Picky, Picky, Picky!: Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion by Jason Kirschner

YOU WOULDN'T KNOW TO LOOK AT IT, BUT INSIDE THIS HOUSE LIVES THE GREATEST HERO OF OUR AGE.

He's got the red cape. He's got the big letter on the front of his blue shirt. He's got his own team that rivals the Justice League--the Super Duper Group, with Atomic Bear and Daring Duck.

Except... Mr. Particular has a few crotchets that cramp his super style.

HE LIKES THINGS THE WAY HE LIKES THEM.

He can't stand anything SQUISHY, or GREEN (no exceptions), or that SMELLS LIKE COCONUT. And he totally can't stand TUCKED-IN SHIRTS!

So when the villainous Kickin' Chicken attacks Daring Duck's sandcastle, Mr. Particular can't venture inside the squishy sandbox. He is also useless when Lizardbreath attacks, because his breath smells like coconut.

The Super Duper Group is forced to shun him for his persnicketiness, and Mr. Particular realizes his options for friends are pretty much limited.

MR. PARTICULAR RETURNED TO HIS FORTRESS OF FUSS TO THINK.

IF HE DIDN'T LEARN TO BE LESS PETTY, HE WOULD BE STUCK AT HOME PLAYING WITH SUPER POOPER, THE DEFENDER OF DIAPERS.

His baby brother's super powers are pretty much limited to maintaining perpetually loaded diapers, and the social prospects for a finicky superhero are pretty much limited at home.

Heroically, Mr. Particular resolves to overcome his super-selective predilections, in Jason Kirschner's Mr. Particular: The World’s Choosiest Champion! (Sterling Books, 2016).

Set in the panels of the action hero comic books of yore, Kirschner's artwork utilizes some of the familiar tropes of the superhero to good effect, while poking fun at picky-picky preschooler fussbudgetry with great good humor and a touch of sympathy for those sensitive to the inevitable icky aspects of life. Kirschner's endpapers are a masterful catalog of goofy gear from Super K Outfitters--Dino Skeleton-Actual Fake Dinosaur Bones (Not Dug Up in Deserts) and Box-o-Slime (Just Add Water). Older primary readers will appreciate the sly tongue-in-check satire of their nit-picky preschool siblings, and younger kids will giggle at the absurdity of a fear of the color green, not to mention the mere reference to stinky diapers. "A particularly appropriate tale just right for a choosy crowd," says Kirkus Reviews.