Capstone Publishers and DC Comics have joined forces to produce a new children’s books series, DC Super-Pets. The series will focus on the super-powered pets of heroes like Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Green Lantern. Art Baltazar will illustrate the project. The first six of the 24 books will be available this month. The titles include: The Fastest Pet on Earth, Heroes of the High Seas, Midway Monkey Madness, Pooches of Power, Royal Rodent Rescue, and Super Hero Splash Down. Here’s more from the release: “These intrepid Super-Pets—Krypto the Super-Dog, Ace the Bat-Hound, Streaky the Super-Cat, Beppo the Super-Monkey, Jumpa the Super-Kangaroo, and their friends—save the day and foil the evil plans of the universe’s most dastardly super villains. The books have been specially designed for children just learning to read independently.” http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/dc-comics-capstone-launch-dc-super-pets-series_b20588

GalleyCat

There’s an undeniable appeal in the idea of superheroes, especially to kids– the ability for good to reign supreme over evil, all those powers, the awesome gadgets and costumes! The major superheroes are well-known, but with a new series, the attention turns to the animals who work with the heroes we all know and love. DC Super-Pets! brings to life a large cast of superhero pets, from Batman’s pal Ace the Bat-Hound and Krypto the Super-Dog friend of Superman, to Wonder Woman’s Kangaroo Jumpa and B’Dg, The Green Lantern’s Space Chipmunk, among others. The first six books of the series have released in January aimed at children in grades one to three, including Pooches of Power, Midway Monkey Madness, Super Hero Splash Down, Heroes of the High Seas, The Fastest Pet on Earth, and Royal Rodent Rescue. These short chapter books are geared toward newly independent readers, with brightly colored illustrations incorporated throughout the text, although I have to say that my younger children have been fascinated by the books and keep begging to hear the stories. Each adventure sees a super-pet or two working to defeat the actions of the super-villain pets. Oh yes, some of the most well-known villains also have pets, and they need to be stopped! The story lines are creative and appropriate for young children, yet still filled with action and adventure. Also included at the end of each book are pages with silly jokes and definitions for the most challenging words from the text. http://www.5minutesforbooks.com/12359/dc-super-pets/

5 Minutes for Books Blog

Picture Window Books (a division of Capstone) proudly released the first six books in the "DC Super-Pets!" series in January. I was lucky enough to receive all six books: The Fastest Pet on Earth , Heroes of the High Seas , Midway Monkey Madness , Pooches of Power! , Royal Rodent Rescue , and Super Hero Splash Down . The books are a lot of fun. The each begin with a profile page of the main Super Pet featured in the book, outlining the character's particular super powers or gadgets. The page also gives a brief background origin story and who their superhero owner is. A three chapter story is the main content of the book. While the stories are simplistic and obviously aimed at young children under the age of 10, the illustrations are colorful and full of energy. While the story focuses on one particular super-pet, they're usually joined by other super-pets or super-friends. For example, Beppo the Super Monkey is joined by Zan, Jayne and Gleek to battle Gorilla Grodd. Ace the Bat-Hound is joined by Krypto the Super Dog to take on Penguin's Bad News Birds. The Super-Pet's owners do sometimes make cameo appearances, but the books aren't about them, the focus is definitely on the Super-Pets themselves. Each book finishes with the same two-page spread showcasing all the Super-Pets and Super-Villain-Pets featured in the series. Forty four in total... Twenty two of each. The books also contain a jokes page, and a "Word Power" page which gives the definition of some of the harder words found in the story. Finally the books close out with a bio on both the writer and artist of that particular book. All six books in the original release are illustrated by Eisner Award-winner Art Baltazar. The writing duties are shared between Sarah Hines Stephens, John Sazaklis, Jane Mason, and J.E. Bright. Anyone looking to introduce their young child to the world of superheroes could do a lot worse than pick up the initial six-book run of the new "DC Super-Pets!" series. http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php

