Super Student! Super Milly and the Super School Day by Stephanie Clarkson

TODAY IS SUPERHERO DAY AT SCHOOL.

Milly is super creative. She makes her superhero costume with a cape made with foil and red tea towel with a hole (it doesn't show), her brother's yellow underpants, and big, peel-off M sticker.

Milly's very inventive, but that doesn't mean she thinks she has real SUPERPOWERS. She knows she has no X-RAY vision. She can't leap tall buildings (or even climb up the sides of skyscrapers) and her brother Joe always beats her to the last slice of toast.

And there is already an emergency at school!

WILLIAM'S MOM FORGOT THAT IT IS SUPERHERO DAY!

He's crying in the corner. Milly knows that a real superhero would whirl up a super cloud to change school clothes into superhero tights and a cape. But she can't do that.

Instead, she has a super idea. She peels off her big M, turns it upside down, and sticks it on William's chest.

BAM!

WONDER WILLIAM!

Then Amazing Archie must have green paint for his superhero's picture, but the selfish Spider Sid won't share! Smart Milly has a super solution.

ZAP!

WE CAN MIX BLUE AND YELLOW!

Being kind and imaginative is Super Milly's superhero power, in Stephanie Clarkson's latest, Super Milly and the Super School Day (Nosy Crow, 2021).

Super Milly's special powers are just what her class needs for Superhero Day. Artist Gwen Milwand provides the jolly blackline drawings of typical tykes for this story about just the Right Stuff to save the day. This one is a good read-aloud choice for teaching youngsters empathy as well as how to think outside the box!

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!

'Fess Up the Mess Up! Even Superheroes Make Mistakes by Shelly Becker

When superheroes are not up to speed,
when they slip up, and trip up, and fail to succeed...

They could cry, or deny, or claim it's not fair,
or rip off their cloaks and quit in despair.

Everybody makes mistakes, but nobody likes to admit it when they do.

Superheroes have super powers that would make it super easy to cover up their screw-ups. But THEY DON'T!

If they miss the real felon, they don't start yellin'
that it's not their fault--they were locked in the vault.

If their homemade cake is too salty,
it's not the corner baker who's faulty.

But ashamed superheroes who goofed up somehow,
first stop and consider what's best to do NOW.

In Shelly Becker's latest, Even Superheroes Make Mistakes (Sterling Children's Books, 2018), superheroes don't dodge the blame bullet. When they mess up, they 'fess up, and when they nap, they take the rap.

When superheroes are not up to speed,
when they slip up, and trip up, and fail to succeed...

They could hang their heads down; they could but they don't!
Because real superheroes just wouldn't, they won't!

Artist Eda Kaban's in-motion illustrations offer lots of laughs at the legions of ways there are for various superheroes to slip up, but winners don't whine, and the supers learn from their bloopers. There are some serious life lessons about personal responsibility here, softened by Becker's lighthearted rhythmic rhyming quatrains and Kaban's comic portrayals of heroes taking pratfalls as we all do. For a super pair, share this one with Becker's earlier superhero story, Even Superheroes Have Bad Days (Read my 2017 review here.)

The Right Stuff! Be A Star, Wonder Woman by Michael Dahl

AT DAWN A NEW DAY AWAITS.

NEW CHALLENGES AWAIT.

Growing up is hard to do.

Facing school on Day 1 IS a challenge, one that requires some courage and perhaps some super skills, too.

In Michael Dahl's latest story, he portrays a girl rising to the challenge as the day begins. Paralleling Wonder Woman's doughty deeds with facing the trials of school, Dahl's Be A Star, Wonder Woman! (DC Super Heroes) (Capstone Books, 2017), shows how our little heroine finds her inner superhero and meets the tests that lie before her.

As a superhero, Wonder Woman is a model for girls. Aside from admirable strength and very good reflexes, she possesses none of those supernatural abilities that power Superman and his ilk. Wonder Woman has to conquer difficulties with only her goodness, her courage, her wits, and her bracelets and lasso at hand when it comes down to right making might. In this companion book to his Good Morning, Superman! (DC Super Heroes),(see review here) Dahl has Wonder Woman fighting crime and evil fearlessly in the background as his little heroine faces down the challenges of her day--spelling tests, the twisty slide, the task of peacemaking in the clique, facing the new teacher and finishing her work well on time and all alone. This girl has got the right stuff to take on the world.

NO MATTER HOW TOUGH THE CHALLENGE OR HOW DIFFICULT THE TASK,

A HERO MUST BE STRONG. SHE MUST NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER QUIT!

