Lily (age 8): This is a book called Sidekicks, and I'm gonna tell you about it.
Gracie (age 11): It's a graphic novel.
Lily: It's about Captain Amazing.
Gracie: He is a superhero.
Lily: He has a whole bunch of pets. They love him. And they always want to be with him, but he's always gone on his missions.
Isaac (age 12): Captain Amazing thinks he's getting too old, and he wants to get a sidekick to help him.
Gracie: So he's going to hold sidekick auditions. All of his pets have superpowers.
Isaac: They each want to become his sidekick so they can spend more time with him. They fight crime. And there are EXPLOSIONS!
Dad: Is it ever like that with kids and their dads too? Sometimes you want to be with me, but I have to work?
Gracie: YES. All the time.
Dad: Maybe you guys can be my sidekicks. You can sharpen my pencils for me.
Gracie: (sarcastically) That sounds... exciting...
Dad: Tell me about the four pets...
Gracie: I'll tell you about Shifty. Shifty is a chameleon. He changes colors to match his surroundings so you can't see him. His skin is his suit.
Isaac: The hamster's name is Fluffy. He thinks he doesn't have superpowers. But he still wants to be the sidekick so he can be closer to his dude.
Lily: The cat has electricity and can electrocute. The dog can turn into metal. His name is Metal Mutt.
Dad: Did you have a favorite part?
Gracie: Inside the penguin's igloo at the zoo there is a secret nightclub.
Lily: I like that place.
Isaac: Not that we go to nightclubs.
Dad: What was eating all the food... a hippo?
Gracie: Yeah. He had big fat butt cheeks.
Dad: We're not going to put "butt cheeks" in the review.
Gracie: "Bottom... cushions..."
Dad: If you could have a superpower what would you pick?
Lily: I would have night vision. I would go out at night and get all the bad guys while they are sleeping.
Dad: You would hate night vision. You already say that it's too bright for you to go to sleep at night. It would be like having the lights on all the time.
Isaac: I would have the power to go back in time. So if a bad guy punched me in the nose, I would go back in time and dodge it.
Dad: What would your snazzy superhero name be?
Isaac: (pause) Back-in-Time-Guy.
Dad: Pbbbbb.
Gracie: I would have shape shifting powers. I would catch a bad guy, and shape shift my hand into a big club. After I shoved him into a dumpster, I would shape shift into him, and then I would get the other guys. Wow! Pow! Pow! Shickapoo!
Dad: Do you know who made this book?
Gracie: Dan Santat.
Lily: This book is so cool that I am speechless.
Gracie: I loved your book, Dan Santat. It is definitely a good one. It was very action filled and funny too.
Lily: Everybody will like your book because it is, like, the awesomest book ever.
Isaac: You could so make another one. It's perfect for a sequel. Or a t.v. show - that would be awesome!
Dad: Any last words? Do you have a blurb?
Gracie: It is a fun fantasy about furry fighters of fury.
Dad: Wow... FFFantastic!
Gracie: It's Dan Santastic!
Metal Mutt stopping a rocket, by Isaac
the Chameleon and HIS sidekick? by Gracie
sidekicks, by LilyAuthor/Illustrator: Dan Santat
Published, 2011: Arthur A. Levine Books
Like it? Here it is
The fun's not over yet!
I almost never buy new books. Of the 3000+ children's books in our personal collection, I'm certain that less than 1% of them I purchased new. As a "starving artist," I'm content to wait for birthday gifts, and I make dedicated rounds to used book sources... 10 cents here, 50 cents there.
But I was so excited about Sidekicks, that I bought it the week it came out. My first new-release purchase in years. Then... the VERY next day... we received a review copy in the mail from the publisher. So we've got 2 copies! And I decided that, rather than return one, we'd give this great book to one of our readers.
To be entered in the Giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment below. It's that easy!
And while it's not necessary, if you'd like to turn it into 2 entries, include within your comment a favorite Bookie Woogie memory. The kids recently hit their 100th review (yea!) and it would be fun to celebrate that. So if you've been with us for a while, share a favorite moment from a Bookie Woogie review or interview, and you'll get two entries in the Giveaway.
We'll announce a winner on August 1st. Good luck!
21 comments:
This is already on my list of books to check out. Winning a copy would be excellent!