Superman Homepage

Capstone Kids has released a new series of fun books geared towards early readers. The books were created in conjunction with comic book giant, DC, to bring about a new series: DC Super-Pets! They stories include characters like Super-Pet Beppo who is Superman's pet Monkey, along with many other clever characters. They have a comic book feel detailing the character and showing action words and sound effects in big and colorful ways that grab your attention. Right now your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Grade aged children can enter a "My Pet is Super Contest" where the child is asked to write an imaginary newspaper article about their Super-Pet and how he/she did something extraordinary! Entries will be judged on creativity, content, and originality! The top 50 entrants will each receive 2 free DC Super-Pets Books, one for the student and one for their school library. There will also be a first place winner who will win the prize of being drawn into a DC Super-Pets book and will receive the original illustration! The first place winner and their school will also win 5 copies each of the book! The contest ends on 2/28/11. I was able to review the first six books in this series. I think these books are fabulous! Both of my boys were instantly extremely interested in them and they held their attention while I read the story. I pointed to the words for my 4 year old to follow along and had him read me the few words he is beginning to learn as we came across them. I believe he will be able to begin reading most the words sometime next year. At 4 he is still a little bit young to read them independently. However, I think these books are great for getting young children interested in reading and eager to try it on their own. Every page has full color illustrations that really seem to pop off the page they are so bold! I absolutely love the comic book feel of the fun text popping out at you on each page. These books retail for $4.95/each and you can find them in bookstores locally as well as on Amazon . http://www.amomstake.com/2011/02/dc-super-pets-books-contest-review.html

A Mom's Take Blog

You root for Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and even Aquaman. You love to hate The Penguin and Catwoman. But what about their pets? What do they do all day? Lounge in the sun? Nah. Apparently they’re quite busy. There is a new series of books out which is centered around the adventures of the Super Pets of the heroes and villains of DC comics. The first six books of the 24 book series are now available and are aimed at grades 1-3, with plenty of colorful artwork and a second grade reading level. To get a feel for the series, check out the book trailer. Each story contains an exciting adventure, jokes, definitions, and a guide to all the pets of the DC Super Pets. The books definitely have a Superfriends kind of feel, for those of you who watched that show back in the 1970s. (It sure was one of my favorites.) Books have plenty of bolded words and interspersed onomatopoeia, like in the old Batman series (“Kapow!”), which really gives a sense of action. Each book has usually at least a couple of good pets, and often at least two bad pets. There are plenty of happy endings and lots of saving the day. To me, the books are a lot of good fun. To my son in the first grade, they’re pet-rific (his word). He especially loves the jokes. The series’s publisher, Capstone, is also sponsoring the My Pet is Super! writing contest that goes through the end of February. Kids in grades 1-3 are asked to write a newspaper article about their pet for The Daily Planet. The writer of the winning submission will have his or her pet drawn by Art Baltazar, the illustrator for the series, and have the pet appear in a future book in the series. The winner and his or her school will also receive books. For complete rules and to enter the writing contest, visit the Capstone Kids website. The DC Super Pets books retail for $4.95 each. They’re cartoony, superhero fun for early elementary kids. http://www.geekmom.com/2011/02/animals-save-the-day-with-dc-super-pets-plus-a-writing-contest/

Geek Mom

’m excited to share with you a fantastic and engaging new series for young readers. DC Super-Pets Books are early chapter books about the super pets of familiar superheros and super villains like Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Catwoman, and Aquaman. The Super-Pets are these Superhero’s pets — Streaky the Super-Cat and Jumpa the Super-Kangaroo, for example. The pets fight crime often perpetrated by Super-Pets of Super Villains and always save the world. Each book is illustrated by Art Baltazar, the Eisner Award-winning artist, with fantastic, colorful comic-style graphics and the text is large and easy to read. My third grader thought they were great and so do I. The first six books in the series came out January 2011 and are: The Fastest Pet on Earth Heroes of the High Seas Midway Monkey Madness Pooches of Power Royal Rodent Rescue Super Hero Splash Down http://imaginationsoup.net/2011/02/superhero-pets-for-early-readers-series/

