Lucia the Luchadora by Cynthia Leonor Garza

Lucia the Luchadora by Cynthia Leonor Garza
POW!

Rating: 5 stars

Lucia is a girl who can jump off the highest monkey bars at the playground and run faster than lightening. Still, the boys make fun of her for being a girl. They tease her that girls are nothing but "sugar and spice and everything nice." This makes Lucia mad.

"Spicy mad. KA-POW kind of mad."

But Lucia has a trick up her sleeve. Or, better still, an abuela on her side. Abu explains how, when she was younger, she was a luchadora. She fought in a ring with a mask over her face and a cape blowing behind her, mighty as can be. Outside the ring, she fought the good fight and helped others in need. She passes her mask on to Lucia. With the mask and cape, Lucia is transformed into Lucia the Luchadora. She's unstoppable! She inspires a bunch of other children to don masks and capes and come out to play just as hard as she does.

All is fine until one comes child out in a pink and white mask and cape. She is clearly a girl. The same boys taunt her, returning to their "sugar and spice" phrase. But Lucia comes to her rescue, pulling off her mask, letting her long hair escape.

See? Girls can be powerful players and kind-hearted souls--in one WOW moment.

I love this story of girl power and the illustrations are aaaaaa-mazing. But this book is special to me because I saw it when it was barely more than an idea. When it was a typed-up, double-spaced manuscript handed from one hopeful writer to another. The author, Cynthia Leonor Garza, and I were part of a critique group who met at a coffee shop in Fairfax, Virginia. We'd meet to exchange manuscripts, offer advice, point out problems, suggest improvements, and chat about squeezing in writing time while our children watched movies, played outside, slept.

Lucia is Cynthia's second manuscript (my fingers are still crossed that her piñata story is published soon!) at our critique group, and I can't tell you how fun it is to read the final version, complete with gorgeous, vibrant illustrations by Alyssa Bermudez.

And now LOOK at this! She's got her debut picture book accepted, produced, and published. Congratulations, Cynthia, and keep fighting the good fight, Lucia!

Dylan the Villain by K.G. Campbell

Dylan the Villain by K. G. Campbell
Rating: 5 stars

Viking

When I was a kid, my dad used to root for the bad guys. He'd whistle and cheer for Captain Hook, explain how the Big Bad Wolf got a bad rap, and smile broadly when Jafar or Ursula wreaked havoc. Villains always got his attention and support.

He'd love Dylan the Villain! Dylan is a super-villain born to unsuspecting parents who soon realize that he's a little different--his costume is super scary, his laugh is super crazy, his inventions are super-villainous. They believe he's the most special villain around.

Until he goes to school.

(Super villain school, of course. Called "Astrid Rancid's Academy for the Villains and Vile.")

There, he meets other villains just like himself. He fares pretty well, in comparison, to everyone except for one. One girl. Addison Van Malice. Addison Van Malice's costume is bone-chilling, her laugh is "bananas," and her inventions are demonic!

Addison Van Malice

A rivalry ensues, and a contest to build the most diabolical robot becomes the perfect place for their battle to play out. Dylan gets a huge bunch of parts from the diabolical robot supply closet and heads home to make the most diabolical robot ever (while his ordinary parents sit on the sofa and watch TV all night). By the end of the night, he is finished and pretty sure the trophy will be his.

But then he gets to school and sees Addison Van Malice's most diabolical robot, which is so big it can't fit onto the page. Everyone is impressed, including Dylan. But then, Dylan sees a big, red button on the side of this diabolical robot, and he does what any kid would do--he asks what it does WHILE pushing the button.

The diabolical robot, with Addison Van Malice inside at the wheel, blasts off into space!

Our hero--oops, I mean, the super villain Dylan--wins the contest and it turns out the rivalry is far from over...

Superhero Joe and the Creature Next Door by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman

Superhero Joe and the Creature Next Door by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, illustrated by Ron Barrett

Rating: 4 stars

Superhero Joe is BACK! And that's a good thing, because we like him!

