Showing posts with label children's comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's comics. Show all posts

Book Review: Gillbert #1 by Art Baltazar

Gillbert: The Little Merman by Art Baltazar is the first issue in a children's graphic novel series. A message in a bottle? A fiery asteroid from space? A sea of magical mystical mermaids? This is the world of Gillbert. In the deepest part of the ocean, unexplored by man and too deep for humans to swim, lives a little sea creature named Gillbert. He is the son of King Nauticus, king of all the oceans. One day, Gillbert will be king. But in the meantime, his playful curiosity takes him away from the kingdom on a journey of discovery. Gillbert meets an amphibious mermaid and follows her into unknown parts of the ocean. Where he meets many unknown and undiscovered species of underwater creatures. He didn’t know these things existed so close to home. Gillbert’s world just got a whole lot bigger!

Gillbert: The Little Merman is an adventure that takes a little merman and has him exploring new places and making new friends, while the adults also get to learn something and make a new acquaintance of their own. I like that new and strange is shown to be interesting and important to learn about rather than being something worthy of fear or judgement. Learning new languages and skills is shown to be work, but well worth the effort. The art is bright and colorful, added extra emotion and humor to the story that might otherwise get missed. I liked the combination of text and art, and think it will capture and hold the interest of readers. It was a cute, entertaining story. 

Gillbert: The Little Merman is another great, kid friendly graphic novel from the team at Papercutz. The style and quality is consistent, and a makes for a fun and engaging read for young and emerging readers while not boring older or more proficient readers that might pick it up.

Book Review: Simone: The Best Monster Ever by Remy Simard

Simone: The Best Monster Ever by Remy Simard is not quite a graphic novel, but rather a collection of short comic strips for young readers. In this comics we see Simone, a sweet, rosy-cheeked little girl. Maurice is a green, googly-eyed monster. When Simone enters Maurice’s world, she strikes terror in monsters’ hearts! Here, the rules are turned upside down—flowers, puppies, and good behavior are the stuff of nightmares, and all things scary and icky are adored.
Simone: The Best Monster Ever is a very colorful and cute comic collection. I was a little disappointed that it was short strips rather than a larger story, but for  readers or those that like to read in short bursts this might be just what they are looking for. I liked the concept of things being reversed, with cute things being scary and so on. However, as a whole I found the humor to be hit or miss- and the short nature oft he individual comics to be a little off-putting. It has some elements that will very much appeal to the youngest independent readers, but some that will only appeal to an older audience. I feel like the balance that would make it appeal to both groups was missed, which made it an imperfect fit for either. I know there is still an audience, and many readers will enjoy the humor and the bright artwork, and it is still worth a read. However, I was just expecting more.