Module 15: Th Adventures of Captain Underpants An Epic Novel By Dav Pilkey

Summary: Captain Underpants is a superhero created from the imagination of two young boys named George and Harold. George and Harold are silly tricksters who sell their Captain Underpants and other various comics on the playground for 50 cents. One day they had gone overboard with their pranks during a school football game and got caught. Their principal. Mr. Krupp, videotaped all of the entire time they were setting up pranks. He got them filling the game ball with helium to putting bubbles in the bands instruments. Mr. Krupp was willing to make a deal with them if they behave for the rest of their time in school as well as be his servant whenever he pleased and he wouldn’t show the tape to anyone. This punishment went on for a few weeks until their 3-D Hypno-Ring came in the mail. They used it on Mr. Krupp to get the video back from him and also had a little fun. They made the mistake of turning him into Captain Underpants, the superhero. Mr. Krupp ran out of the office and the two boys had to find him before it was too late. They found him fighting bank robbers and then the evil Dr. diaper. After they escaped they returned him to himself and he no longer had the tape to hold against them. Even now and then when people snap their fingers he turns back into Captain Underpants.   

Citation: Pilkey, D. (1997). The adventures of Captain Underpants. New York, NY: The Blue Sky Press.

Impressions:  My sister was an avid fan of the Captain Underpants series so I thought that it was appropriate to read this for my last blog post. I was kind of shocked to see that it was on the censored/challenged book list. I don’t really understand what is so controversial about it. Sure, the two main characters play pranks and are a little snotty but they don’t hurt anyone or use foul language. I think that young students should have enough sense to not reenact some of their trick or pranks. The Captain Underpants character is a crime fighter. He strop the bad guys from doing harm or wrong. My sister tells me she liked the book because of its creativity. It has these pages called Flip-O-Rama that are fun flip books but only feature one animated picture. I hadn’t seen this in anything that I’ve read all semester so I thought that it really set this book apart. I enjoyed the story and the illustrations were creative and fun. Overall, I would go against a challenge to keep this book on the shelf.   

Reviews:

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4 Pilkey plays with words and pictures, providing great entertainment. The story is immediately engaging. two fourth-grade boys who write comic books and who love to pull pranks find themselves in big trouble. Mean Mr. Krupp, their principal, videotapes George and Harold setting up their stunts and threatens to expose them. The boys' luck changes when they send for a 3-D Hypno-Ring and hypnotize Krupp, turning him into Captain Underpants, their own superhero creation. Later, Pilkey includes several pages of flip-o-ramas that animate the action. The simple black-and-white illustrations on every page furnish comic-strip appeal. The cover features Captain Underpants, resplendent in white briefs, on top of a tall building. This book will fly off the shelves.

Hopf, M.M. (1997). Review of The adventures of Captain Underpants. Los Angeles, CA: Reed Business Information, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Captain-Underpants-Collectors-Included/dp/product-description/0439756685/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

From Kirkus Reviews

    In the fine old tradition of James Marshall's Cut-Ups, Pilkey (God Bless the Gargoyles, 1996, etc.) introduces George Beard and Harold Hutchins, two usually responsible fourth-graders, as in ``whenever anything bad happened, George and Harold were usually responsible.'' Pranksters of the first order, George and Harold are finally nabbed by Mr. Krupp, the principal, whom they then hypnotize into believing he's Captain Underpants, a superhero of their own creation. Before they can stop him, he's out the window in cape and briefs, off to fight crime with Wedgie Power, taking on bank robbers, robot thieves--`` `You know,' said George, `up until now this story was almost believable!' ''--and ultimately the evil Dr. Diaper. Distracting Dr. Diaper with some ``fake doggy doo- doo,'' the boys save the planet, then hustle Krupp back into his clothes, just in time for--their next adventure, The Attack of the Talking Toilets, coming soon. Pilkey's stubby black-and-white cartoon figures appear on every page but can be animated in one chapter, thanks to ``Flip-O-Rama,'' where readers flip pages back and forth for the ``latest in cheesy animation technology.'' There'll be no silence in the library once readers get hold of this somewhat classier alternative to Barf-o-Rama books and their crude ilk. (Fiction. 9-11)

Associates of Kirkus Reviews. (June 1, 1997). Review. Kirkus Reviews online. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dav-pilkey/the-adventures-of-captain-underpants/#review

Suggestions: This book could be used in super hero projects. Students could read the novel and then draw their own superhero. They could display them around the library for others to see. I think this series would do well with creative projects.