Last time we saw him, in Superhero Joe, he battled the dark, monster-filled basement for a bit of imagination fun--complete with creative costume, such as turning the lid of a pot as a shield of invincibility--and coming to the rescue of his parents, who had spilled some black gooey stuff and needed him to get a mop.

This time, Superhero Joe is disappointed to see his neighbor move.  The neighbor was an older guy who had a cool treehouse high up in his yard, and the guy had said Joe could use it whenever he wanted.  But Joe was nervous about the ladder that hung down--for the life of him, he couldn't get up there.  Now he never will...

The new family moving has two normal-looking parents but the kid...Joe isn't sure about the kid.  In fact, Joe is apprehensive of the kid.  He has enormous boots, a sweater that hangs so long Joe isn't sure he has hands.  And the kid has a huge hat-of-sorts; Joe isn't sure if the guy even has a face.  And...wouldn't you know it?...there goes that kid (Joe calls him the creature) easily going up to the treehouse, carrying box after box of something with him.

What was in the boxes?!  What sort of preparations was this creature making? Joe thinks up all sorts of evil doings, all ways that this creature could infiltrate his life in unplanned, ungood ways.

(Why is it that Joe jumps to the worst conclusion ever?!  Whatever the reason is, it's the same reason my kids also jump to conclusions, blow things out of proportion, and feel illogical fears.  Not that I ever do these things...nope, not me...)

What is his evil plan??

Finally, Joe dons his superhero stuff and tucks his curiosity and courage in tight, and goes to meet this kid-creature.

"Hi! I like your cape!" says the kid-creature in a not-so-creature sort of way. Turns out, the kid wears a huge hat because he thinks it makes him invisible. Turns out, if one person holds the swinging rope ladder at the bottom, it's much easier to get to the top.

Turns out, Superhero Joe and Invisible Phil are going to be good friends!

Superhero Joe by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman

Superhero Joe by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, illustrated by Ron Barrett

Rating: 5 stars

Sometimes the timing of boy meets book is laughably, wonderfully perfect.

Take yesterday, when Superhero Joe rested on the new book shelf waiting to catch our eye.  Superhero Joe soon found its way to our crowded library book bag.

This meeting happened just four days after the boys and I attended my nephew/their cousin's Superhero Birthday Party. Just three days after they walked in with me to the dry cleaners wearing capes and masks. Just two days after they got their superhero water shooters taken away from them for fighting with them (call me Super Fun Spoiler if you like).

I can't resist a quick word on the party: No one throws a party like my sister.  She throws so much time and love and creativity into each of her four kids' birthday parties…it leaves me inspired and in awe.  Whatever they want, she makes happen.  All homemade crafts, all from-scratch cakes, all house-run activities. For this Superhero Party, kids got issued capes, masks, and a squirt gun upon entrance (oh happy day!).  They chose a superhero name.  They counted down the minutes until they could bust through to the roped-off area to get to the obstacle course my sister and her husband had created in the backyard.

Here's a glimpse of Ben flying through the air--well, running quickly--in his cape and with his mask:

So when we saw Superhero Joe yesterday, we had superheroes on the brain.  We had to grab the book!

Joe is a normal kid who happens to have a wonderfully abnormal imagination. His real-life superpower is a lens through which he sees normal happenings as fantastical events.  Take a spill in the kitchen.  That's what you or I would see.  Not Joe.  He sees "an evil black ooze...threatening to take over the world." His mother needs the "staff of power." (Known to less imaginative Muggles as a mop.)

He was afraid of many things…
Something had to change.

He needs to travel to the "Darkest Depths" (a basement as messy as ours but with fewer lights) to retrieve it.  In order to have the courage required for such a journey, he needs some of his superhero accoutrements.  As he finds these things, he tells the readers how he didn't used to be so brave but now he is because of these key accessories.  Armed with these items, he transforms from just Joe to SUPERHERO JOE!

Even I am thinking of trading in my Kate Spade bag for a Shield of Invincibility!

This is a great, fun story with bright, pop-off-the-page comic book-style illustrations by Ron Barrett.  If you've got a kid who has superhero on the brain (or whose imagination needs a kickstart), definitely grab this book and let it sit around…there's no way any kid could walk by this book and resist the urge to pick it up and read it.

