Dylan the Villain
K. G. Campbell
ISBN: 9780451476425
Read May 5, 2016
Watercolor and colored pencils are charming and disarming in this villain vs villain tale.
So cute. The Snivels were minding their own business when they suddenly had a super-villain baby. Whoops? Dylan's family had a history of minor villainy, but Dylan was the apex. His parents (sweet and chubby and mundane) told him over and over that he was the very best villain ever. Which he believed until he got to villain school and met Addison van Malice. She has blue hair, an eyepatch (!), and her villain laugh is positively chilling. Dylan's confidence is shaken, but he rises to the challenge with the upcoming evil robot competition. With a trophy at stake, Dylan proves that he IS the most villainous - except for a little vengeance that keeps Addison in the running, even though she's been launched into orbit.
Adorable and perfectly balanced between evil and sweetness. I want to match it up with Moustache Baby and School for Bandits (both reviewed here.)
Showing posts with label villains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label villains. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2016
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Graphic Novel: Nimona, Noelle Stevenson
Nimona
Noelle Stevenson
ISBN: 9780062278234
Stylized people in a techno-mystic empire are faced with an enigmatic shapeshifter with awesome power.
Read June 2015
Love everything about this book. The art is a little weird, and once you hear her admit that she does "dot eyes" because she doesn't do eyes well, you just can't not notice it, but the movement and shading and emotion are all simply brilliant.
Nimona is our title character, but in a very real way, our viewpoint character is the "supervillain" Lord Blackheart. He's not really a very good villain tho, and a lot about the set-up made me think fondly of Megamind.
Nimona herself tho - she's an interesting little enigma. The repressive kingdom that Blackheart faces off against wants to catch her and use her as a weapon, and she's got some deep psychic scars regarding that sort of idea. She's also sweet, helpful, insightful, hostile, brittle, a-moral, and nearly entirely undamageable. LOVE.
My final joy with this lovely quirky book was the relationship between Blackheart and his moral enemy and sworn foe, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (LOVE THESE NAMES) who works for the kingdom's military complex. The two of them make a lovely throughline through the story, and I was quite happy with where they ended up.
Noelle Stevenson
ISBN: 9780062278234
Stylized people in a techno-mystic empire are faced with an enigmatic shapeshifter with awesome power.
Read June 2015
Love everything about this book. The art is a little weird, and once you hear her admit that she does "dot eyes" because she doesn't do eyes well, you just can't not notice it, but the movement and shading and emotion are all simply brilliant.
Nimona is our title character, but in a very real way, our viewpoint character is the "supervillain" Lord Blackheart. He's not really a very good villain tho, and a lot about the set-up made me think fondly of Megamind.
Nimona herself tho - she's an interesting little enigma. The repressive kingdom that Blackheart faces off against wants to catch her and use her as a weapon, and she's got some deep psychic scars regarding that sort of idea. She's also sweet, helpful, insightful, hostile, brittle, a-moral, and nearly entirely undamageable. LOVE.
My final joy with this lovely quirky book was the relationship between Blackheart and his moral enemy and sworn foe, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (LOVE THESE NAMES) who works for the kingdom's military complex. The two of them make a lovely throughline through the story, and I was quite happy with where they ended up.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Summer Reading Program: Villains
I didn't give the program again today (I hate missing so many of these this summer!) but we had a repeat of Mustache! and then two more, and made silly mustaches!
Mustache!
Reviewed this morning.
School for Bandits
Hannah Shaw
ISBN: 9780375967689
Ralph Raccoon is not very good at being bad, but he finds success in his own way.
Ralph was a nice raccoon: he had manners, brushed his teeth, and generally was good. His parents sent him off to the School for Bandits to learn how to be bad, but he failed all his classes. His only hope is to get a giant bag of loot for the end-of-year Bandit Contest, but how is he going to manage that with no badness at all? Clever lesson, and cute enough to be funny.
Mustache Baby
Bridget Heos, illustrated by Joy Ang
ISBN: 9780547773575
Baby born with mustache becomes whatever stereotype matches his mustache shape.
Billy was born with a mustache, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that he took on the qualities of the mustache as it grew and changed, becoming everything from a cowboy to a spanish painter to a sword-fighter to a policeman. Until... the mustache became a Bad Guy Mustache. Billy starts down a bad path that very day, and ends up in jail (his crib). Second chances are for everyone, and he finally gets released, just in time for a playdate with another baby; this one with a hipster mountain-man beard!
Mustache!
Reviewed this morning.
School for Bandits
Hannah Shaw
ISBN: 9780375967689
Ralph Raccoon is not very good at being bad, but he finds success in his own way.
Ralph was a nice raccoon: he had manners, brushed his teeth, and generally was good. His parents sent him off to the School for Bandits to learn how to be bad, but he failed all his classes. His only hope is to get a giant bag of loot for the end-of-year Bandit Contest, but how is he going to manage that with no badness at all? Clever lesson, and cute enough to be funny.
Mustache Baby
Bridget Heos, illustrated by Joy Ang
ISBN: 9780547773575
Baby born with mustache becomes whatever stereotype matches his mustache shape.
