Review by New York Times Review
FORBIDDEN, discouraged or dismissed by adults, comic books have always been schoolyard currency, bought and swapped by children and read avidly by children themselves, whether eager or reluctant readers. (It was one way for the bookish to get the other kids to like them; trusfme, I know.) But as Françoise Mouly, the art editor at The New Yorker and founder of the Toon Books line of comic books for children, has pointed out, children got left behind when comics became comix and superheroes acquired Shakespearean dimensions in graphic novels and film. Here are three picture books, each written and illustrated by a team of accomplished pros - "The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man," the first picture book written by Michael Chabon, with illustrations by Jake Parker ("Missile Mouse"); "The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy," by David Soman and Jacky Davis, with illustrations by Soman (the team behind the best-selling series "Ladybug Girl"); and "Superhero Joe," by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman ("You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum"), with illustrations by Ron Barrett ("Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs") - that attempt to redress the balance. In each, a young boy has a heroic alter ego: Awesome Man, Bumblebee Boy, Superhero Joe, each with his own particular purposeful enterprise. Awesome Man can beam "positronic" rays from his eyeballs, and has an Awesome Power Grip besides. Bumblebee Boy battles all manner of villains (a pirate, a lion, aliens). Superhero Joe with his Cloak of Confidence and Shield of Invincibility can tackle the "evil black ooze" in the kitchen. But each has his kryptonite as well: Awesome Man tends to get overstimulated; Bumblebee Boy is dogged by a younger brother; and without his cloak and shield (and bike helmet and Mom's cellphone number). Superhero Joe is kind of a wimp. Adderall, er, Awesome Man comes from an author with a demonstrated interest in comic books ("The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"), and while the other two heroes are little boys in dress-up, A.M., as his logo beams, is all man, a grownup hunk in a tight red-and-black unitard. But while Jake Parker's illustrations have plenty of zip and some nicely noirish colors, the text is static, a string of assertions interrupted by a manufactured crisis that is readily solved by a "protein-delivery orb" and salt. Children know that "mutant talking Jell-O" is the kind of har-har silliness that adults mistakenly believe children respond to, and they can smell an aside like "I love saying 'pooped'" a mile away. Bumblebee Boy previously appeared as a sidekick to Ladybug Girl. Like his friend's alter ego, Bumblebee Boy is the projection of a child's best superpower - imagination - with flights of fancy evoked in impeccably drawn perspectives of the high-in-the-sky hero. Unfortunately for Bumblebee Boy, aka Sam, and the book alike, the adventures are repeatedly interrupted by the toddler Owen, a conflict spelled out in Mom-is-talking-now prose: "Sam knows that he is not supposed to be mean to Owen, but he feels like playing his own game right now." At least the parents stay offstage, and the book allows Owen and Sam to work out their problems for themselves, with the two boys flying high over the surface of the moon (and some not-too-scary bad guys) in a triumphant final spread. In these books, the powers and villains alike are rather generic; Superhero Joe is the only one to get anything like a sustained mission. His father has been "attacked" by black ooze (engine oil), and his mother has only contributed to the slippery mess with her cleaning solution. So after a few pages of flashbacks (not the clearest of devices for this audience) explaining how he used to be afraid of everything and how he found the tools to alleviate those fears, Superhero Joe ventures into the scary basement and retrieves a mop. The author's bibliotherapeutic intentions loom too large and they slow the story's trajectory, but the cleanly lined illustrations are energetic, with plenty of comic-book pop, if more Archie than Superman. The best thing about comic books and Saturday morning cartoons is that they leave children to absorb stories on their own. Picture books have never worked quite the same way, because they require adult participation. The best picture books reward children and parents alike, the weakest convey parental instructions: take your Adderall, love your little brother, always wear a helmet. Roger Sutton is editor in chief of the Horn Book magazine and a co-author of "A Family of Readers."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 13, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
Batman had Robin, but superhero Bumblebee Boy doesn't want a sidekick, especially not his little brother. Bumblebee Boy appeared in Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy (2009), but in this title, he's the star of the show. As he encounters evil pirates, fire-breathing dragons, and bank robbers, Bumblebee Boy flies alone, despite pleas from his brother to join in the adventures. Then aliens attack too many for one person to hold at bay. Young children will relate to Bumblebee Boy's imaginative play and will surely want to chime in with the noisy refrain, filled with superhero drama BUM BA BUM BUM! The text is well paced, with a nice twist at the end, and the watercolor-and-ink illustrations greatly enhance story as they show the transformations from everyday into fantasy: a cardboard box lying on the floor becomes a race car in Bumblebee Boy's fantasy; Rhubarb the cat becomes a lion. A good choice for story time, Bumblebee Boy is sure to be a hit with Ladybug Girl fans, as well as the zillions of superhero wannabes out there.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ladybug Girl's sidekick Bumblebee Boy gets a story of his own in this entry in Soman and Davis's series, an account of a playtime truce between Sam and his younger brother, Owen. The husband-and-wife team bounce between spreads of Sam as Bumblebee Boy immersed in superhero fantasies-fighting Greenbeard the Evil Pirate or the Fire Dragon-with real-life intrusions in the form of eager Owen. "But I am soup hero too!" Owen cries as he tries to keep up with Sam, who isn't interested in sharing his games. Or is he? As in their previous titles, Soman and Davis demonstrate a sweet-tempered understanding of children's conflicting feelings: "It was kind of fun when Owen helped catch the bank robbers, but Sam is still not sure if he is ready to play with anybody else." The contrast between Sam's brawny superhero exploits and the humble domestic scenes from which they derive (the Giant Saber-Toothed Lion is the family kitty, the lunar surface a quilt) will charm readers, and so will the cute-as-a-button Owen in his blankie cape and aviator's hat with flaps. Ages 3-5. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-"Bum Ba BUM BUMM!" Sam, aka Bumblebee Boy-featured in two of the popular "Ladybug Girl" books-now has a story all to himself.or does he? In Soman's terrific watercolor and fine-line illustrations, rife with dramatic perspectives, he is just about to defeat Greenbeard the Pirate.Fire Dragon.Giganto, the Giant Saber-Toothed Lion.when he is yanked back into living-room reality by his little brother. "'I play now?'" asks the small blond boy in a star-and-comet sleepsuit, "'.I am soup hero too!'" Even children who are sibling-free will get the message and the fun in this engaging tale about brothers, imagination, frustration, and cozy compromise.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book. 3-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
