviews Flight Explorer, which is one of those books everyone is talking about at the moment, probably with good reason. Johanna Draper Carlson reviews Veronica #187 at Comics Worth Reading. Andrew Wheeler of ComicMix has brief reviews of three kids’s titles, Gumby Collected #1, Sardine in Outer Space, and Little Vampire.
Come on by here every week to see the current list of All Ages comics released for the week. I’ll include a few picks of titles I think are noteworthy. I’m finding there are a lot more comics branded for All Ages. The publishers just don’t make it easy for you to find them.