Monday 30 April 2012

Kids graphic novel fun

Squish 3 ‘The power of the parasite’, is a fun graphic novel aimed squarely at kids. I have not read the first two in the series, but I don’t believe it is necessary to enjoy this book. The story construction is very clever,  two tales in one. The first involves Squish, an amoeba who is forced to go to swim camp, he can’t swim, and to top it all makes an iffy, new friend. The second involves Squish’s favourite comic book hero, and you actually get to read the comic when Squish sits down to read it. The superhero character faces a similar dilemma to Squish, but comes at it from a completely different angle. Children get a relatable character and an action packed superhero tale in one book. I would have loved to have read this as a child.

The artwork is simple, but it does really work for this age level. What I really like about this book is that there is a useful moral story about doing what is right and not following the crowd. I think that this would be a good book to give children who are suffering the results of peer pressure. Children’s reading groups would find a lot to discuss in this book about the characters actions. It could even be used in a lesson on friendship. A surprisingly good read, even this adult laughed at some points in the book.

Friday 20 April 2012

Hard Sci fi

The Moon Moth is an adaptation of a short story by Jack Vance, illustrated by Homayoun Ibrahim. It’s a complicated story about an ambassador who goes to a completely alien planet and has to find a criminal. It does take a lot of concentration to follow the story; admittedly I had never read the original. I wonder if I had whether it would be an easier read. It is nice to see that not only traditional classics are being adapted into graphic novel format, and I applaud this brave publishing endeavour.

The artwork is decent and tells the story as best as it can. The way the aliens communicate is hard to depict and the artist has some ingenious ways of showing this.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this for a reading group because of the complicated storyline, unless it was read alongside the original short story. I think ‘hard sci fi’ fans will love it, just not my cup of tea.