Imagination Soup

I’m so excited about this new book series for early readers (grades 1-3) debuting from Capstone Publishers. The series is called DC SUPER-PETS, and it’s created in conjunction with comic book giant DC. These books feature action-packed stories about the pets of the world’s greatest superheroes -- Supergirl’s cat, Aquaman’s seahorse, Superman’s monkey, Green Lantern’s chipmunk, Wonder Woman’s kangaroo, and Batman’s dog -- as they do battle with the pets of famous villains! The first six titles in the planned 24-book series are: Heroes of the High Seas Midway Monkey Madness Super Hero Splash Down The Fastest Pet on Earth Pooches of Power! Royal Rodent Rescue Here’s a fun book trailer about the series… [Email subscribers, please click on the title of this post to view the video online.] My boys are in first grade, and these early chapter books are perfect for them! They’re just the right level for kids who are just getting into chapter books, and the colorful illustrations by award-winning comic illustrator Art Baltazar definitely keep my boys’ interest. They’ve really been enjoying this fun and exciting book series! http://susanheim.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-dc-comic-book-super-pet-series-for.html

Susan Heim on Parenting Blog

One of the highlights of every month around our house is the arrival of the latest issue of Art Baltazar’s Tiny Titans, the all-ages title from the Johnny DC line. Consistently one of the best reads of the month, it’s at the top of the To Read pile both for me and for my six-year-old daughter Georgia. I like it because it is (a) funny, (b) beautifully drawn and written, and (c) makes great use of the DC Universe that I’ve spent so many years exploring. Georgia likes it because it’s a funny, well-drawn book about kid superheroes–but best of all, because we sometimes get to see their pets. My kid loves animals, to put it mildly. And her favorite issues of Tiny Titans usually involve the “Super-Pets” in one way or another (she’s a huge fan of the Krypto The Super-Dog cartoon for the same reason). So when we heard last year that Baltazar was going to be doing a line of Super-Pets chapter books with Capstone, we were very interested. And now they’re here… There are six books in the line all together (and hopefully more to come), and in the week or so since they arrived from Amazon we’ve read more than half of them. They are FANTASTIC. Anyone who is familiar with the DC characters at all will recognize all sorts of clever little nods and winks, but for young readers who have never encountered that world before these serve as a great introduction. I recommend them to anyone, whether you’ve got kids or not, but if you do have kids then you must get them. http://www.chrisroberson.net/2011/01/23/aw-yeah-super-pets/

The Myriad Worlds of Chris Robertson

An awwwwesome package arrived @ Shrine Central last week--a set of the new DC Super Pets books! Aw, yeah! There are six books in all, but of course the one we're the most excited about is Heroes of the High Seas, starring Aquaman! Written by J.E. Bright and drawn by Art Baltazar, Heroes of the High Seas stars off with a little primer explaining who all the characters are: Following this is an entry from the Atlantis High Command Sea Computer, giving us some details on Storm the Sea Horse--his skills, his relationship to Aquaman, and more. Chapter 1, "Wild Whirlpool", opens with a full-page illustration that makes me nearly giddy in its Aqua-rifficness: you've got Aquaman, Mera, Aqualad, Tula, Arthur Jr., Topo the Octopus, and more, all exquisitely rendered in day-glo colors by Art Baltazar. I want this on a t-shirt, greeting cards...everything. Anyway, the concert is interrupted by Aquaman's seal friend Ark (who first appeared waaaay back in More Fun Comics #89!) who says there's a giant whirlpool just outside the city, and its growing! Aquaman jumps aboard his loyal steed Storm and investigates. They see a mother whale getting caught in the vortex trying to save its calf. Aquaman goes to rescue the whales, while ordering Storm, Topo, and Ark to see what's causing the whirlpool. In Chapter 2, "Into the Deep", Aquaman's three pals get too close to the vortex. Finding themselves with a thud on the ocean floor, our three heroes spy another denizen of the deep called a Diggler, as its tunneling directly into a mountain. They also spy to manta rays, Misty and Sneezer, who are the pets of...Black Manta! Misty and Sneezer are in charge of digging tubes through the mountain rock, causing water to rush in, feeding the vortex above. The plan is to create such a huge whirlpool that its eats Atlantis whole! "That's not going to happen", Topo replies. In Chapter 3, "Sounds of Victory", Storm tries to occupy Misty and Sneezer and get them away from the diggler. Meanwhike, Topo plays his violin, in an attempt to soothe the diggler, calming him down long enough to stop the burrowing. Misty and Sneezer attempt to escape, disappearing behind a rock--but Topo sees that's not a rock, its the ship of Black Manta!: Arriving just in time, along with the blue whale, is Aquaman! The blue whale scares Manta so badly he jumps back into ship and takes off, with the mama blue whale giving chase. With her calf now safe thanks to Aquaman, Topo, Storm, and Ark explained what happened. Topo begins to play again, this time in celebration. ...the end! Do I even need to bother to mention how delightfully awesome this book is? The story is cute, fast-moving and light as air. And with Art Baltazar doing the illustrations, its a pure pleasure to look at. If I had had this book when I was five or six, I would have worn it to pieces due to constant reading and re-reading. The book also comes with some bonus pages, like a "Know Your Super-Pets" checklist, a joke page, creator bios, and a helpful glossary of terms: As I mentioned, there are five other books in this series. I haven't had a chance to read them all yet, but they all look as utterly charming as Heroes on the High Seas. I cannot imagine a more fun way to teach young comics fans to read than these DC Super Pets books, and of course its fantastic that Aquaman got his own book in this series, a fairly rare thing when it comes to the Sea King and mass market projects like this. With his unique setting and cast of colorful side characters, Aquaman more than hold his own. I was thrilled to hear that some of the people at Capstone putting these books together are Aqua-Fans, and there are plans for more Aqua-centric DC Super Pets books. If you have a little Aqua-Fan in this house, run, do not walk, over to Amazon (or your local bookstore) and get yourself a copy. One last thing: those of you with aforementioned young Aqua-Fans in the house, be sure to check back with the

