Book Summary: Traction Man is a strange tale of a super hero action figure who is a Christmas gift for his boy. He has plenty of adventures through out this story. One line in particular stood out to me, and I wonder if children catch onto it. " They were put into suspended animation for some of the journey". They arrive at Granny's house and she knitted a gift also. A green one piece romper suit with match bonnet. The villains laugh at him, but his trusty sidekick the scrubbing brush,helps to save the day. This is a great book for all readers of any age.
APA Reference of Book:
Grey, M. (2005). Traction Man is here!. New York: Alfred A. Knopf :.
Impressions: I had never heard of Traction man when my sons were younger. This is the second book I have read about Traction man and I have to say he is growing on me. The drawing are well done, and the author has a great sense of humor. The box he arrives in at Christmas has a warning on the side and added at the end is "Do Not Microwave". The sense of adventure that this boy has with his action figure is pretty impressive, and today's children I don't think would be that creative. The rescues, the missions, the out comes are all cleverly thought out.
Professional Review:
A cluttered house, lovingly rendered in comic-book panels by Grey (The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be ), provides a perilous landscape for the titular square-jawed action figure. Readers infer Traction Man's origins from a "Dear Santa" letter on the title page ("I expect you know about what happened to my old Traction Man and the Terrible Parachute Accident") and a gift-box on a sleeping boy's bed. The new Traction Man, replete with special outfits, soon meets trouble in a flowerbed and among dirty dishes: "Traction Man is diving in the foamy waters of the Sink (wearing his Sub-Aqua Suit....) Oh, no! This Poisonous Dishcloth will envelop Traction Man and suffocate him!" Pursued by the glaring, squidlike Dishcloth, Traction Man is pulled to safety by a "brave little Scrubbing Brush," portrayed as a doglike sidekick with bristles for feet. Brown-paper thought balloons with italic type indicate the real-time story line; "I think it's someone's bathtime..." signals the hero's encounter with the Mysterious Toes, which he tickles into submission. Artful watercolor panels alternate with full-page compositions, and the keyed-up narrative is printed on torn graph-paper scraps for a casual, homemade effect. Grey sets the events on a damp English Christmas, but the holiday takes the back seat to the boy's implied stage-managing of Traction Man and transformation of ordinary objects. Will Traction Man rescue the quivering Cupcake from the villainous Doctor Sock? Stay tuned. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
Children's Book Review: TRACTION MAN IS HERE! by Mini Grey, Author, Mini Grey, Illustrator . Knopf $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-83191-1. (2005, April 1). PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved , from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-375-83191-1
Library Uses: This book would be a great book for library time, group reading. Guessing what will happen, what could be a different ending, what other adventures could they think of that Traction man could go on.
No comments:
Post a Comment