A TRIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD WITH MOUSE

Name: A TRIP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD WITH MOUSE
Author: Frank Viva
ISBN: 978-1-935179-19-1

by Frank Viva illustrated by Frank Viva ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2012

The art gives this southerly outing a distinctive look, and the interplay between the two tourists may strike some readers...

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Strong graphic illustrations give this quick visit to the Antarctic plenty of appeal, though readers may want to strangle one of the visitors.

Loosely based on the author’s actual voyage, the tour features both large waves and still waters, glimpses of a killer whale and penguins of various identified sorts, and a dip in waters warmed by a half-sunken volcano. It's all in the company of a querulous mouse whose initial “Are we there yet?” and eight-times-repeated “Can we go home now?” inevitably turns to “Can we go back there soon?” by the end. The mouse queries a human traveler who responds to his diminutive companion’s importunate comments with uncommon patience. Using a pale palette and varying the sizes of his sequential panels, Viva (Along a Long Road, one of the New York Times 10 Best Illustrated for 2011) shapes his figures simply with minimal detailing. He effectively creates both visual rhythm and a sense of size for landscapes and spaces with looping white masses of shoreline ice that separate flat monochrome skies from, usually, darker waters.

The art gives this southerly outing a distinctive look, and the interplay between the two tourists may strike some readers as comical. (Graphic easy reader. 5-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-935179-19-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: TOON/Candlewick

Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012

Categories:

GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

- BOOK REVIEW
GOTTA GO!
by Frank Viva ; illustrated by Frank Viva

- BOOK REVIEW
WEEKEND DAD
by Naseem Hrab ; illustrated by Frank Viva

- BOOK REVIEW
A TRIP TO THE TOP OF THE VOLCANO WITH MOUSE
by Frank Viva ; illustrated by Frank Viva

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OTTO’S ORANGE DAY

by Jay Lynch & illustrated by Frank Cammuso ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2008

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Young Otto loves orange so much that when a sly genie rises up out of an old lamp he receives from Aunt Sally Lee, he uses his one wish to turn all the world that color. His ensuing bliss changes to blues, though, after he gets a gander at his orange lunch and then sees what happens on the street when every traffic light is the same color. Cammuso illustrates comics veteran Lynch’s tale in neatly drawn sequential panels, casting Otto as a cat (marmalade, of course) in human dress and pairing him with a blue, distinctly Disneyesque genie. Discovering that said genie hasn’t eaten in 880 years, Otto cleverly calls on the persuasive power of pizza to reverse the wish, and by the end all’s well. Low on violence and high on production values, this comics-format “Toon Book” will leave emergent readers wishing for more. (Early reader. 5-7)

Pub Date: June 9, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-9799238-2-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: RAW Junior/TOON Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2008

Categories:

GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

- BOOK REVIEW
OTTO'S BACKWARDS DAY
by Frank Cammuso with Jay Lynch ; illustrated by Frank Cammuso

- BOOK REVIEW
MO AND JO
by Jay Lynch & illustrated by Dean Haspiel

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THE BALL

From the Bean Dog and Nugget series , Vol. 1

by Charise Mericle Harper ; illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Amiable goofiness to the nth degree—a winner.

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Bean Dog and Nugget are ready for action!

Bean Dog, a pink bean, or perhaps a hot dog, with stick arms and plaid shorts, has a new ball. It’s shiny and perfect and special to him. He’s having the best day playing with his ball when he sees Nugget, a pink circle with stick arms, a bow and a skirt. She thinks his ball is great, but he won’t let her play with it. She sets off whistling, and he thinks better of his selfishness, tossing it and telling her to think fast. The ball bounces off her roundness and vanishes…into the spooky bushes. How can they get Bean Dog’s ball back? Throw snowballs at it? Donuts? Monkeys? Muffins? No, their shoes! Now their shoes are stuck too. This calls for some deep thinking and a plan: Superdog and Ninja Nugget attack the bushes with garden implements. They get their stuff back: Yeah! After a game and some cake, it really is the best day! Harper kicks off another graphic-novel series for the early-reader audience with a tale happily devoid of the potty humor and didacticism that mark her Wedgieman titles. The simplicity of the illustrations and the text will draw in young readers, who will identify with the enthusiasm and silliness of these two-color, stick-and-bean characters.

Amiable goofiness to the nth degree—a winner. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)