Superhero
by Marc Tauss
Scholastic (September 2005)
ISBN-10: 0439627346, ISBN-13: 978-0439627344
My rating: 
Maleek loved comic books. It was fun to catch up on his fellow superheroes' adventures.
Maleek kept HIS superhero costume in a top secret location.
It concealed his identity when he went out to do his top secret work.
In his laboratory, Maleek invented lots of amazing gadgets. He even built his robot assistant, Marvyn.
--Superhero by Marc Tauss, p. 1-7.
Maleek is not just a boy who enjoys comics--he is an actual superhero. When the city's parks and playgrounds disappear overnight, Maleek has to figure out a solution. He goes back in time, gets some plant extracts, and makes a concoction that makes flowers and plant growth spill out over the city. Tauss' text starts out well; I was immediately interested in a child who not only loves superheroes in comic books but is a superhero himself. However, the text does not gain tension or momentum, and is not quite well written enough to grab me. Still, it's wonderful to see both a child superhero, and a Black child as the superhero (there need to be more of both). Many children dream of being a super hero, and this book can help them identify with that, and dream. . . .
Read the whole review here!
Superhero ABC
by Bob McLeod
HarperCollins (January 2006)
ISBN-10: 0060745142, ISBN-13: 978-0060745141
My rating:
BUBBLE-MAN
BLOWS BIG BUBBLES
AT BULLIES
(HE'S BALD!/HE WEARS BOOTS!)
CAPTAIN CLOUD
CALMLY CATCHES CROOKS
(HE'S SO COOL!/HE HAS A CAPE!)
--Superhero ABCBob McLeod, p. 3-4.
Superhero ABC is a fun, non-violent, and clever ABC book that is infused with super-heroism, perfect for any superhero fan or a young one leaning their ABCs. Superhero ABC is so much more than an ABC book--it brings humor, imagination, the fun of comics, and many imaginative superheroes, making it an enjoyable read for superhero fans as well as beginning readers. . . .
Read the whole review here!
Max
by Bob Graham
Candlewick (reprint) (August 2002)
ISBN-10: 0763618578, ISBN-13: 978-0763618575
My rating:
In a house the color of the sun and the shape of a lightning bolt, a baby woke up in his crib.
Not just any baby. He was a superbaby--son of superheroes Captain Lightning and Madame Thunderbolt.
Imagine him behind those yellow walls, his fingers curling and his feet kicking.
His name was...
Max.
His parents--legendary catchers of thieves and bullies--loved Max dearly.
"You can walk already," said Max's dad, "and you can talk already, and I think that you'll soon be . . .
"flying like a bird!"
"He'll be a superhero, just like us!" said his grandma.
"But first he'll need to fly!" said his granddad.
Although they bounced him and bumped him, and threw him like a feather on the wind . . .
Max did not fly. He just floated gently back to earth.
--MaxBob Graham, p. 1-6.
What's a young superhero to do when he can't fly like all the other superheroes in his family? Max faces just this problem, often hearing his family wonder and worry why he hasn't flown yet. But one day, Max solves the problem for himself when he leaps into the air to save a baby bird falling from its nest. Max is a fantastic superhero picture book--it has a rich, well-written, enjoyable story; superhero fantasy; human interest; and fun, humourous illustrations. Max shows a human side to superheroes; it's about Max and his superhero family in their day-to-day life, which is not often seen in comics.
Graham's story has depth--it has emotion, a problem for the hero to overcome, and human connection. It also has the spice of superhero fantasy, and this adds a delightful flavor to the book, sure to appeal to superhero fans and to readers who like heroic characters. There is a focus on family and acceptance, and this brings a heartwarming, uplifting feeling to the story, as does Max's success. . . .
Read the whole review here!
Another Perfect Day
by Ross MacDonald
Roaring Brook Press (reprint) (September 2005)
ISBN-10: 1596430796, ISBN-13: 9781596430792
My rating:
The morning sun came streaming through Jack's bedroom window.
He got up and looked out . . . Aaaaahh! Another perfect day! . . . got dressed . . .
ate breakfast . . . brushed his teeth . . . exercised . . . and went out.
--Another Perfect DayRoss MacDonald, p. 1-7.
Everything is going perfectly for Jack, our muscular hero, who, dressed in a conservative business suit, does superhuman acts such as leaping from building to building, catching a runaway train, wrestling with an alligator, and then goes to his fun day job, being an ice cream taste tester--until suddenly it isn't a perfect day any more. Our hero suddenly finds himself dressed in a pink tutu, a baby bonnet, and red clown boots, and baby rattle in his hand. Things just keep on getting worse, with his rocket turning into a bicycle, and the police and a crowd running after him. Even after he realizes he's caught in a dream he can't escape until Jack, as a boy, helps him wake up. This super-hero tale is a fun, engaging flight of fancy, as well as a subtle way of reminding readers that they can break out of a bad dream if they need to.
The brief, deceptively simple, carefully-chosen text feels is the perfect length for the book, with nothing extraneous and nothing bogging the story down. The text uses a straight-man approach that allows the illustrations to tell the story with great humor, and to tell a different story than the text itself, and this works well. The text and illustrations build on the other; neither work as well on their own. . . .
Read the whole review here!