As in the earlier book, Omar Lorenzo again provides the artwork, using prospective to great effect to keep the simultaneous deeds of Wonder Woman and our young heroine moving along through their day in vivid style suited to its origins in DC Comics superheroes. With the movie Wonder Woman playing at movie houses everywhere this summer, it's time for brave and clever girls to find their own superhero within, too. not just in getting up early and making the school bus, but in making a difference throughout their school day, perhaps a nobler task than warring with Circe!

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.

Canned! Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 by Dav Pilkey

If you're concerned about what is going on here, don't worry. George and Harold are confused, too. You see, George, Harold, and Captain Underpants had just undergone an epic adventure that started out in the dinosaur age and ended at their school, forty years in the future. Now, thanks to Melvin Sneedly (the tattletale genius) and his time-traveling Robo-Squid suit, they were all hurtling backwards in time. Back a long, long time ago to that dull, old-fashioned age known as the present.

Oh, I almost forgot. Traveling with them were three purple-and-orange-speckled eggs laid by their pet pterodactyl, who with their other pet, Sulu the bionic Hamster, had just saved the planet.

See? That wasn't confusing at all, was it?

Got it? Well, never mind, because George and Harold arrive back at their old school just at the moment they left, flushed down the Purple Potty. Sneedley informs the lads that they no longer are on the lam for the bank heist, back then, er, yesterday. He's hacked into the bank's computer and altered their surveillance tapes.

"Just don't grow a mustache or a beard anytime soon, and you guys'll be fine."says Sneedley.

So, with the evil Turbo Toilet 2000 stuck in the future, or whatever, the guys are fine. All they have to do is pretend to do their work in school while they draw comics to sell to their classmates to fund their fun and... But wait! The boys forgot that the next day back in the present was the big multiple-choice, timed-test day--and if they don't pass, they'll be stuck in Principal Krupp's elementary school for even more eons. Exhausted, they go to bed early, but awake to find that they've slept through their testing. Nooooo! Not another year in Ms. Ribble's miserable class at Jerome Horowitz Elementary School!

But wait! They can fix this. They sneak into Smedley's garage and borrow his time-traveling Robo-Suit and set it to take them back to yesterday so they can pass their tests. What could go wrong?

George and Harold ace their tests and dash to their tree house for some R & R and discover one tiny glitch...

George pushed the tree house door open and looked inside. "Oh, NOOOOOOO!" said George.

Harold climbed up and looked inside. There, sleeping at the table, was Harold himself. And next to him, snoring on the beanbag chair, was George.

"I don't understand," George whispered. "How come WE'RE here?"

"Oh, I get it," said Harold. "This is us from yesterday!"

George, Yesterday George, Harold, and Yesterday Harold are now a doppel gang of their very own, and the more the merrier, in Dav Pilkey's latest silly graphic novel saga, Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 (Scholastic Press, 2014). In this eleventh book, not only are there two of this dynamic duo, but Mr. Krupp morphs into Captain Underpants on cue and Melvin Sneedley, Super Diaper Baby, and Mr. Krupp's faculty--Miss Anthrope, Mr. Meaner, Miss Labler, and Mr. Rected--all get cameo roles in the plot, until the hullabaloo flushes out the Turbo Toilet 2000 and he's finally sent down the tubes... But ...what about those extra Harolds and Georges?

"Oh, yeah!" said Yesterday Harold. " I guess there are a lot of loose ends in this story."

"Uh-oh! That can only mean one thing!" said Harold.

"Another SEQUEL!"

Kids need not despair. With two pairs of their heroes to screw up, there are bound to be still more Captain Underpants stories. "Subversively hilarious." says Publishers Weekly. "Dizzyingly silly!" adds Kirkus Reviews.

Undercover Hero: Superworm! by Julia Donaldson

TOADS AND INSECTS, GIVE A SHOUT.

SUPERWORM WILL HELP YOU OUT!

They may be beneath Superman's radar, but toads, bees, and beetles need some super saving, too. And for that, there's that undercover master of rescue, Superworm!

When a baby toad wanders onto a major roadway, who dares to try to save him? Well, it's not much of a stretch for Superworm to pop up, make himself into a lasso, and rope him in, back to cover of the grass beside the road.