Module 14: A Curious Collection Of Cats by Betsy Franco Illustrations by Michael Wertz

Summary: A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsey Franco contains 34 poems about the friendly world of cats. Each of the poems is visually appealing and the poems are all shape poems. The illustrations have just as much to do about the poem as much as the words. The poems focus on cats agility and fear of other animals. It features poems about cat fights and snacks. There are cats of all shapes and sizes with many different personalities.   

Citation:  Franco, B. (2009). A curious collection of cats. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Impressions: I enjoy this type of poetry. There is a lot of thought that goes into each shape poem because everything about the pictures and words means something. I like how the words round the photos in different angels. I think that this book will be an inspiration to students who love poetry. I have read many cat books in this class for my love of these adorable creatures so I think that they poems are relatable and touching to cat lovers.

Reviews:

From Kirkus Reviews
                                               

Franco’s witty but uneven collection of concrete poems celebrating feline antics is accompanied by striking illustrations done in pencil and finished in monoprint and Photoshop. Atop rich, textured backgrounds, cats—each one bursting with personality—stretch, fight, perch, leap, rest and pounce. Each image is saturated in bright, often fluorescent colors, incorporating the text within them. One poem, for example, called “Prickles vs. the Golden Retriever,” is printed on the spiked-up fur of a cat’s back. It reads: “Prickle’s [sic] fur / is sticking out / His back is arched. / His teeth are bared. / The dog he caught / in our backyard / is whimpering / and very scared.” An orange cat, with angry, puffed-up tail, arched back and bared teeth, occupies a quarter of the page, towering over the dog, who has flattened himself to the ground; readers see only his head, with a single tear coming from his eye, and a stretched-out paw. Capturing the spirit of each verse, Wertz turns a collection of otherwise unremarkable visual poems into a true treat for the eyes.

Kirkus associates. Review of A Curious Collection of Cats. (2009). Kirkus Reviews online. Retrieved from  http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/betsy-franco/a-curious-collection-of-cats/#review.

From Booklist

Words and pictures blend in these concrete poems about cats, written in forms that include haiku, limerick, and free verse. Once kids get the feel of how to follow the lines up and down or in curving jumps or around the page borders--they will have fun with the playful images. One poem is in the shape of a feline tail. Another describes Kabob the cat's fall upside down, and not only do the pictures show his movement, but the words do, too. When felines fight, the position of the words mirrors their furious screeches, howls, pouncing, and biting. Cat lovers will recognize the standoffs with arching backs, the cozy touch of the purrfect scarf on their shoulders, and the tech-savvy cat who walks across the keyboard to add her own note to an e-mail to a friend.-- Rochman, H. (2009). A curious collection of cats. Booklist. Retrieved from Bowker Books in Print.

Suggestions: Students can use this poetry book as an example of poems that they can write. They can even participate in writing this own shape poems. They don’t even have to write about cats but any subject or object that they would life. I think that incorporating fun activities with this book will really draw students attention. There could even be a book hour where the poems are read aloud and then students have time to make their own poetry.

