• Guess who’s going to San Diego for Comic-Con? That’s right — me. I will be there covering it for Geek Girl on the Street and I’m very excited. And well, perhaps a little overwhelmed. Or at least, I will be. And since I’ve already purchased my plane tickets, there’s no backing out now. (I’m flying out of Richmond, because even after paying for gas, it’s cheaper and I don’t have to worry so much about how I’d get home from BWI at 6 a.m. Monday morning since I have a very wonderful mother to pick me up in Richmond.)
• I didn’t know there was a Tamara Drewe movie coming out until today. I enjoy when movies get made of non-superhero comics (and about that, I clearly agree with TOON Books that we should just call them “comics.” I do, generally) and I’ll be seeing this one once it wanders over here.
• I did not go to the Trickster signing. Because I’m dumb. And moving. But the book looks absolutely wonderful and it’s on my list to purchase as things settle down a bit.
• And here’s a cool interview with Dave Roman about The Last Airbender: Zuko’s Story, out tomorrow. Some of us are much more excited about this than the movie itself (which I don’t think I’ll be seeing). And I’ll leave off with this quote from Roman (because it’s relevant to something mentioned above):
  

  I think that at the end of the day, it’s all comics. I think that comics as a whole always have name issues. There are people who love the phrase “comics” and there are people who hate the phrase “graphic novels.” And in the same way, there are people who hate “American Manga” as a term. There have always been always been so many names for these things, and no one is ever completely happy with them — but a lot of times the label is just to help sell books.

Benny and Penny in
The Toy Breaker

I love Toon Books and I would love to see them on every child’s shelf. It delights me that they’re getting plenty of honors reserved for children’s books because they absolutely deserve it. So you can probably tell in what direction these reviews are going to go in.

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker
This is the third in Geoffrey Hayes’ stories about two mice siblings — Benny and Penny. Brother Benny is a little older than sister Penny, but the two (for the most part) get along. This has them trying to hide their toys from their cousin Bo, the “toy breaker” in the title.

Bo means well, but he’s a kid who hasn’t quite grown into himself yet and so he’s more destructive than he means to be. Benny and Penny are a little mean to him, excluding him from their games since they’re fearful he’s going to ruin their toys. By the end, though, the siblings understand how harsh they’ve been to Bo and they all find a way to play together happily.

It’s a sweet story told in language kids can relate to. I think we all knew a kid who tended to break things accidentally (Hayes himself mentions a neighbor, Skippy, in the back, who did that very thing) but Hayes pushes for understanding rather than exclusion. His art remains forever adorable — the little animals that populate this book are cute without being cloying. His art reminds me of classic comic strips and the retro feel of the book is appealingly innocent. The seeming simplicity of this book belies a great message for kids without ever being preachy.

Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework Buy at Amazon.com

Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework
The first Zig and Wikki book, on the other hand, is a little bit different for Toon Books. Written by Nadja Spiegelman with art by Trade Loeffler, it follows two aliens named Zig and Wikki as they try to find a creature on earth to complete Zig’s homework. In the process, they learn about diets and eating habits of various creatures as well as the food chain. Readers learn about each as facts appear on Wikki’s screen.

As far as a beginning science book goes, it’s a lot of fun and I can imagine the content appealing to boys quite a bit. Zig and Wikki are odd-looking (Zig has one eye and tentacles for arms and Wikki is basically a monitor) and the animals they encounter — flies, frogs and more — are of the “gross” kind. Loeffler’s art is cartoony and playful, but it’s almost too cute in some cases — his adorable raccoon trying to eat an adorable frog is a bit jarring, even though that’s reality (luckily, the frog escapes). Spiegelman incorporates the “educational” parts into the story easily and I think even I managed to learn something. I hope we get to see more of these two aliens and their adventures in the future.

Toon Books’ offerings continue to be strong and they’ve already created an incredibly impressive catalog. Buy these for the children in your life. Or yourself. I am obviously far out of the target age range, but I love them.

Review copies provided by the publisher.

The people at Toon Books were kind enough to send me review copies of this spring’s upcoming two releases, Benny and Penny in The Big No-No by Geoffrey Hayes and Luke on the Loose by Harry Bliss. Both are, as expected, wonderful. Like before, the fact they’re “comics” seems pretty secondary to that they’re just great books for young readers.