Lastly, there are surprisingly few superhero picture books out there.  This is a wonderful addition to the short list, but my heart still holds out that the best among them is Max by Bob Graham.  For all the superhero books I've reviewed, please click HERE.

Superworm by Julia Donaldson

Superworm by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Alex Scheffler

Rating: 5 stars

A few months ago I participated in the Two Writing Teacher's Slice of Life March Challenge; every day I wrote a short or long (yup, mine were on the longer side…) essay about a snapshot within my life.  I do this on a weekly basis, but in March I wrote every day.  Because I was successful in my daily practice, my name was put into a drawing for a bunch of prizes.  And I won this book!  Thanks again to Scholastic for donating so many copies of them.

(Originally I thought I had won 16 books.  For clutter's sake, it was better that 16 of us had won one copy of this book!)

Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler are no newcomers to children's book.  They've given us many, many books, including: The Gruffalo (book for me is pretty good, but the movie version probably still gives poor Kiefer nightmares) and A Gold Star for Zog and my favorite Room on the Broom.  Donaldson is a great author to remember when you're at the library and need a starting place.  She writes really great stuff, and illustrator Scheffler makes those books even more magically funny.

Superworm is no different from the rest of her books.  It is fantastic!  The starting premise is so silly that my kids' interest was piqued as soon as I opened the envelope it arrived in.  A superhero worm?!  We were doubting the concept in just the right way--with smiles on our faces and hands grabbing for the book.  This we had to see!

That is one strong worm!

It turns out that Superworm is a hometown hero; he courageously does the right thing with his body that can transform into lots of different things.  He rescues a baby toad by becoming a lasso when the toad attempts to cross a traffic-y street.  He rescues a bug that's fallen into a well by becoming a fishing line.  Bees are bored, therefore he becomes a jump rope.  People (well, I mean bugs) love him so much they chant:

Superworm is super-strong!
Superworm is super-long!
Watch him wiggle!  See him squirm!
Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM!

Therefore, when the Wizard Lizard kidnaps him and makes him dig up precious treasures, threatening to feed Superworm to his side kick Crow, the town goes crazy.  They want to help this hero who has helped them so many times.  Wonderfully, the insects all come together while the lizard sleeps and they defeat him in a hometown, this-is-what-we-do sort of way.  (I'm thinking of the scene from "The Three Amigos"… "We must sew!"  Anyone…anyone?)  Spider spins a web around him, the bees make him extra sticky, and another bug eats his magical flower leaf, robbing him of his magic.  They fly him to the town dump and leave him there wrestling the rubbish.

When Superworm emerges from underground, the happy town erupts in cheers--their hero is back!

It's worth closing your eyes and imagining a less imaginative book--with a person as a hero, rescuing kids instead of toads and bugs.  Nope.  That's just soooo to-be-expected.  A modest, humble, unassuming worm as a superhero?  Now THAT is funny and cute!  This is another wonderful book from Donaldson and Scheffler!

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom by John Rocco

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom by John Rocco

Rating: 4 stars

There are tons of books available to kids that have solid messages, important tales, and illuminating lessons.  I think we should find these books and read them with our kids so they learn and grow while sitting in the safest and most comfortable spot of all time: our laps.

And yet!

We've got to make sure there's plenty of laughter in our lives.  That might be more important for us too-serious muggles who have forgotten the delight that comes with blowing bubbles of milk with our straws, spinning around and around until we're dizzy, and eating with our fingers instead of forks.

Luckily, there are books like Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom to keep us chuckling!

The super talented John Rocco creates truly incredible illustrations of a young boy, Rocco, with a fantastic ball of hair atop his little kid head.  Rocco and his pals believe they are super heroes--and that their super powers stem from their long, cool, unruly hair.  The pack of them--and their unique cool, unruly hair--is pretty funny.  The longer their hair, they think, the more powerful they are.

I was captured...and dragged away to the villain's lair.

Then one day, Rocco was captured and taken to the barber. (Dum, dum, DUUUUMMMM!)

He returns to his hideout with --gasp!-- short hair.

