Ape and Armadillo might not have conquered the world in this outing, but they should win plenty of fans who will want to...
An unlikely pair of pals engages in creative plans that exercise their imaginations and test their friendship.
Armadillo is a feisty fellow with big ideas and a big ego. His best friend, Ape, is huge in stature and more thoughtful and compassionate than his smaller friend. Their story is told in graphic-novel format, with the main plot unfolding in comic-strip panels on the top three-quarters of the pages, complemented by a secondary, episodic story running along the bottoms of the pages. The secondary story is inventive and humorous, giving insight into both characters and setting up their imaginative flights of fancy. The main story begins when Ape refuses to play along with the duo’s previously conceived “evil plan” to capture a castle and take over the world. This plan has Ape doing all the dirty work and Armadillo serving as king. When Ape withdraws from the fantasy and goes off to sit in a tree, Armadillo must think up a new fantasy plot with some accommodations for Ape’s wishes. The pair interacts with humans in several scenes, with the cast of characters including different ages and ethnicities. The cartoon illustrations include lots of motion and emotion as well, with Ape’s kinder nature shining through and Armadillo’s learning curve as a friend emerging in a subtle and satisfying way. The text perfectly captures the wildly creative narrative spirit in the play of imaginative children, who are not bound by logical rules and physical limitations.
Ape and Armadillo might not have conquered the world in this outing, but they should win plenty of fans who will want to read more about this dynamic duo. (Graphic early reader. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943145-09-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it.
Two thickheaded macaroni noodles prove the old adage: a fool and his firewood are soon parted.
Fools have been called “noodleheads” for centuries, but until recently few have represented the term quite so literally. Mac and Mac aren’t the brightest pieces of pasta in the world, but their hearts are in the right place. Here, the two decide to help their mama out by gathering firewood in hopes that she’ll bake them a cake. As they are attempting to cut the very branch they’re sitting on, a passing meatball points out that they are mere minutes away from bruised bottoms. When his words come to pass, our heroes decide the meatball is clairvoyant and demand to know their future. Drawing on and smoothly weaving together a variety of folk tales, the brief graphic novel describes how its obtuse protagonists single-mindedly seek cake, even as they anticipate death, purchase “firewood seeds” (aka acorns), and accidentally dig their mother a garden. Emergent readers will appreciate the simple text, short chapters, and comics-inspired paneled illustrations. Adults will appreciate the authors’ note, which goes into some detail about each chapter’s folk origins.
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3673-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