When a baby beetle falls down into the deep well, who you gonna call? Superworm, that's who.With his long, extendable body, he dangles down to the water, and hauls the little beetle baby right up to safety.  He even shapes his rubbery body into some theme park rides to amuse the bored boy and girl bees. It's unanimous! Superworm is the hero of bugs and beetles, snails and slugs! His fans break into a cheery chant:

"SUPERWORM IS SUPER-LONG.
SUPERWORM IS SUPER-STRONG.
WATCH HIM WIGGLE! SEE HIM SQUIRM!
HIP, HIP, HOORAY FOR SUPERWORM!"

But, alas! The chant of his followers reaches the ears of the nefarious Wizard Lizard, self-styled evil overlord of the woods. These woods are not big enough for two superpowers, and Lizard dispatches his minion noir, Black Crow, who swoops and snatches Superworm in his beak and bears him back to the evil Wizard, who puts him under a spell and declares Superworm his slave. But the wicked Wiz Liz has reckoned without a thought for Superworm's friends, who form a flash mob of many talents--bees bearing honeycombs, toted on snail-back, and a jumping spider with web-weaving skills that soon have the Wizard Lizard himself ensnared and stuck in sticky stuff and dropped off by a flight of drones in the dump.

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY FOR SUPERWORM!"

It's a well-versed return engagement for notable author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, the dynamic duo which gave us the evergreen best-selling The Gruffalo, the classic witch tale, Room on the Broom, and The Snail and the Whale, in their latest rhyming and romping collaboration, Superworm (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic Press, 2014). Donaldson and Scheffler are masters of the silly-premised, jolly rhyming, humorously illustrated picture book, and their unlikely down and dirty superhero is sure to draw down deep belly-laughs from their primary-grade fans.

Read this one along with any of Doreen Cronin's equally wonderful Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, or Diary of a Fly, and the kids won't stop buzzing and wiggling and giggling till next week!

Sha-ZOOM! The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon

HI! I'M A SUPERHERO. MY NAME IS AWESOME MAN.

I CAN FLY AS HIGH AS A SATELLITE.
AND STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW.

OR THROUGH THE TIME BARRIER AND NOT GET DIZZY. OR FEEL NAUSEOUS. OR SMASH INTO THINGS.

EXCEPT ON PURPOSE.

What kid doesn't have a secret alter-ego, someone with awesome powers? When crunch time comes in real life, this kid has the aptly-named Awesome Man (because "I'm just basically awesome," he explains modestly) and a wonderdog sidekick, the Awesome Moskowitz. He has a megacool outfit, buff and brash in his black unitard, red-as-a-rocket swoopy cape and boots, and "a stylin' A" on his chest, his hair in a patent-leather pompadour with an emphatic cowlick. And he can shoot positron rays from his eyes.

CAN I TELL YOU SOMETHING? GIANT KILLER ROBOT JUST HATE THAT STUFF.

BUT MAYBE THE MOST AWESOME THING ABOUT ME IS MY SECRET IDENTITY. LISTEN CLOSELY, BECAUSE I'M GOING TO WHISPER IT. REAL LOW.

IN REAL LIFE I'M--UH, OH!

It's not easy being a superhero. There's not much time for self-revelation, because Professor Von Evil and the Flaming Eyeball are at it again and must be defeated by our indefatigable caped crusader, even if it takes a trip to the interior of the sun, where the Eyeball feels right at home. Then there's the Antimatter Slimebot to quash with a SKA-RUNCH in our hero's Ginormous Awesome Power Grip! It's a hard role to live up to. Even Awesome Man needs some down time!

THEN I MAKE A QUICK GETAWAY BACK TO THE FORTRESS OF AWESOME.

MY SECRET IDENTITY MOM IS WAITING FOR ME WITH A PLATE OF PLAIN OLD CHEDDAR CHEESE AND CRACKERS AND CHOCOLATE MILK. I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE HER, I THROW A POWER GRIP AROUND HER, TOO.

SHE SAYS IT FEELS AWESOME.

With Jake Parker on his team, providing the slick comic book-style cartoon illustrations, Michael Chabon's The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man (Balzer & Bray, 2011) offers a kind of sublimation here, giving kids a story which plays out their fantasies of awesome power and awesome self control. Awesome Man is on top of things at all times, and who wouldn't want that power? But Chabon brings it home, as we see the little Clark Kent inside this superhero, repairing to his cozy bedroom inside his picket-fenced home to recharge his powers.

School Library Journal gives this one a super-duper thumbs up: “The depiction of a showdown between Awesome Man and his nemesis—the Flaming Eyeball—is priceless. Readers may notice that there’s a moral peeking out from Awesome Man’s cape, but they’ll still grab this story in their ‘ginormous Awesome Power Grip’ and not let go.” (starred review)