Odds are against me since I am one of the first. I am excited to read this graphic novel. The others you have suggested have been super fun.
My favorite Bookie Woogie memory is reading Repunzel's Revenge review. (check out that alliteration.) It was the first review I read and got me hooked on your blog. The armpit noises made me laugh out loud.
Count me in. I'd love to get a closer look at this.
I think my favorite memory is how excited the person who got me into your blog was when she found it. She became an instant fan and, while I'm not the rabid reader she is (I have to do that whole work thing, y'know), I love to see what books you chose and how involved y'all get in the books.
Would be nice to get that book.
I have enjoyed reading the reviews and especially watching how you and your children interact in the review. I have tried the same books on my kids and was amazed to see how they respond to similar type of questions as yours.
It would be fun to know if they all read the book together or read it individually before you review it with them. Wondering how it works with kids of different age reviewing the same book.
Great blog, keep it coming!
This is my first time reading this blog. I follow Dan Santat on Facebook and followed his link to this blog. I like the format of the reviews a lot. Genius. Let children review children's books. I haven't gone out to buy this book yet. If I can win it, even better.
I'll pass on the contest, even though the book sounds great! But I immediately thought of a favorite memory: the whole discussion about Howie Mandel in the review of the Inkheart movie. I laughed so hard I cried!
I've only been reading a little while. I came over from the drawing blog. I gotta say that I think Gracie's picture in this review is kind of hilarious.
I'd love to add this book to my classroom! (I'm a huge thrift and bargain store shopper, too, due to the sheer volumes of books I try to add to our class library each year to keep things fresh!)
I love the review format and the kids' opinions and the drawings are just sweet icing on the cupcake!
This comic looks awesome...
My favourite review was Chuckling Ducklings! Not just because I won a zdad sketch, but because we got special insight into zdads way of working. I love all the illustrator/author interviews!
My son would LOVE this book. I am going to reserve it at the library right now.
Oh, and one of my favorite memories is when the kids interviewed their grandma it was so sweet!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I enjoy all your reviews, but it made me especially happy to see Just So Stories getting some love!
I love giveaways! I love Dan Santat as well and haven't has a chance to pick up Sidekicks yet!
My favorite review has been #96 with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon with shadow puppets in 92 seconds! Simply amazing!
Lastly, I think you should check out Chris Van Dusen. I didn't see his name on your list of author/illustrators and I think you'd love him!
A free book? Please count me in. ;)
My favorite Bookie Woogie memory was actually the recent 100th book review competition. Even though it wasn't "my" book, I was really thrilled to see "Just So Stories" on top. My mom used to read that to me. And of course, I loved seeing the pictures at the end of the review.
wow, this sounds awesome!
So. My favorite memory spans time. I absolutely adore the Little Panda review and I remember when you said you wanted a print of one of the pictures. And now you have one, right?! I thought that was so cool.
This book sounds amazing.
I love all the Bookie Woogie reviews; I don't comment often, but I do read them all. I can't think of my favorite particular review, but it's most fun when my kids read behind my shoulder and say, "I want to read that!"
And we've started making our own family trading cards, which has been awesome. (That was probably from Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty, though.)
Anyway, keep up the good work!
--Wendy Jones
Saw this at the bookstore and would love to have it for my boys!
I'm a middle school teacher and would love this for my classroom library. Excited to be in the drawing!
This is my first time on the blog so I don't have any favorite moments...yet. Just from first glance, I know this is a blog I'm going to frequent regularly. I look forward to the favorite moments that are in my future :)
I'm another new-ish reader, so I don't yet have a favorite moment. My neighbor forwarded me this blog, since she knew I'd love it as a librarian, homeschooling, mom of 4. And I'm sure we'd all love Sidekicks! I'm inter-library loaning it right now. It sounds awesome.
Hoping I've snuck in under the deadline as it's already Aug 1st! My 8 year old would adore this - superheroes in graphic format. Definitely right up his street. And good to hear that we're not the only family who gathers books as thriftily as possible.
WOW! so nice of you to share the love of "Sidekicks" with us! Count me in for entering the contest! I looks like a very impressive book for all ages!
Thanks everyone for your comments!
Names have been compiled... points have been doubled... Winner is being drawn... And the book goes to:
Alice Young!
Congratulations! I hope you enjoy "Sidekicks" as much as we do!
Z-Dad
Post a Comment