A super early reader title.
A super game of hide-and-seek turns into a rescue mission.
Superman and Krypto the Super-Dog are flying high over the city of Metropolis enjoying a game of hide-and-seek. When Superman flies into a cave high in the mountains, he doesn’t suspect a chunk of kryptonite lurks within the cave’s walls. Weakened by the substance of his homeworld, Superman must count on Krypto to save the day. This early reader is charmingly illustrated with bold, approachable lines and a simple color palette that will spark young readers to break out their own crayons and draw some new adventures for the Man of Steel. The story’s simplicity is neatly geared to those familiar with the broad strokes of Superman but not up to the nitty-gritty details of his decadeslong mythology quite yet. The text is full of standard sight words, making this an excellent read for those just starting both to read and to get into the world of superheroes. There’s one citizen in Metropolis that’s a person of color, but Superman’s world remains a mostly white one.
A super early reader title. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5158-7176-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Picture Window Books
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Marta’s adventure is an enjoyable way to introduce animals, observe concepts, and identify comparisons and polarities in...
Opposites, animals, and Spanish vocabulary introduce concepts to early readers.
Arena introduces readers to purple-backpack–wearing Marta, an adventurous explorer. As she journeys through a fanciful backyard “jungle,” light-skinned Latina Marta discovers and observes the opposites between herself and the animals she encounters, from size to speed to stealth. “To a horse, Marta is lenta. Slow, very slow.” The page-turn completes the contrast: “To a turtle, Marta is rápida. Fast, very fast.” The Spanish words are printed in orange and a playful typeface, a clever approach to avoid italics, an old-fashioned norm. After a series of polarities that introduce Spanish descriptive vocabulary, the journey reintroduces the animals in Spanish translation and offers gentle contradictions to the earlier assertions. “Marta is loud like el león,” and next to the phrase, there’s a profile of a lion in midroar and Marta with a megaphone. Pura Belpré honoree Dominguez’s green, brown, and tan illustrations capture the movement in each spread: an elephant’s trunk in midswing, a galloping horse with leaves floating behind, a rabbit hopping away from Marta.
Marta’s adventure is an enjoyable way to introduce animals, observe concepts, and identify comparisons and polarities in English and en Español. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-243-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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