More mild mischief from a bookish donkey and his porcine best bud.
The book begins with a tongue-in-cheek quest to complete his collection of beloved superhero Thunder Horse stickers with the elusive #128 (“I bought four packs yesterday. That’s too much. I have to get down to one pack a day”) and ends with Ariol in such rapturous absorption in the new Thunder Horse novel that he misses favorite bookstore owner Mr. Begossian being taken away in an ambulance. Other high and low spots in Ariol’s life range from an embarrassing but informative show and tell of his sonograms at school to a satisfying bit of flirting with classmate Petula. These and other experiences, such as fretting over a scheduled booster shot and taking a long train ride with his hyperactive friend Ramono, provide opportunities aplenty for irritating grown-ups, exchanging banter and suffering comical mishaps. Small of stature but depicted with wide eyes magnified by outsized glasses, Ariol is easy to spot among the diverse, all-animal cast populating Boutavant’s spacious, cleanly drawn cartoon panels.
A sitcom series between paper covers, offering familiar situations, occasional chuckles and a (not entirely) clueless young protagonist. (Graphic novel. 8-10)Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59707-412-4
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
Did you like this book?
When a young girl’s imagination and creativity are co-opted by a mysterious new friend, she must find a way to regain what is rightfully hers.
Sandy is a brown-skinned, dark-haired girl with big black eyes and a vivid imagination. At night, as she goes to sleep, she catches the lights bobbing about in her room and turns them into anything she imagines. The next day is spent drawing the fantastical creatures from her dreams, much to the detriment of her schoolwork. When a tall, pale-skinned girl with purple hair befriends her, Sandy is excited, though there is something eerie and unsettling about her new companion. Her excitement soon turns to anger as Morfie enters her imaginative nighttime world and tries to take it over. Readers will cheer at the clever way in which Sandy regains control. Using a lovely palette that includes a liberal amount of rich, dark purple, Colombian-born Alvarez has drawn a world that harks back to her native Bogotá and days in Catholic school, evoking it in wonderful detail and atmosphere. Her pages are not crowded yet are filled with details that will engage readers. The beings that inhabit Sandy’s nighttime world are simply delightful. The album size, cloth spine binding, and spot gloss on the cover are the icing on the cake of this beautiful graphic novel.
A winner. (Graphic fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910620-13-7
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Nobrow Ltd.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
Did you like this book?
Scenes from the life of a middle-grade Everydonkey.
Aside from a few tears after being suddenly struck by the expressions “dumbass” and “dumb as a donkey” (his mother gently joshes him out of his funk), Ariol travels a relatively gentle emotional landscape in this series opener. Giggle-inducing episodes usually involve Ariol’s friend Ramono the pig, who sets off a nose-to-nose, no-hands game of “pass the tissue” at school and later brings fake vomit on a class outing (“My dad had bought it to play a joke on my mom, before their divorce”). Other experiences range from providing commentary for a triumphant tennis match against illusory opponent Stevie McFailure to cutting up in gym and, in the finale, suffering a nightmare in which he has to choose between class crush Petula the cow or becoming an interstellar knight with beloved equine superhero Thunder Horse. Boutavant arranges the all-animal cast in large sequential panels that never look crowded even when the dialogue balloons multiply.
Definitely on the Wimpy Kid bandwagon, but less vicious with the satire and therefore all the more welcome. (Graphic novel. 8-10)Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59707-399-8
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
