The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

A couple of years back, we took a family vacation up to Victoria, BC and I was lucky enough to meet up with a fellow blogger at the gorgeous Munro Books. I didn't buy many books there though because they cost so much more in Canada than in the US (even though the currencies are almost equivalent right now). But, they had this UK version of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay on the remainder table and I liked the cover more than the standard paperback in the US and so I grabbed it. It's a book I knew I should read but it took me until now to want to read it. Now I fully regret waiting so long because it's a masterpiece and is not just for comic book fans (though there are fun tidbits in it for those fans).

This is the story of Sam Clay (Samuel Klayman) and his Hungarian cousin, Joe Kavalier (Josef). Following them from childhood through middle age, these cousins who become close friends and brothers, are the creators of the superhero The Escapist. But Joe is never free from the feelings of obligation toward the family he left behind in Prague at the start of WWII and Sam is never free from the weight of his absentee strongman father.

This is simply an incredibly well-crafted novel. Though its subjects and locales are diverse, I think there will be some aspect to speak to almost any reader. I never felt that I couldn't relate to these boys whose lives were so incredibly remote from my own. In fact, I felt that I learned a lot about the Jewish experience in New York during the War and about the history of comic books and about magic and art and so many other things. The blurb on the front of my copy from Tom Payne (Daily Telegraph) says "Perfection. There are perhaps four other books I've loved this much, and none that has made me cry more." I was feeling a bit cheated because I didn't cry while reading the book and I'm quite well-known for getting emotionally involved in stories. But then, on page 633 of 636, there was one single line of dialogue that had me weeping because it revealed one of the inevitabilities of parenthood, one that I think about sometimes with sadness. This connection is one I hope to find again the next time I read Chabon.

In awe of amazing,
K

Hello Japan! Challenge: Manga

For June's Hello Japan! Challenge, Tanabata of In Spring It Is The Dawn challenged us to "read, or otherwise enjoy, manga".  You may remember that I first read a manga last October.  I chose a "scary" title and had a lot of fun with it.  If you would like to know more of the facts about manga, you can read that post.

This month, I went to the local library and looked through the many series.  I ended up choosing the award-winning Mu Shi Shi: Volume 1 by Yuki Urushibara.  It looked interesting and also was one of the few first volumes available.  Most of the other series just had a random selection of volumes but I'm pretty picky about starting at the beginning of a story line.

It's hard to explain exactly what this series is about but it's a collection of the stories of Ginko, a mushishi -- someone who can interact with the mysterious creatures (mushi) in nature that are neither plant or animal.  They are sort of like spirits but have some sort of physical manifestation.  They tend to interact with humans in strange and harmful ways and Ginko is skilled in separating the mushi and healing the humans.  This volume had five different story lines in it.

I had a great time with this book and was really excited to see that there is an anime series based on it.  I've just added the discs to my Netflix queue!  There is also a live-action film from 2006 by the director of Akira, an anime classic.  I'm really curious to see the manga to live-action transformation.  When I'm in the mood, I think I will also pick up more of the six remaining volumes of Mu Shi Shi.

Slowly becoming a manga convert,
K


Support our site and buy Mushishi 1 on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We borrowed a copy from the library.

Comics for Fun and Learning

A few weeks ago, Z and I went to the library and ended up with an early reader level comic book.  He loved it so much that I looked for more this last time we went and found that the first one is part of a great series called Toon Books. From their website --

We are thrilled to introduce our new collection of TOON Books from the Little Lit Library. TOON Books represent a whole new approach to books for emerging readers—a rethinking as radical as the first time Theodor Geisel put a hat on a cat.

TOON Books are the first high-quality comics designed for children ages four and up. Each book in the collection is just right for reading to the youngest child but perhaps more remarkable: this is the first collection ever designed to offer newly-emerging readers comics they can read themselves. Each TOON book has been vetted by educators to ensure that the language and the narratives will nurture young minds. Our books feature original stories and characters created by veteran children’s book authors, renowned cartoonists and new talents, all applying their extraordinary skills to fascinate young children with clearly told tales that will welcome them to the magic of reading.

At the K-1 level, we ended up with Jack and the Box by renowned artist Art Spiegelman.  Jack is a little bunny whose parents give him a box as a gift.  He's startled when a it turns out to be a jack-in-the-box.  This is no ordinary Jack, though ... it's Zack, a wacky, sproingy clown who takes things literally and likes to cause trouble.  It's a bit reminiscent of The Cat in the Hat except without the Cat's oblivious good nature.  Jack has to learn to watch what he says because Zack just might make the worst of it!  By the end, though, everything is okay and back to normal.

Z liked the art on this one but I'm not sure he really connected with the story.  We'll try it again another day!

From the Grade 1-2 set, we got Benny and Penny in Just Pretend by Geoffrey Hayes.  I saw this book last year when I volunteered in the school library but I never really read it.  Benny and Penny are mouse siblings -- Benny is the older brother and Penny the younger sister.  Benny is out having a fun day playing pretend pirates but Penny disrupts his game.  So Benny offers to play hide and seek with Penny but really takes off, leaving her alone for a long time.  Eventually, he feels guilty, goes and finds her and sees what value she brings when they play together.

Z liked this one but, since he is an only child, I don't think that he really understood why Benny was being mean to Penny.  This would be a fantastic choice for warring siblings though -- both the older and the younger.  There are lessons about playing together, not being a pest and not using mean words to each other.  The text is very simple in this one and the drawings are detailed and interesting on their own.

Finally, the one that started it all for us (and happens to be at the Grade 2-3 level) is Otto's Orange Day by Frank Cammuso & Jay Lynch.  Z loves this one!  Otto's favorite color is orange (as is Z's).  He colors things orange, sings songs about orange and plays with orange toys.  One day, he gets a package from a distant aunt and inside is a small lamp.  Otto rubs the lamp and out comes the genie -- offering only one wish to Otto.  He thinks about wishing for something orange but goes one better -- wishing that everything could be orange!  At first he loves it but then he realizes that not everything is better when it's orange and even the color loses some of its lustre when everything else is the same.

Z thought this was a hilarious idea!  I wonder if he had thought about everything being orange before this.  This one is a bit longer and is broken into three small "chapters" but since it's a comic, it's really not too taxing for younger kids.  The artwork is amazing in this one and I have a feeling that it's going to be a fight to take it back to the library.  I may end up having to buy Z a copy of his own!

I honestly did not ever consider getting Z to read comics but these have great stories just like most picture books and I think they do a great job of keeping his attention with the multiple scenes per page.  We aren't going to go to an all comic reading plan but we can definitely put them into the rotation!

Enjoying pictures that are worth at least a few words,
K and Z


Support our site and buy Jack and the Box, Benny and Penny: Just Pretend and Otto's Orange Day on Amazon or find them at your local library. We borrowed all of these from the library.