Module 13: The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

Summary: Jane is forced to move from Metro city after an explosion almost kills her and others around her. Her parents want her to be safe and so they move to a small town called Kent Waters. Jane wants to change her entire image since she’s got a different outlook on life. She cuts off all of blonde hair and dyes it black. She doesn’t want to sit with the popular kids anymore. She decided to befriend 3 girls who look like misfits. Their names are Jane, Jayne, and Polly Jane. The girls do not care for Jane in the beginning but she devises a plan to get their attention. She comes up with this idea of organizing an art movement called P.L.A.I.N which stands for people loving art in neighborhoods. They would run around the city and create art projects from everyday objects each time leaving a note. Some were describing acts of kindness and others were simply art like wrapping trees in paper or putting bows on mail boxes. The police started calling it vandalism and wanted to catch the culprits. One night the Jane’s are almost caught but a boy from school named Damon but instead he warns them. Jane develops a crush on Damon but is too afraid to pursue anything. After Jane finds out that the John Doe that was in a coma after the explosion in Metro city was released she gets Damon to drive her there to get information on John Doe, he pen pal since the terrible day. Damon takes her but John Doe isn’t there anymore, he has been sent back to Poland. Jane is upset and they drive home but Damon and her make out briefly in the car. The last art project was planned to take place on New Year’s but it fails. Damon ends up taking the blame and Jane feels bad but is also happy that she has close friends and family to support her.   

Citation: Castellucci, C. & Rugg, J. (2007). The plain Janes. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Impressions: I think that this story was very interesting and entertaining. I think that it will attract the misfit students who are looking to do things outside the box. It’s also nice to see strong female characters. I like the idea of this graphic novel. I know that the main character was going through some issues and was just trying to find a way to cope. It sends a great message because she transfers her energy into helping others. She creates this movement within the dull town that actually brings them all together. She rejects anything normal or boring, making her own rules. On the other hand though she is still a child and scared for her being. The almost fatal explosion really did mess with her mind as well as her always worried mother. The illustrations were in black and white with bold boxes outlining each scene. It’s a classic graphic novel and keeps readers engaged.   

Reviews:

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 7–10—Young adult author Castellucci makes her graphic-novel debut with this quirky comic. Jane's parents relocate to the suburbs when she's caught in a bomb attack in Metro City. Bored and lonely in her new town and school, the teen is thrilled when she meets three other girls named Jane, all of them as out of place as she is. They form a secret club, the Plain Janes, and decide to liven up the town with art. Some people like their work, but most are frightened, and the local police call the Plain Janes' work "art attacks." Castellucci gives each girl a distinct personality, and spirited, compassionate Main Jane is especially captivating. Rugg's drawings aren't in superhero or manga style, but resemble the more spare, clean style of alternative comics creators such as Dan Clowes and Craig Thompson. A thoughtful look at the pressures to conform and the importance of self-expression, this is also a highly accessible read. Regular comics readers will enjoy it, but fans of soul-searching, realistic young adult fiction should know about it as well.

Goldstein,L. The Plain Janes. Brooklyn Public Library, NY: Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Plain-Janes-Minx-Graphic-Novels/dp/1401211151.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* For the first book in a new series aimed at teenage girls, DC comics recruited novelist Castellucci (Boy Proof, 2004, and The Queen of Cool, 2005) to write this story about outsiders who come together, calling up themes from the author's popular YA novels. Relocated to suburbia after a brush with disaster in the big city (and fueled by an urge not to be terrified of the world as a result), Jane rallies a small group of outcasts into a team of "art terrorists," shaking the town from its conservative complacency by putting bubbles in the city fountain and wrapping objects on the street as Christmas packages. Their activities end up rallying the local teenagers to their cause and working the adults into a dither. The book has its share of stereotypes--the science geek, the psychotically overprotective mother, the irrepressible gay teen--but this is thought-provoking stuff. The art, inspired by Dan Clowes' work, is absolutely engaging. Packaged like manga this is a fresh, exciting use of the graphic-novel format.

Jesse Karp, J. (March 15, 2007). The plain Janes. Book List. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/The-Plain-Janes-Cecil-Castellucci/pid=1911749.

Suggestions: I think this book could be a good book for a book club. It would also do well with a book trailer because of all the action and mystery of it.