The fly

French comic artist Trondheim (the Monster graphic novel series) presents the world from a fly's-eye view in this madcap b&w adventure. Even from its first moments of existence, Trondheim's round, dot-like protagonist discovers that it's not easy being an insect, emerging from a kitchen garbage pail only to enter a room that's full of wonders and terrors. An earthworm terrifies, a beetle tries to steal Fly's comically large shoes, and countertop bottles form a disorienting hall of mirrors. The ick factor turns to high when Fly meets another insect and the friends humorously taste-test their way through the home, immersing themselves in human food, then a poo-laden litter box, before the appearance of various frightening entities tests their mettle. Finally, in a turn toward signature Trondheim, a zap from the TV transforms Fly, turbocharging the story into Godzilla-like territory. Befitting his subject, the creator messes with perspective, illustrating scenes from all angles while providing wordless emotional narration by Fly's expressive bug-eyes. With the nonstop action unfolding incrementally, each nine-panel page has the cinematic feel of an animation storyboard. Ages 7--12. (July)

A French cartoonist chronicles ups and downs in the life of a fly with clown shoes. The shoes are only the beginning, as the fly, hatching from a tiny egg (and skipping the larval stage) also sports outsized teeth and a fixed look of wide-eyed, goofy enthusiasm that makes its subsequent adventures all the more comical. In profuse arrays of small, wordless, cinematic panels, nine to a page and all in black and white, Trondheim zeroes in on a kitchen garbage can from which the eager insect, after a false start or two, buzzes off for encounters happy or otherwise with: a window, a decidedly unfriendly spider, a pepper shaker, a cat box, and other joys and hazards of the inside world. Events then take a surreal (not to say cosmic) turn, as the fly grows in spurts to monster size, terrifies a city, flits into intergalactic space--and suddenly finds itself back in the kitchen, fly-sized again and primed for further misadventures. If the last few pages hurtle past like sketchy afterthoughts, this introduction to an insect innocent--who has been entertaining audiences overseas and online since 1995 both in comics form and in a long series of short films--will beguile young readers on this side of the Atlantic as well. Worthy of buzz. (Graphic fiction. 5-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.