FICTION

The Big Book of Superheroes

by Bart KING
illus. by Greg Paprocki. 288p. appendix. bibliog. chron. Gibbs Smith. 2014. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781423633976. LC 2013027903.
COPY ISBN
Gr 5 Up—Much like The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls (both HarperCollins, 2007), Superheroes offers a tongue-in-cheek guide to adventure and all things heroic. King mixes superhero lore with tips on how to be a superhero. This book provides insight into popular figures like Iron Man, but also offers offbeat trivia (such as the fact that DC Comic's Captain Marvel is also known as "Shazam," for the powers of heroes and gods he possesses—Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury). This highly browsable book features chapters such as, "Your Supername!" and "Acting Like a Superhero!" Entertaining black-and-white comics are peppered throughout. This is a great extension to the concept of superheroes, allowing students to explore their own "powers" and is an excellent addition to library and classroom collections.—Sarah Knutson, American Canyon Middle School, CA
In this tongue-in-cheek, trivia-packed how-to for the budding superhero, King covers everything from a ranking of the top superpowers to origin stories to silly superpranks. Silly, chatty prose and comics-style line drawings underscore the humor and help break up the rather exhaustive information aimed at superhero-obsessed readers. Timeline. Bib.
Reviewed by Sarah Knutson , May 01, 2014

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