What a great book to read just after my most recent trip to New York City! Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure is a a wonderful romp through the big city, as Pablo, new to the area, gets lost during a school field trip to the Empire State Building. New friend Alicia tries to help the pair get back to their group. Along the way, we all learn more about the subway system and how it was built. The images […]

This season, Toon Books has released three outstanding titles for young readers. I’ve previously covered their spring releases, as well as The Shark King, which came out earlier this year. Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan (Exit Wounds) A wonderful premise is gorgeously illustrated. Maya is a very sloppy eater. After her Dad says, “You need manners. What if you were eating dinner with the Queen?”, Maya is invited to a royal dinner party (via private plane, which apparently […]

R. Kikuo Johnson (Night Fisher) returns to comics with this Hawaiian folktale for kids from Toon Books. Although the art takes full advantage of the island setting, the story is one familiar to any fan of legends. The Shark King, who can take human form, encounters a beautiful woman. They fall in love, marry, and have a child. The father leaves to return to the sea, but the child has his unusual abilities. So long as they live apart, the […]

I’ve been remiss in getting behind on the wonderful Toon Books comics for young and beginning readers. Before these most recent releases, I’ve covered all their previous books; you can find links here. Spring 2011 Silly Lilly in What Will I Be Today? by Agnes Rosenstiehl I didn’t care much for the previous Silly Lilly book, but this one is much more focused. Each four-page sequence, with two panels per page, shows Lilly engaged in some new activity, from cooking […]

Each story I read with these mice siblings is better than the one before. I think it’s because the characters grow on me with exposure — I get more sense of them and their adorable little personalities. In Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker, the third book in the series (after Just Pretend and The Big No-No!), cousin Bo comes to visit. Benny and Penny have to hide all their toys, because Bo always breaks them. Bo is grabby […]

This is something of a departure for the excellent Toon Books line of comics for early readers. Zig and Wikki: Something Ate My Homework is non-fiction, intended to interest kids in science. Zig and Wikki are aliens, trying to capture something for the class zoo as a homework assignment. Zig is the one-eyed red one, with tentacle arms, while Wikki pops up factoids on his head screen. (That’s the educational part.) When they get lost and wind up on Earth, […]

To celebrate the successful release of Jeff Smith’s first children’s book, Little Mouse Gets Ready, Toon Books has an exclusive handmade plush of the little mouse (no longer available). It’s by dollmaker Sabrina Cho, sells for $75, and comes with a certificate of authenticity and an autographed copy of the book.

The latest Toon book maintains the high quality of their line of hardcover comics for kids. The situation in Little Mouse Gets Ready is simple: a mouse needs to get dressed so he can go to the barn with his family. He puts on his clothes, one piece at a time, sharing the struggles many kids do — getting the arm in the sleeve right, making the buttons match. The sneakers are Velcro, so no need to tie bows any […]