His super friends, coincidentally, all got hair cuts on the same day, and they are all dismayed to have lost their super power.  Now, sniff, they are just...normal.  They sit around in dejected stances wondering how to frame their play until a little girl screams.  Her stuffed bunny is hanging by a leg fro the monkey bar!

The super friends jump into action, rescue the bunny, and realize that they are still powerful with neat and tidy hair.  Whew!

One cute and funny book, served up so very, very well by one John Rocco.  Loved it!

Fly Guy vs the Flyswatter by Tedd Arnold

Fly Guy vs the Flyswatter by Tedd Arnold

Rating: 3.5 stars

Please learn from my mistake: Don't read this book before you take a vacation at the beach, where there are flies aplenty.

In it, Fly Guy takes a field trip to a flyswatter company, where he hides in his buddy Buzz's shirt pocket, afraid for his life.  He cowers even lower when each kid gets their very own flyswatter and happily zips them through the air.  And when a robotic flyswatter comes out with its swatter arms a-blazin'...Fly Guy almost loses it completely.  His big bug eyes are even bigger, which I didn't think was possible!

Of course he ends up okay, but in the reading of the book I had to explain--or remind--Lorelei and Ben what a flyswatter is, and what it does.  This was all fine and dandy in our fly-free home in Virginia, but...

Flash forward six not-so-bad, the-traffic-gods-were-smiling-on-us hours in the car and we are at the beach, where two annoying flies met us in the kitchen.  I started looking for the flyswatter.  When I found it, Lorelei and Ben looked at me.

"Don't kill Fly Guy!" they said.

Shoot.  Man these kids have good memories.  Too good, really...

So it's Kate vs the Flies after bedtime.

When I read the first book in this series (review here), I was on the fence.  Maybe I'm not ready for the boy humor that will certainly be coming my way with two boys cracking each other up too quickly.  I still think they are a little better than just okay, but I am beginning to see their mass appeal.  The stories are funny; the characters quirky and likable.  There are little "chapters" in the book, so Ben sort of thinks that he's reading a chapter book but since there's an explosion of Magic Treehouse in our house, he understands it's not the real deal.  Still, for a 3 or 4 year old boy (or girl) who has yet to latch onto books, this is worth a try.

Just wait until after the beach for this one!

Buzz Boy and Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

Buzz Boy and Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

Rating: 3 stars

Well, good news: this superhero book is not violent.  It is pretty silly, but not laugh-out-loud hilarious.  Maybe it was before the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems taught us what a really funny book was like...  But we've been ruined for life by those great books!  All other silly books are just...a little silly.  Like those cards that are in the "almost funny" category.

Anyway, this is just the first book of eight, and two of the ones we've ordered from the library have won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book award, so...  maybe this first one was a warm up for Tedd Arnold.  I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Here's the story: a boy named Buzz writes a story about himself and his friend, who happens to be a fly.  In his story, he wakes up one day as the same size as his buddy, and finds that both of them are superheroes.  What fun!  They go on a silly adventure where their house was carried off by pirates and placed in a dragon cave (hate it when that happens).  To outsmart the pirates, they move the sleeping dragon, wake him, and use his flames to scare away the pirates.  I like the David and Goliath aspect to this.

The pictures are cute--the duo have enormous eyes and happy faces.  Ben and Lorelei both liked the book, but didn't love it.  I'm curious what the others are like...the rest of them are headed to our local library as I type!

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon, illustrated by Jake Parker

Rating: 2 stars

This book just couldn't commit.

It has one superhero boot-clad foot on the side of the sweeter stories with flying, masked men who are actually cute kids.  They do good deeds as their capes swirl around them.  The superhero--Awesome Man--in this story is totally imaginary--all adventures in the book are completely in his head.  But it also has one superhero boot-clad foot in the traditional, violent stories where these same masked men hit their enemies, throw things, destroy vehicles.  All of this is done while wearing what we call in our house a "mean face."

