Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil [Hardcover]

Wiley Miller (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Wiley Miller's comic strip, "Non Sequitur," is syndicated in more than 800 daily newspapers. Now he presents his first book for young readers--an exciting adventure about a boy who saves the world.

Talented and well-known syndicated comic strip artist Wiley Miller presents a stunningly illustrated tale of a boy who is bored by his life and ready to break free from the lighthouse he calls home. Led off by a wonderfully eccentric professor in a hot-air-balloon ship, Basil travels to another dimension where he and a new friend save the fantasy city of Helios from destruction.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–5—It's 1899, and 12-year-old Basil lives in a lighthouse on the coast of Maine. A dour, gnomish lad with an oversize head, he longs for adventure. When a balloon piloted by a kindly, mysterious man appears outside his window, the boy leaps aboard and soars off to a fantastic city in the sky. Professor Angus McGookin has brought him to Helios, the home of a secret, advanced society, and Basil is soon caught up in an adventure involving evil scientists, pteranodons, and mechanical armies. Miller's plentiful, full-color cartoons expand on the story, but there's little invention or character development in this rambling story. The narrative flow is clunky, with awkward shifts in perspective from Basil to that of an all-knowing narrator. Miller, creator of the comic strip "Non Sequitur," has crafted a hybrid picture book/short chapter book, but this tale fails to fulfill the promise of its attractive design.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Miller, who is known for his comic strip Non Sequitur, expands a story that first appeared in the Sunday funny papers. Basil, who is 12 but seems younger, finds his life tedious until a stranger whisks him away to a secret floating city, where he meets a new friend and stumbles upon a plot to dominate the world. Miller's lack of experience with longer narrative forms shows in the simplistic story arc and thin characterizations, and also in the episodes' choppy flow, in which the rhythms of a serialized cartoon are still apparent. Even so, the book's unusually plentiful illustrations make this worth a second glance. Varied in size and design, the full-color artwork amplifies the contrast between Basil's pinched, austere appearance and the extravagant wonders he sees--from flying reptiles to a boat suspended beneath a hot-air balloon. Together with such visuals, the spaciously designed text and plot-driven action will help struggling readers (or those new to chapter books) build confidence. An open conclusion hints at future installments. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439856655
• ISBN-13: 978-0439856652
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I began my career in art illustrating educational films. But my interest was always in print and cartooning, so in 1977 I moved from film in Southern California to work as a staff artist and editorial cartoonist for the Greensboro Daily News and the Greensboro Record (they were the morning and evening papers at the time and have since merged into one). In 1979 I moved on to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), as doing the staff art for one paper instead of two gave me more time to do editorial cartoons. My editorial cartoons then went into syndication with Copley News Service in 1980. Unfortunately, I was laid off in the recession of 1981, which, fortunately, led me to create my first comic strip, "Fenton", which was syndicated by Field Syndicate. It had moderate success, but my love was still with editorial cartooning. When the position came open at the San Francisco Examiner in 1984, I went for it and somehow got it. I enjoyed a good run there until the recession of 1991 hit in the wake of the Gulf War. Learning from my previous experience with recessions and the lack of job security for anyone in art, I decided to make my way out before the ax fell and created Non Sequitur, which went into syndication with the Washington Post Writers Group in 1992. It was met with immediate success, but it's growth with a small syndicate was limited. When I reached that limit, I moved over to Universal Press Syndicate in 2000, where the strip now appears in 800 papers world wide.Now, of course, I taken a new turn in my career, taking a story I did in the Sunday editions in 2005 called "Ordinary Basil" and made it into my first children's book with Blue Sky Press (a Scholastic imprint). The second book in the series, "Attack of the Volcano Monkeys", came out a year later, with a third book now in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out, Stanley Yelnatz, Basil's in town., November 16, 2006

By 

Elizabeth Elwell "Mom" (Bucks County, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil (Hardcover)

I am currently reading this book aloud at night to my 10 year old son who hates to read. He's a numbers kids, and likes facts, and history and geography, and it is difficult to find interesting historical fiction literature written to his age level. He is not a "Harry Potter" fan. We can't seem to get past the "Magic Treehouse" books which, I think, are a little too young for him, and not exactly great literature.

I picked this book up at our school's Scholastic Book Fair last week. He is completely sucked into it! It's an enthralling story of a boy, living in Maine and wishing for adventure in his ordinary life. It is set in 1899, and so far, I've hit pay dirt!. When I finished reading a section tonight, he asked if he could read ahead on his own! It is exciting, and extremely well written. It reminds me of a Roald Dahl novel, with inferences to historical events (World War I) and mythology (Atlantis). As you would expect from the author, the illustrations are fabulous. I highly recommend it. I predict it is going to be a huge hit -- the next "Holes". I can't wait to find out what happens next, but I, unlike my son, will have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Kids of all ages will enjoy, February 20, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil (Hardcover)

"Peace Through World Domination!" The comics parrot many a dictator and well-intentioned freedom fighter, while making us laugh. That is the joy of Attack of the Volcano Monkeys.

Wiley Miller's "Non Sequitur" is one of my favorite comics as it segues from mundane to otherworldly each weekend in the Sunday comics. There, Lucille, Beatrice Pterosaur, and Basil Pepperell have adventures-and I want to tag along. Their worlds make sense as they mirror portions of our own. They come closest to the 1960s political Pogo that I can find. Besides, I enjoy Maine accents and lighthouses. In these monkeyshines, Basil returns home from his last crusade to leave immediately on another. He must save little Louise from forbidden Monkey Island, which is not an island l, but a ship that some government has disguised as an island with which to control its indigenous monkey nations. HG Wells, Tarzan, and Star Trek would like a word with that government.

Professor McGookin and his magic round submarine help Louise, Basil, and his resistance fighter monkey-friend Rathbone (Basil...Rathbone, a Holmesian nod) to defeat a dictator and restore liberty to intelligent monkeys. Evil Doctor Von Rottweil (vicious like the dog), by turns, saves Basil's life and is imprisoned by the moneys he has experimented on, but escapes to "evil-ize" something else in the future. This is "HMS Pinafore" meets "The Producers" in "Springtime for Hitler in Germany." It makes me laugh while I think, but is a rollicking good time.

Additional animals play major parts in this story. Bug-eyed owls hunt children and monkeys, but are swept from the sky by Beatrice Pterosaur. Illustrations of this and other events swim around and behind the text to comprise a jaunty nautical reading experience.

In the end, children are smart, democratic revolution can overthrow dictatorship and false idols, and we are not monkeys to be tricked. Moral character lives in the heroes and even its villains. Basil upholds freedom and honor, encourages compassion towards all, and provides an extraordinary good time all at once.

Armchair Interviews says: Readers of all ages will enjoy Attack of the Volcano Monkeys.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Wait for Turtle Island, November 20, 2006

By 

K. O'Kelley (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil (Hardcover)

Kudos to Mr. Miller for this wonderful book. This was my 4-year-old's first chapter book and I was worried that it would not keep his attention. The first night we easily made it through the first chapter and after that, it was a struggle for him to let me put it down. Needless to say, he was disappointed that we have to wait for the next adventure. The characters were colorful (especially Bea for my little dinosaur lover) and the photos were fantastic.

Thank you for helping feed our imaginations!