The Aquaman Shrine

Now that the DC Super Pets books are available, I'm considering letting each of the kids pick one out the next time I place an Amazon order. The books are geared towards early readers, ages 4-8, which means they are at the right level for The Comic Wizard, but would be beneath the recommeded reading level for Super Reader. Despite that, I suspect she'll still be excited for the books because of the characters and illustrations by Art Baltazar. Let's take a look at the first six releases: The Fastest Pet on Earth by J. E. Bright The speedy super-villain CHAUNCEY THE CHEETAH is loose on PARADISE ISLAND! However, WONDER WOMAN'S SUPER-PET, JUMPA THE KANGAROO, isn't worried. This blazing-fast bouncer is the quickest critter on Earth. Or is she? When CHAUNCEY challenges JUMPA to a race, the kangaroo must prove her swiftness and her cleverness. But this criminal cat is chasing more than bragging rights. She's seeking JUMPA'S tiara as top prize. If the SUPER-KANGAROO doesn't have a few tricks in her pouch, she might lose in more ways than one. Heroes of the High Seas by J. E. Bright Deep beneath the ocean, TOPO THE OCTOPUS plays some relaxing music for AQUAMAN. Suddenly, a huge whirlpool appears in the distance, threatening the city of ATLANTIS. Without a moment to lose, AQUAMAN leaps aboard his SUPER-SEAHORSE, STORM, and jets toward the liquid tornado. While the SEA KING rescues a whale caught in the deadly current, his SUPER-PETS discover the source of the problem . . . MISTY and SNEEZERS, the BLACK MANTA'S minions! TOPO, STORM, and ARK THE SEAL, must stop these evil rays, or their underwater city could be lost again. Midway Monkey Madness by Sarah Hines Stephens When the carnival comes to METROPOLIS, BEPPO THE SUPER-MONKEY isn't far behind. This CHIMP OF STEEL can't wait to chow down on chocolate-covered bananas and other fair foods. Unfortunately, the world's evilest ape, GORILLA GRODD, has other plans. He wants to turn this festival of fun into a day of destruction. With a little help from the WONDER TWINS and their space chimp, GLEEK, BEPPO must somehow stop GRODD'S midway monkey madness. Pooches of Power by Sarah Hines Stephens When sardines go missing from the GOTHAM CITY Marina, ACE THE BAT-HOUND investigates. This clever canine quickly discovers a couple of clues, but something still smells fishy. To help solve the case, ACE calls on the most powerful pooch around . . . KRYPTO THE SUPER-DOG! They track down three fowl felons, the PENGUIN'S BAD NEWS BIRDS, ARTIE, GRIFF, and WADDLES. Working together, the doggy duo must recover the stolen sardines and throw those dirty birds in the can. Royal Rodent Rescue by John Sazaklis While napping in the FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, STREAKY THE SUPER-CAT is suddenly awakened by a television news alert. The evil Siamese cat ROZZ has kidnapped Prince Zouli, a noble hamster from the village of Kardamyla. UP, UP, AND AWAY! The CAT OF STEEL is on the case and quickly tracks down the royal rodent. Unfortunately, the fearsome feline has a few tricks up her fur. When ROZZ reveals a chunk of KRYPTONITE in her collar, STREAKY must help the hamster, and save herself as well. Super Hero Splash Down by Jane Mason After traveling through the universe, the GREEN LANTERN B'DG chills out at a water park on Earth. However, when the RED LANTERN DEX-STARR shows up, his day in the sun is anything but fun. This fearsome feline chases B'DG through the pool, down the waterslide, and into outer space. While there, the two opponents discover a common enemy . . . the SINESTRO DOG CORPS! These parched pooches are looking for a place to soak their snouts. If B'DG and DEX-STARR don't team up and stop them, their favorite water park will become mutt puddle. Many of these pets have already shown up in the pages of Tiny Titans, so the kids are familiar with them. Beppo is one of their favorites, so I imagine Midway Monkey Madness will be their top choice. As for the other... I'm not sure. Pooches of Power