The story, too, is all over the place.  Despite all of the sentences on each and every page, we really don't get to know the hero at all.  The story line is jumbled up and we get bits and pieces of where he comes from and what he does while he bashes this and bruises that.  There are a bunch of enemies; too many to really understand one or two very well.  We don't realize that he's a boy until the end (that's his astonishing secret), when he throws a "power grip"--also known as a hug--around his mom.  For that reason, we don't get good part of the traditional superhero story: A normal kid, probably unpopular in one way or another, transforms into a hero and helps the very people who belittle him when he's normal.  

Lorelei and Ben think the pictures are pretty cool--disturbingly, the one where Awesome Man shoots positronic rays out of his eyeballs in order to decapitate a giant killer robot is one of their favorites.  I think this is my first "what's cool is not good" lesson...not that I really spilled all these thoughts to them, but...  I'm guessing this won't be my last lesson in this genre.  I have those teenage years to look forward to!

I don't think the author thought about his audience while writing this book.  The language requires kids to be pretty old for this book, but I can't imagine a kid older than 6 wanting to read it.  Lorelei, 5, who really has a wide range of facts in her little brain, is left confused about what "postitronic rays" are, and then here I am explaining "arch nemesis" and "force shield," too...  So this is a book for Ben's age?  I don't think so...

We'll be taking this book back to the library today...won't miss it at all!

The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy by David Soman and Jacky Davis

The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy by David Soman and Jacky Davis

Rating: 4 stars

Last fall, Ladybug Girl's partner-in-crime, Bumbleebee Boy, got his own book.  We checked it out then and liked it, but my appreciation for the book has gone up between then and now.  Ben, our resident superhero-in-training, and Kiefer, his little brother, are just beginning to play together.

I use the term "play" loosely.  Really, they like to yell at each other, happily taking turns out-shouting the other.  And then there's chase: Ben is doing something and Kiefer zombie-walks near him, Ben screams "Here comes a Kiefer monster!" and runs away, much to Kiefer's delight.  The other version of chase is totally dangerous but even more fun because it involves our dog Guidry racing around the table, with Ben racing, too, and Kiefer...tottering precariously between and around them.  I am certain that our first trip to the Emergency Room will be a result of one such game.

Ben climbed onto my lap with this book earlier today--Lorelei was at camp and Kiefer was napping.  "Let's read this one, Mommy."  Okay, twist my arm.

Bumblebee Boy has adventure after adventure in this book.  He fights pirates and battles dragons.  He faces wild lions and chases after bandits.  On each of these uber-boy adventures, his little brother Owen interrupts and wants to play, too.  "Me be soup hero too!" Owen says, wearing his zip-up footie pajamas and from-the-hospital newborn blanket tied around as a cape.  (Pretty adorable stuff.)

My superhero boys this morning...

At first, Bumblebee Boy is adamant that he wants to play alone, and doesn't appreciate Owen's eagerness to participate at all.  Slowly, with each interaction with Owen, he realizes that these games would be more fun with a partner.  Not only does he invite his little brother to play with him, but he also incorporates what Owen is doing into his own game.  Without a tantrum or bribe or --gasp!-- a parent telling him that he should play (nicely!) with his brother.

Not the best superhero book out there (Max is still my favorite) but...right now it's my second favorite.  The good brothers in the story make me want to check this out every other month, just so Ben remembers that Kiefer will soon develop from a screeching partner to a fellow superhero.  Talking might help a little.

Superdog: The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Bu

Superdog: The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner

Rating: 4.5 stars

All right, let the superhero book reviews begin!

Who doesn't love an underdog?  Especially when the underdog is a little sausage of a dog who receives ridicule from dogs and cats alike.  But Dex longs to be more than the butt of jokes.  He wants to be a superhero so badly that he decides to MAKE IT HAPPEN.  That's my kind of thinking.  With a lot of hard work building his muscles and one well-fitting superdog costume, he becomes what he wants to be: Superdog.

While his friends continue to chuckle he finds heaps of ways to help: he finds a lost kitten, tracks down a lost wallet, tackles a purse-snatcher, and fixes his neighbor's sprinkler.

But when his arch nemesis Cleevis (of course it's a cat who is just evil enough not to like) gets stuck in a tree and needs rescuing, Superdog doesn't think twice.  He charges over to Cleevis the cat, has his friends jump on the opposite side of the teeter totter to catapult him into the air, and makes his cape into a parachute so that Cleevis can land gently rather than with a thud.