I haven’t read the first Benny and Penny book, but the title characters of Benny and Penny in The Big No-No are an adorable pair of brother and sister mice. The dynamic of big brother/little sister is clear from the beginning as the two sneak into the neighbor’s yard to steal back Benny’s pail. Or at least what they believe to be Benny’s pail. Instead, they make an enemy — but then a friend — of their new neighbor, a little girl possum named Melina. The playground conflict of judging someone before you know them is sweetly and simply presented. Hayes’ soft, colored-pencil artwork recalls a lot of the children’s books I read as a kid — Beatrix Potter and Mercer Mayer are obvious ones, but there is some of the wholesome nostalgia of Tasha Tudor. This will become many children’s favorite book.

Bliss’ Luke on the Loose, however, is much more wacky fun in comparison to the quiet innocence of Benny and Penny. Luke is a 4-year-old who decides chasing pigeons is much more interesting that his father’s boring adult conversations. This is one part Peanuts strip and one part classic Sesame Street. Bliss’ New York is lovingly idealized and safe — the kind of world that city kids grow up in — and he fills the book with plenty of joyful visual gags. I loved the sequence on pages 18-19 as pigeons — then Luke — go flying past a man trying to propose to his girlfriend at a sidewalk restaurant. The faces of the couple, the waiter and a fellow diner are wonderfully expressive. The book is a comedic delight and one that adults will love as much as the children they’re reading it to.

Both books are set for release on April 15. Buy these for the children in your life. Or just buy them for yourself. They are both remarkably lovely.

I have two more Toon Books to review, which I should to get to this week (tomorrow, perhaps).

And sure, they need to stop writing these articles, but they make me a little sad for other reasons.

Kids like comics. Kids deserve comics. You know you had more than a few Archie Comics digests lying around and you probably enjoyed your share of Disney comics. This was long before you picked up any of the superhero stuff. You liked comics as a kid.

While there’s some exceptions, while everyone was busy trying to make comics all serious, people forgot about making comics for kids, or began to view them as somehow less interesting and inferior to the adult stuff.

Art Speigelman, whose Maus is often cited in those “comics aren’t for kids!” articles, and his wife Françoise Mouly, created Toon Books, comic-book style books for the youngest of readers, ages 4-8. And they are really awesome. I know I am often accused at having the same tastes as a 5-year-old, but I absolutely loved these. I was delighted to be provided with review copies of all three.

Spiegelman’s own Jack and the Box is probably for the youngest end of the target age group. It’s definitely a beginner’s book, with lots of repeated words and sounds as we follow Jack the rabbit as he plays with his new toy, a jack-in-the-box. Spiegelman creates plenty of inventive silliness with his bold art and color palette of muted primary colors. I found the jack-in-the-box to be a little scary looking, but there is still a playfulness to him. This reminded me quite a bit of the spirit of Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat and that’s not faint praise. This belongs on your child’s shelf.

Despite the word balloons, Eleanor Davis’ Stinky feels like a classic children’s picture book. It brought back memories of Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad series for me. Our title character, Stinky, is a troll-like creature who likes everything that smells bad. He has a pet toad, lives in a swamp and dines on anything pickled. He gets scared when a new boy, Nick, approaches his forest. It’s a neat reversal of roles — the monster being afraid of the human — and Stinky, despite his habits, comes across as pretty sweet. Davis’ art is adorable and round, giving the story a gentleness. There are also funny visual gags, like sleeping bugs and a hedgehog with a clothespin over his nose. The ultimate lesson of not judging people (or monsters) by appearances is always a good one. I giggled a lot at this book and was quite charmed by it. While I know some children who I should probably share this book with, I may be keeping it for myself.

Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever, written by Jay Lynch with art by Dean Haspiel, feels the most like a comic book out of all three. It’s probably for the older readers in the age range, too. Mo and Jo are squabbling siblings who are given a super-suit by the Mighty Mojo. After they rip it in half, their mom creates two new suits from it for each of them, each with different powers.

In true comic book style, the brother and sister pair each decide they have what it takes to fight Lizard-like Saw Jaw. Mo uses her stretchy arms and Jo uses his magnet boots, but neither can defeat Saw Jaw alone. So of course the siblings learn they have to work together in order to beat the bad guy. While that outcome was pretty obvious to me from the start (I am, of course, much much older than the target demographic of this book), getting there is fun. Haspiel has a great understanding of super hero conventions and enjoys playing with them. Lynch’s dialogue is snappy and the siblings’ exchanges ring true as they try to outdo each other. This is the perfect book for the budding superhero comic book fans in your life, and maybe they’ll learn something along the way.

When I wrote about the children’s comic panel at SPX, I joked that I hoped there would be articles proclaiming “comics aren’t just for adults anymore.” I love that there are more and more great comics out there for children now. Don’t get me wrong — I like that there are more serious and mature comics out there, too, but I think there’s plenty of room for all of it. I love that imprints like Toon Books are dedicated to that cause.