The Brave and the Old Blog

Capstone has launched DC Super-Pets, a new line of chapter books for early readers, and they are adorable. With art by Art Baltazar, who illustrates DC’s Tiny Titans line, each book tells the story of an iconic superhero’s pet: Batman’s Ace the Bat-Hound, Superman’s Beppo the Super-Money, and Supergirl’s Streaky the Super-Cat. The animal companions of Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman also get to tell their own stories. Unlike Tiny Titans, which relies heavily on the actual series for storylines and gags, the Super-Pets books are accessible to new readers, and each starts with a little infographic about the pet and its superhero companion. Background information is introduced throughout the story, so even a reader who has never seen superheroes before can enjoy these books. http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/goodcomicsforkids/2011/02/14/capstone-launches-super-pets-line-with-contest/

Good Comics for Kids Blog

On the other hand, you have the Super Pets, which are not only adorable beyond belief, but they're actual prose novels for kids. The books are light hearted, fun, and wonderfully illustrated by Tiny Titans artist Art Baltazar, perfect for young kids to pick up and read - or even be read at bed time. These books are set to be released soon, and having been given the opportunity to read a few of them, I must say that I wish I had a kid to share these with. If parents are looking for something to give their children in order to acclimate them into the DCU, this is that book. Do you love Green Lantern and the character Dex-Starr? Well, there's a whole book starring him and B'dg, a squirrel Green Lantern, who fight against the Sinestro Dog Corps at a water park. The book even includes a cameo from Glomulus, Larfleeze's favorite Orange Lantern. This title is absolutely perfect for any child who has even remotely showed interest in super heroes, let alone has a love for their pets! See, as much as we want to get kids into comics, we also need to give them good options for reading. While there are tons of great youth oriented books and novels (I fondly remember reading the Fudge books, personally), it's nice that in today's market, there are legitimate options for kids to bridge the gap between super heroics and reading traditional prose pieces. This is why a book series like Super Pets or the comic Tiny Titans is so great. There is no linear timeline, no overbearing plot. These are stories that can simply be picked up, read, and enjoyed, and that's what kids with All Ages need before we can really worry about trying to explain to them Blackest Night and Brightest Day. I'm happy to give my nephew a copy of a book like Bone, which is a wonderful comic, because as he grows older this is the kind of comic he'll enjoy. But in an attempt to "get them while they're young," I'd rather give a kid DC's Royal Rodent Rescue, starring Streaky (not currently around in the DCU) than I would try and give them most any other comic on the shelf at the moment - including Thor: The Mighty Avenger. http://www.multiversitycomics.com/2011/01/friday-recommendation-tiny-titans-and.html

