What A Difference A Cape Makes! A CAPE! by Marty Kelley

What's that red thing among all the white towels and sheets in the linen closet?

Hmmmm! Gotta check that out....

The boy ties two corners of the towel around his neck. He sheds his nondescript shorts and tee and sweeps his hair up into powerful wind-swept pompadour.

IF I HAVE A CAPE, I MUST HAVE AS SUPERPOWER! Everybody knows that.

Dad, deep in his magazine, is not impressed.

"MAYBE I HAVE SUPER STRENGTH!" THE KID SUGGESTS.

He tries to lift the couch. Dad, unimpressed, warns him that he's likely to hurt something doing that!

He throws the cape over his head to see if it's like Harry Potter's Cloak of Invisibility.

Dad indicates that he's still visible. And jumping off the couch is not FLYING.

He tries out his super-freezing breath on Dad. Dad says it smells like he needs to brush his teeth! He's ready and set to show off his jet-powered running shoes. Dad says he can't run inside the house. Drat! What good is a cape if you can't show off your super-powers?

"YOU HAVE A SUPER POWERFUL IMAGINATION." DAD SAYS.

SHAZAM!

After all, it's the costume that makes the man. And the boy and his dad must share that power, 'cause when Dad dons his own terry-cloth cape, the two super heroes soar together in spirit in Marty Kelley's just published A Cape! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2021). The fun of this short, comically illustrated picture book is in the juxtaposition of the kid's buoyant imagination and dad's predictable bubble-popping logic of the realities of superhero-dom. And as is often true, it's the kid's job to ask... Where's the fun in all that? And everyone will get a good last-page giggle out of dad in his heart-print shorts and matching hero hairdo giving his son a chance to soar. Here's to more boys and dads and super silly superheroes!

Something in Common: Narwhal, Unicorn of the Sea! by Ben Clanton

One day when Narwhal was out for a swim, he found himself in new waters.

"Whoa! What are YOU?" asked Jellyfish

"Me?" said Narwhal. "I'm Narwhal, the Narwhal. The Unicorn of the Sea."

"I'm a jellyfish," said Jellyfish.

"You don't look like any fish I've ever seen, but you do look kind of jelly-ish," replies Narwhal.

The two regard each other skeptically, each wondering if the other is a figment of his imagination.

Jellyfish is agog. A fish with a horn on his head? . (A tusk-tooth, actually, Narwhal points out.)

"I can't believe this! The thing I am imagining imagines that it's imagining ME!"

It's a weird way to start a friendship, but the ebullient and energetic Narwhal and the dour and wishy-washy jellyfish are somehow drawn to each other despite their differences. If such strange things as themselves exist in the sea, what other unimagined sights might they see? As the two set forth for a swim in new waters in search of more undersea novelty, they do discover an unsuspected commonality--they both love waffles. (Don't ask!)

"NOM NOM!" said Jellyfish.

Along their watery way, the duo meet other remarkable creatures, which Narwhal names: A shark ("Gnarly!"), a sea Turtle ("Turtley!"), an octopus ("Tentacular!"), all candidates for their new circle of friends--

"NARWHAL'S POD OF EXCELLENCE"

Ben Clanton's new Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea (A Narwhal and Jelly Book 1) (Tundra Books, 2017) offer three silly stories about this dynamic oceanic duo, told in comic-book-framed format, with plenty of humorous banter between the unlikely comrades, just right for primary readers who are looking for a touch of subtle and sophisticated humor in their easy-reading literature. Clanton's less-is-more artwork is reminiscent of masters of the genre such as P. D. Eastman and Syd Hoff, with simple blackline drawings backed by skillful use of color. As Kirkus Reviews puts it succinctly in their starred review, "Undersea adventures have never been so darn cute!"