And then Cleevis the cat asks if he can be his partner.  Dex says yes again, and the last picture is of them romping off together.

A note on the illustrations: If you don't smile at the cover, you are either completely humorless or having a really bad day.  An awkward dachshund dog hovering over the sidewalk, looking fierce and funny...makes me crack a smile and I've looked at it a dozen times already.  The pictures poke fun at little Dex but you like him too much to laugh at him--Mark Buehner did a great job.

What I love most about this story is that there was no magic anything to make Superdog a superhero.  He didn't eat, find, or fall into something.  Nope, he CHOSE to be a superhero.  He knew what he wanted and earned it through canine blood, sweat, and tears.  It was great to point this out to my kids, showing them the difference of happening upon some skill/power (which still would require responsibility to use it wisely) versus putting your mind to it and achieving that goal.  Such an important lesson; one that I believe should be taught from early in the preschool years.

This book is not as good as Max but it is definitely in the same realm of quality, nonviolent superhero books. There aren't too many, so...better grab this one, too, if your kids are into capes and emblems.

Max by Bob Graham

Max by Bob Graham

Rating: 5 stars

It's official: I'm a mom of a boy.  Well, two, but Kiefer is just beginning to show his opinions on matters, and they generally revolve around wanting to get out of my arms when I want him in them.  He is manageable, as of today.


But judging from the increased number of superhero and action figure books that are lying around, it's clear...boys are in this house.  I'm not sure how this interest (not yet obsession) came about, but I really believe it was an only a matter of time.  Boys need heroes, more than girls, I think.  If I say Joseph Campbell's The Hero of A Thousand Faces, does anyone know what I'm talking about?  Hmmm...as this is not yet an interactive blog, I will continue.  Campbell wrote this stellar work on mythology,  showing the similarity of myths from all over the world about the path a hero takes.  In short: 

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Star Wars is based on this--think of Luke realizing that he does have the power to have the force, and then he goes out to do good, and battle evil.  He wins and saves the planet.  It's been a few years since I've seen all the movies, so forgive me if I'm paraphrasing such a great trilogy of movies (note that I'm not including the new ones).

Anyway, I believe boys especially respond to this idea that an ordinary kid--usually male--suddenly finds within himself extraordinary powers.  He suddenly has a responsibility to do something with these powers--hopefully he'll choose to do some good.  With good parenting, this should be a clear choice for any super-power-filled tyke, right?

Ben looks through Superman and Spiderman books at the library and bookstore, and occasionally these find their way back in his room and on our crowded bookshelves.  But these books are too old for him, and I wish that he wouldn't want me to read them to him.  Though good always wins, they are violent and full of mean, vicious faces.  I'd like to keep my kids in a sweet bubble for as long as possible.

For that reason, I really love Max.  Max is a little boy who comes from a long line of superheroes.  His father, mother, grandparents, siblings all walk around in their superhero capes and costumes, at the ready just in case thieves need to be caught, crooks need to be chased, or bullies need to be stopped.  Max is happy, but can't participate in his family's superhero-ness because he can't fly.  And flying, clearly, is something integral to all superheroes' lives.  His family is confused but patient; they help him and urge him and encourage him, but to no avail.

Then one day, Max looks outside his window and sensed that a baby bird, one too young to fly, just fell from his nest.  Max skipped down the stairs and out the front door as quickly as he could, and then FLEW up to rescue the baby bird, as he fell to the ground.  His parents were overjoyed and hugged him tight.

What kind of superhero will Max be?  A series of pictures shows us: Max shooing a butterfly away from a candle, Max stopping traffic so ducks can cross the street, Max rescuing a bug from the tub, Max grabbing a rabbit from a creeping fox's path.  He's "a small hero, a small hero doing quiet deeds.  The world needs more of those."

It sure does.  I'd rather my boys (and girl) be small heroes, a more realistic type of hero.  Instead of images of bad guys fighting with their fists and thunderbolts, I'd prefer them think of Max, lending a hand to someone or something that needs him.