Multiversity Comics

I'm a big proponent of getting kids to read comics but their choices are slim when compared to what adults are offered in the medium. So when I heard Capstone Publishers was teaming with DC to put out DC Super-Pets I was ecstatic! Then I got to read them and was filled with joy usually reserved for 8-year-olds. Here's why... The first six books in the series were released last month and are all drawn by Eisner Award-winning artist Art Baltazar. You're probably already familiar with his work on Tiny Titans. The guy is just plain awesome and he doesn't disappoint here. In fact, he ups the cuteness quotient by a lot. There's a whole menagerie of animals for Baltazar to choose from and one is cuter than the next. I'll start off with the obvious book for me, Super Hero Splash Down starring B'dg the Green Lantern and Dex-Starr the angry Red Lantern. Written by Jane Mason, this was the first one I read because Dex is my favorite. The story follows the antics of the two at a water park, which is surprising considering cats don't like water. Well, of course that comes into play. There's a lot of horsing around but eventually a superhero team-up is called for when some Sinestro Dog Corps invade the park. You'd think The Fastest Pet on Earth would star The Flash's companion but no, actually this book is all about Wonder Woman's trusty Kanga named Jumpa. Written by J.E. Bright, the story revolves around Jumpa having to protect a special Golden tortoise from Chauncey, Cheetah's cheetah on Paradise Island. Jumpa has just as much bravery and fight in her as Wonder Woman and uses not only her power but her wits to outsmart the villain. Midway Monkey Madness is filled with familiar DC characters. Written by Sarah Hines Stephens, it stars Beppo the super-monkey, the Wonder Twins Jayna and Zan, Gleek and Gorilla Grodd. Grodd decides to cause some havoc at a local carnival and Beppo makes sure everyone gets to safety while he and the rest of the heroes figure out how to stop him. Writer Bright also took on Aquaman's giant seahorse storm in Heroes of the High Seas. He stars along with Topo the octopus, Ark the sealion plus Black Manta and his pets Misty and Sneazers. I couldn't figure out what Misty and Sneezers were at first but turns out they're manta rays! This was one of my favorites out of the bunch because a lot of players got together and each had a very specific job to overcome their problem. Pooches of Power features the two most famous super pets, Ace the Bat-Hound and Krypto the Super-Dog. Hines Stephens also writes this tale in which the dogs go up against the Penguins animal companions, the Bad News Birds. Ace and Krypto must put a stop to thievery taking place at the local sardine factory before the Penguin can escape his own justice. And Bruce Wayne/Batman makes a guest appearance to congratulate his pooch. And last but not least, because it's actually my favorite, Royal Rodent Rescue by John Sazaklis stars not one but TWO felines. Streaky the super-cat and Rozz, the evil Siamese of Catwoman. This story almost puts the villain in the starring role as Rozz decides to head off to Metropolis on her own in search of thievery while Catwoman is stealing in Gotham. Streaky must intervene with the slinky cat kidnaps and royal hamster. Yup, you heard me, a royal hamster. And the fight is not an easy one as Rozz got her paws on some Kryptonite! Each book (all around 50 pages long) includes a rundown of the characters appearing in the book, a stats page of the star, knock-knock jokes and a page with definitions of some of the tougher or more unfamiliar words that appear. The front and rear of each book also holds a mural of all the super pets we'll see in the series. And let me tell you, we've only hit the tip of the iceberg. I can't wait to see some of these other pets in action. Although the book is called DC Super-Pets, it's important to note that most, if not all of the "pets" view themselves as friends or companions of the

