Pick 6: Super powers

Most kids have a fascination with superheroes. The promise of powers beyond our peers, unsurprisingly, captures the imagination. Here are six books published in the last six months that explore what it means to have super powers.

6 new superhero novels

1. Superhero Harry by Rachel Ruie

2. Super Girl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki
 
3. Kid Normal by Greg James

4. Teen Titans Go: Their Greatest Hijinks by Various

5. Valiant by Daniel Kibblesmith

6. The Epic Origin of Super Potato by Artur Laperla

Book review - Power to the Princess

Title: Power to the Princess
Author: Vita Murrow
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: Brave Red, Smart Frog by Emily Jenkins
                      My Rotten Step Brother Ruined Cinderella by Jerry Mahone
Rating:

no thanks

Summary (provided by publisher): What if princesses didn’t always marry Prince Charming and live happily every after?
Like Snow White, who gets on with her stepmother just fine (in the end). And Belle the Brave, whose open heart helps her become a member of the Fairyland Police. And Prime Minister Cinderella, who just wants to help everyone have a better life. These fifteen girls are smart, funny, and kind, and can do anything they set their minds to. Power to the princess!

My opinion: It is a fact that most fairly tales don't exactly empower female characters. Giving these stories a more feminist slant, though, doesn't have to mean absolute sanitation. A story can be dark and dangerous and still fair to female characters. These stories focus entirely on sharing, cooperation, and getting along with everyone. Sure, that's a positive view of life but it isn't realistic. Let's have heroines struggling against nearly insurmountable odds. I found these stories toothless and frankly dull.

More information: Power to the Princess releases September 6.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

There's no way to make this sound less weird

I was trying to describe this project to someone and realized that everything I said just made it sound stranger. So, I'm just going to tell it plainly.

I bought a little doll at the dollar store, intending only to attach it's head to a wrestler action figure, because what would be funnier than a muscle bound wrestler with a little girl's head?

Once I pulled her head off, though, I began to recognize the possibility in the doll's body and actually abandoned the wrestler project for the moment. 
She had jointed arms but her hips were just a molded part of her body. So I cut them off with an Exacto knife and created a joint out of some scrap plastic, a piece of wire, and a lot of hot glue. (No photos of that process as it took a great deal of trial and error and was incredibly frustrating). I had some fluffy, animal themed pencil toppers tucked away in a box that happened to fit perfectly on the doll's neck. Her dress was plastic and fairly transparent, so a whipped up a new one out of a rag.

She even has a tail!

The few people I've showed the end product to mostly give me weird looks, but I'm fond of her. So far, she mostly hangs out on a finger skateboard, though she did briefly ride an robot shark.

Picture books for everyone

Sloth at the Zoom by Helaine Becker

Let's get a truth out of the way right off the bat: I think sloths are awesome. If you think like me, that alone makes this picture book a good choice for you and your kids. Sloth adoration aside, there is more to like about this book. The heart of the story is finding a place to belong. A sloth is inherently out of place in a zoo where everything and everyone moves quickly and thrives in that environment. The plot could center on the sloth finding a slow zoo or finding a way to move quickly so he can fit in. Instead, the sloth finds the few creatures at the zoo who appreciate his slow approach to life. In observing the slow creatures, the other animals see the joys of slowing down occasionally. It's not a permanent life change for any of them, just an observation of life from another's perspective. This lesson won't entirely land with the very young without a great deal of prodding but it would be a good choice for reinforcing a lesson with older children.

More information: Sloth at the Zoom releases August 15.

Non-fiction book review - Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein

Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein by Linda Bailey

If you're much familiar with the story of Frankenstein, chances are you've heard the story of how it was written. What makes this book more intriguing is it puts that tale in the greater context of Shelley's life. Her strained family relationships, rebellious nature, "wild" life choices, and general youth and inexperience. It gives more context to the final product. And the illustrations add to the general foreboding and dark nature of the whole story. It gives us something of an uneasy feeling as we read. My one concern, though, is with the picture book format. Will a child young enough to appreciate the picture book be familiar enough with Frankenstein for it to make sense?

More information: Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein releases August 28.

Cue dramatic internal dialogue

I bought a bulk bag of peg dolls to paint but I didn't really know what to do with the smallest ones. They're really too small to make good people. Or so I thought.

While contemplating the problem one day, I doodled this little lady.

My first attempt at creating her turned out pretty well.

Lately, though, I've been watching the Cartoon Network show Craig of the Creek and I find myself quite taken with the character Kelsey, who is very fierce in spite of her small stature. She also happens to wear her hair in a sort of bun.

her parakeet, Mortimer, tends to ride on her head

 Who knows what else these little pegs will turn out to be.

Books on screen

Paddington

When the Paddington movie was first announced I was, at best, dubious. I was a big Paddington fan as a child. They were my introduction to British humor and I read every volume that my library owned at least 3 times. I owned one and I read it until it literally fell apart, at which point I taped it back together so I could continue rereading. More About Paddington is one of only two books I've actually purchased for my Kindle. Needless to say, I have more than just a passing familiarity with the plot of Paddington's stories. Each story is built on a similar premise: Paddington's misunderstanding, naivete, and general luck lead to misadventure. This works fine for a short cartoon but I couldn't see that working for a feature film. Not to mention, the stories themselves can feel a bit dated. My love for the source material was strong enough I wasn't eager to have it sullied by a mediocre movie. After a few positive reviews, though, I thought I'd give it a shot. 

First, know that the movie plot bears no real resemblance to the books. There are some similar plot elements, some small instances of misadventure, but as one might expect it adds two larger plots. We have the Brown family rather fractured and at odds with one another and the mystery of the adventurer who visited Paddington's family in Peru. The side characters of Mr. Gruber and Mr. Curry are both in the movie though they aren't particularly as I'd have imagined them. I could spend the full length of the movie pointing out the deviations. A little begrudgingly, though, I have to admit I enjoyed this movie. It embraces and adds a modern twist to a beloved story. The cast is strong and does justice to the script.