Billy was born with a mustache, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that he took on the qualities of the mustache as it grew and changed, becoming everything from a cowboy to a spanish painter to a sword-fighter to a policeman. Until... the mustache became a Bad Guy Mustache. Billy starts down a bad path that very day, and ends up in jail (his crib). Second chances are for everyone, and he finally gets released, just in time for a playdate with another baby; this one with a hipster mountain-man beard!
Tuesday Storytime, Summer Reading: Villains
Three more really good ones today for our younger kids.
Mustache!
Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
ISBN: 9781423116714
"Medieval" style meets caricature art.
A vain king doesn't do anything for his subjects other than inflict them with representational art of himself. The populace begs for basic support (roads and playgrounds) but only get a giant tapestry of the king's face. Which gets vandalized with a mustache. So the king posts reward posters (also with his face, because of course he does) all over the countryside, which ALSO get mustached. He keeps thinking that it's a single vandal, but it's actually everyone in the entire country. So he puts them all in a new jail he's built, with new roads and playgrounds, and big high safe walls, and is really shocked to hear them enjoying themselves in jail, while he's all alone in his castle. Cute pictures and fun wordplay keep the littles entertained, while the big people can enjoy the political and social critiques.
The Boss Baby
Marla Frazee
ISBN: 9781442401679
Delightful pop-deco 50s-era illustrations with plenty of expression, especially by the tiny tyrant.
A fun sly interpretation of the realities of a new baby has the infant as the driven and incomprehensible boss of a modern company, driving his staff to distraction with endless demands, meetings full of gibberish, working all-nighters. The flip side hits on the perks of infancy, comparing them to the insane bonuses and material benefits of being a CEO: lounges, spas, handmade artisan drinks, a private jet (the bouncy seat!). At the end, the overworked staff (parents) are exhausted and unresponsive, so our devious boss baby tries a new tactic: "Mama? Dada?" pour encourager les autres.
Big Bad Bunny
Franny Billingsley, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9781416906018
Split-narrative of a sweet mama mouse and a terrifying sharp-toothed bad bunny.
We start our tale with the Big Bad Bunny, crashing through the woods with sharp claws and yellow teeth and a scary growl (compared to ever-increasing numbers of "hungry hyenas" each time), but quickly switch back to a much more pastoral tale of Mama Mouse kissing her babies goodnight. When she gets to the end of the row of beds, she discovers that Baby Boo-Boo is missing! Now Mama Mouse is off in the same woods as the Big Bad Bunny! Whatever will happen to her? On the other side of the narrative, our Big Bad Bunny is not happy to hear someone calling out the name "Baby" at her, but she's also a bit scared of the giant hill she's found. She is now a lost Big Bad Bunny, and Mama Mouse is kind and tactful about her offspring's acquired fierce identity, even when scared and sniffling.
Mustache!
Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
ISBN: 9781423116714
"Medieval" style meets caricature art.
A vain king doesn't do anything for his subjects other than inflict them with representational art of himself. The populace begs for basic support (roads and playgrounds) but only get a giant tapestry of the king's face. Which gets vandalized with a mustache. So the king posts reward posters (also with his face, because of course he does) all over the countryside, which ALSO get mustached. He keeps thinking that it's a single vandal, but it's actually everyone in the entire country. So he puts them all in a new jail he's built, with new roads and playgrounds, and big high safe walls, and is really shocked to hear them enjoying themselves in jail, while he's all alone in his castle. Cute pictures and fun wordplay keep the littles entertained, while the big people can enjoy the political and social critiques.
The Boss Baby
Marla Frazee
ISBN: 9781442401679
Delightful pop-deco 50s-era illustrations with plenty of expression, especially by the tiny tyrant.
A fun sly interpretation of the realities of a new baby has the infant as the driven and incomprehensible boss of a modern company, driving his staff to distraction with endless demands, meetings full of gibberish, working all-nighters. The flip side hits on the perks of infancy, comparing them to the insane bonuses and material benefits of being a CEO: lounges, spas, handmade artisan drinks, a private jet (the bouncy seat!). At the end, the overworked staff (parents) are exhausted and unresponsive, so our devious boss baby tries a new tactic: "Mama? Dada?" pour encourager les autres.
Big Bad Bunny
Franny Billingsley, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9781416906018
Split-narrative of a sweet mama mouse and a terrifying sharp-toothed bad bunny.
We start our tale with the Big Bad Bunny, crashing through the woods with sharp claws and yellow teeth and a scary growl (compared to ever-increasing numbers of "hungry hyenas" each time), but quickly switch back to a much more pastoral tale of Mama Mouse kissing her babies goodnight. When she gets to the end of the row of beds, she discovers that Baby Boo-Boo is missing! Now Mama Mouse is off in the same woods as the Big Bad Bunny! Whatever will happen to her? On the other side of the narrative, our Big Bad Bunny is not happy to hear someone calling out the name "Baby" at her, but she's also a bit scared of the giant hill she's found. She is now a lost Big Bad Bunny, and Mama Mouse is kind and tactful about her offspring's acquired fierce identity, even when scared and sniffling.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)