First, I'm amazed how long these books have been around in the same way I found out that Magic Tree House has been around since I was little. To me it seems like they've only been on the scene the last five years, but maybe that's because I've only started paying attention to children's books in the last five years. I've obviously known about these books and glanced through them but I hadn't read one from front to back yet so I decided to spend 10 minutes on the first one.
I can see why kids love them. While it is potty humor, its not necessarily disgusting. The illustrations are fun and the little animation bit towards the end is interactive and intriguing. I can see all the kids making their own flip book animations after reading this. The plot's obviously not extensive but the kids are fun and I love the idea of the mean principal being hypnotized into the crime fighting Captain Underpants. It makes it that much funnier when he's streaking across the campus. While, I've known some teachers and parents who are against their kids reading these books, I say, if they're excited about reading then let them read this one. It will only get them reading more books in the future.
Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 3 (titlewave says 4.8, sometimes I don't understand where they get these numbers from...but then again, looking at the book there are words like "miserable, behavior, hypnotize" that I suppose could be difficult for some students. Personally, I find as young as first grade is an appropriate reading level for these titles.)
Genre: Humor
Comparable Titles: The Adventures of Super Baby, Babymouse, Super Amoeba
Book Connections: making your own comic books, creating super heroes, making flip books
No comments:
Post a Comment