The Nerdy Bird Blog

Aquaman's pets Topo, Storm and Ark save the day in Heroes of the High Seas. Atlantis is on the verge of being destroyed by a giant whirlpool coming from Triton Trench. Aquaman goes to investigate with his pets, but must stop to save a baby blue whale and its mother who are caught in the giant funnel. Aquaman requests that his pets continue to the bottom of the trench to find out what's causing the whirlpool. Down below, Topo, Storm and Ark learn that Black Manta and his evil manta rays are behind it. They want Atlantis destroyed and will stop and nothing to complete their mission. Heroes of the High Seas is the first of the DC Super-Pets series that I happened to read. Immediate thoughts were that younger children, especially those who are into comic book heroes, will love this new series. The stories are packed with action and bold illustrations. There is mild violence, so some parents may want to look at the books first before deciding if they want their children to read them. The words are perfect for advancing readers, not too difficult but a few harder words are thrown in and defined in the Word Power section. Each DC Super-Pets book starts with a bio page on the pet and then progresses in to the story. The end of the book features a grid of all super-pets and villain pets. There's also a bio offered on the author and illustrator. http://roundtableforkids.blogspot.com/2011/01/dc-super-pets-heroes-of-high-seas-je.html

Roundtable Reviews for Kids

I recently received a stack of review copies from DC’s new Super-Pets children’s book series. These brightly colored little books all turned out to be of consistent quality and tone, so I decided to do a little round-up review for the whole set. According to the press information, the six books above are the first releases in a projected series of 24. Each is illustrated by Art Baltazar, celebrated for his Eisner Award-winning work on DC’s All Ages Tiny Titans comic series. They’re available in both a softcover digest format and hardcover, which is listed on Amazon as “Library Binding.” That description is fair, because while the more durable format is probably a wise investment for libraries and schools, most families may find it easier to fit the 4.95 list price softcovers into their budgets. The softcovers are still quite nice, with clear high quality paper, lovely color printing, and durable feeling bindings despite their small size. They will feel much at home in smaller hands, whose owners probably won’t be afraid to bend the book while hovering over their favorite pages. The books are designed from the ground up as a set. Each one follows a simple and informative format. The bright, pastel cover opens to the DC Super-Pets! logo followed by a two page spread of the series cast (repeated in the back of the book.) Then comes a title and credit page, with floating heads of a couple of the featured pets. After that, we find out who is starring in the book, on a single page introducing the pet, their nemesis, and usually the superhero or villain counterparts. Across from this page there is a colorful table of contents. Then we get a computer file on our main super-pet, which is fun – under the heading “Paradise Isle Royal Computer” for example. This file shows abilities, points out costume pieces, includes a height line up, and bio plus information like Species, Place of Birth, Age, and Favorite Food. After that there’s about 42 pages of illustrated story. The stories are mostly large-type text punctuated by special font sound effects and the odd floating head showing relevant expression. Every couple pages has a half or fourth page illustration, with the odd full page or 2-page splash mixed in. The end is followed by a “Know Your Super-Pets!” 2-page spread, with the hero and villain introducing their associate animals – “Aw Yeah, Hero Pets!” There’s also single pages in the back devoted to “Aw Yeah, Jokes!”, “Word Power!”, “Meet The Author/Illustrator!” and, of course, an advertisement/listing of the other books in the series, the publisher’s website, and publication information. Now that you’ve got some idea of the format, I should talk about the actual content. While each book features work by Art Baltazar (a great idea to keep a single illustrator to build recognition among the kids), the authors vary. J.E. Bright, Sarah Hines Stephens, John Sazaklis, and Jane Mason have all turned in work similar enough that it should be totally indistinguishable to young readers. That, in itself, isn’t a bad thing – you don’t have to worry about any of these books being terrible or suddenly offensive. But the series probably won’t gain any of them particular individual acclaim. Baltazar’s art is nicely printed and of his usual high quality. The bright and often pastel color scheme is warm and inviting and his expressions should be immediately understood by all readers. If I had any complaint at all, it’s only that I wish these were actual comics so we could see more drawings. Which isn’t really a complaint – I hope they inspire many readers to seek out his comic work. The stories feature the pets almost exclusively. While there is the odd appearance by owners, usually at the start and end of a story, these animals are their own heroes. They solve problems and build relationships all on their own. The solutions they find are generally competitive but non-violent. They’re sometimes surprisingly coopera

Trade Reading Order