Younger readers familiar with the genre may enjoy this funny alternative story.
Spider-Ham isn’t the brightest, despite his good intentions.
In this funny comic, a porcine version of Marvel’s Spider-Man must make sense of responsibility and adventure when he is given—and then loses—the keys to the city! A pig with all the superpowers, strength, and agility of a spider, he’s also “the funniest hero in the multiverse” who still cannot seem to get any respect. After accidentally accepting the key to the city and then losing it, Spider-Ham must retrace his steps to figure out what happened. In doing so he crosses paths with villains and friends who move him along in his attempt to retrieve the lost key. Many of these characters will remind readers of their human versions from the classic Marvel comics. Even the real Spider-Man shows up for a very brief conversation about responsibility. All the characters except Spider-Man are animals. The book is fun and will get younger readers turning pages. However, while the snappy language and glibness in this text might amuse early-elementary readers, the Spider-Ham character doesn’t have much depth. He’s playing video games while being honored by the city, issuing snark and wisecracks and sarcasm in the name of humor—a technique that comes across as pandering to the early-elementary audience.
Younger readers familiar with the genre may enjoy this funny alternative story. (Graphic adventure. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-73431-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Crossing the ocean like the Child and her friends, this mildly precious 2011 tale joins a plethora of similar journeys...
Snow outside is no obstacle to world-spanning adventures inside for a child and her toys.
“Let’s go adventuring!” suggests “the Child.” Without further ado, she and companions Rocking Horse, Velvet Cat, Blue Elephant, Russian Doll, and Pirate are careening through snowy mountains, sailing over moonlit seas, snoozing in a desert oasis, and playing with monkeys in a jungle. At each stop the quick-thinking Child heroically delivers her party from an exciting threat—a toothy yeti, a sea monster, a wicked genie—that drives the travelers on, until at last a wild ride down a foaming waterfall deposits them all, safe and sleepy, back in the cozy playroom. In full-bleed jumbles of swirling, close-up action Docampo’s broad-faced figures change garb but not general form (Child, Pirate, and Russian Doll are all white) and switch expressions between glee and apprehension with each page turn. The comments each calls out (“I swim with mermaids and dive for pearls”; “But a wicked genie traps us in a deep, dark, [sic] cave!”) serve both to build scenarios and to preserve the breathless pacing. The peaceful closer leaves Child and all dozing intimately in each other’s laps or arms. The Child’s harem costume and the genie smack of Orientalism; the Pirate sports both a peg leg and an eye patch.
Crossing the ocean like the Child and her friends, this mildly precious 2011 tale joins a plethora of similar journeys tempting younger readers to embark on imaginary flights. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-910925-19-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Hutton Grove
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A point worth pondering, however facile its making.
Arrrgh! A job opening on a jolly pirate ship turns out to be unexpectedly hard to fill.
First Mate Hugh—a ragged, sandy-haired Everylad in Parsons’ cartoon scenes—announces in rhyme to the crew that the docked pirate ship’s “mopped and swabbed and scrubbed” and ready to set sail. But who’ll be captain? Alas, one flamboyantly dressed passer-by’s hook is just a clothes hanger, another with what looks like a torn treasure map is only holding a shopping list, the parrot hoisted by a third dandy is but an umbrella handle, and a fourth’s “glistening silver blade, / two gold teeth and underneath, / a beard tied in a braid!” turns out to be a party costume. But when this last gent sapiently suggests “You’ll need one who / will lead your crew / and not just look the part” and asks who it was who actually organized the ship’s latest spiffing-up, all eyes turn to the erstwhile First Mate…instantly promoted to “Pirate Captain Hugh!” The illustrations appear pretty much phoned-in, as background details are at times left uncolored, and the effort to add diversity by tucking in a pair of darker-skinned figures—one a girl to boot—to the knavish cast comes off as perfunctory at best. Some verses of an original chantey fore and aft of the tale can be heard on the British edition’s online book trailer.
A point worth pondering, however facile its making. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5124-0427-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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