Cribbing freely from the classic TV show and the 1978 movie as well as episodes from decades of comics, the Man of Steel tersely describes his origins and strongly declares his intention to “fight a never-ending battle for truth and justice.” As in Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight (2008), Cosentino pairs punchy commentary in a “handlettered” type to large, digitally painted cartoon panels featuring either scenes of the mighty-muscled superhero in action or portraits of sidekicks and select supervillains. Both Superman’s two creators and a cameo of Alfred E. Neuman get proper credit in the acknowledgements, but the many other artists and writers whose work the author/illustrator references or out-and-out copies here pass unmentioned. Furthermore, the text that he hasn’t lifted has awkward turns of phrase, from Superman’s search for “ways to better help Earth and its people” to “No matter what size foes I must face….” While it’s certainly never too soon to introduce children to the first and still greatest of the modern costumed crime-fighters, he, and they, deserve better than this knockoff. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-670-06285-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
A visually formatted joke book to inspire thinking as well as laughs. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)
Benjamin Bear deals with life in his own straightforward way.
When Benjamin’s friends goldfish and canary both express a desire to see "what's under the sea," Benjamin comes up with a way to grant their wish: He puts goldfish in canary’s cage and canary in the up-ended goldfish bowl full of air. Both enjoy their trip. When Benjamin can’t quite bring himself to leap off a cliff wearing his hang glider, he enlists an unfriendly dog to chase him over the edge. When friend fox won’t play tennis with him, Benjamin lobs the ball at fox’s head…and it comes right back, just like in the game. In single-page skits of two to seven panels each, Benjamin solves problems and entertains himself and his friends with inimitable style and seriousness. Toon Books continues its new (and award-winning) series of early readers in graphic-novel format by introducing American audiences to Coudray’s eccentric Benjamin Bear. In France, he’s known as Barnabé, and he’s starred in 12 collections for young readers since 1997. Courdray’s droll vignettes in a muted palette will be the perfect enticement for those with a visual sense of humor who are just starting to read.
A visually formatted joke book to inspire thinking as well as laughs. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935179-12-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TOON/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Emergent readers won’t be the only audience delighted by these winning combinations of humor and thought-provoking twists.
A companion to Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking (2011), 27 more wise and witty minimalist fables drawn (with added dialogue and other minor changes) from French cartoonist Coudray’s original series.
Presented, mostly, in three to six cleanly drawn panels, each mini-tale features Benjamin (Barnabé in the original French) and one or more smaller animals interacting in outdoorsy settings. Most of the storytelling is visual, with just an occasional comment in a balloon, and many of the single-page episodes have an Aesopian flavor. In “Can I Get a Ride?” he picks up one woodland hitchhiker after another until, in the last panel, tables turn and they have to carry him. In “See-Saw,” he “helps” a fox carry a log (and demonstrates a principle of physics) not by lifting the long end, but by hopping onto the short end. In response to a rabbit’s philosophical proposition that you can’t make “Something out of Nothing,” he makes a hole and a pile of dirt: “TWO things!” In a deft comment on narcissism, Benjamin agrees to let the rabbit paint his portrait around the trunk of a tree—so that the image ends up staring at its own butt.
Emergent readers won’t be the only audience delighted by these winning combinations of humor and thought-provoking twists. (Graphic early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-935179-22-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TOON/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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