Customer Reviews

Luke on the Loose (Toon)

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The TOON Book idea was simple. Produce books for early readers in a comic book format, as created by a variety of different author/illustrators. Cat in the Hat with speech bubbles, if you will. The problem? Children's authors often say that novels are easy and picture books are hard. I'd take that one step further. Picture books are hard but easy books are near impossible. To be truly great you have to reinvent the genre. Seuss did. Mo Willems certainly has with his Elephant and Piggie. And until now the TOON Books have been finding their footing. They've hired a lot of artists that haven't done extensive work in the children's arena, and the result is that they're still figuring out the best way to present their material. And then came Bliss. Harry Bliss has been knocking off picture books left and right for a number of years now. He knows how to make an idea succinct. How to synthesize words into their most essential forms. And best of all, how to make it funny. "Luke on the Loose" may be the best TOON Book to come out so far. Hopping and hip, Bliss takes a simple idea and takes it to its logical extreme.

The first rule of toddler to preschool aged children? You don't let your eyes wander from them for a second. Not so much as a minute. It is a lesson Luke's dad is about to learn. While talking to a fellow grown-up in the park, the man fails to note the moment when Luke, entranced by the sheer proximity of pigeons, takes off with a mighty "YAAH!" Through the streets, over people's heads, around and about and through, Luke is a pigeon-chasing force of nature. While his parents alert every possible authority, the boy crosses from Manhattan into Brooklyn and it isn't until he falls asleep on a water tower that some nice firefighters can rescue him for once and for all. So the next time Luke's in the park? His dad has employed a clever solution.

Gotta give the man credit for the concept. When I was a kid, chasing animals was a fine sport. We didn't have pigeons where I grew up, mind, so I mostly restrained myself to rabbit and squirrel chases (score thus far - Squirrels & Rabbits: 22, Betsy: 0). And kids love tearing off towards a moving goal. If there were any flaw I'd have to say it would be the fact that Luke never actually gets a pigeon. You ever tried to catch a pigeon in New York City? Brother, I would bet you cold hard cash that if I walked outside my home right now I could probably pluck one of those fat, lazy little birds from the street with my bare hands. The pigeons of the city have many charms but speed and agility are not amongst them.

I don't want to go about speculating about Bliss's influences (his website is certainly mute on the point). I'm sure that as a New Yorker cartoonist he'd rattle off your usual list of hoity with the toity. He probably has a weakness for the odd 50s horror comic book as well. But one influence I detected in this book, perhaps unconsciously on his part, was a weird ode to Garry Trudeau and Berkeley Breathed. With his New Yorker cartoons Bliss has tended to limit himself a single panel. Faced with the sheer abundance of multiple panels, however, he's definitely drawn upon the Trudeau/Breathed school of jokes and gaggery. Nowhere is this more evident than in a six panel, two-page sequence where our hero bursts into a restaurant, leaping from patron to patron in his quest for flapping pigeons. The focus of the scene remains on the table of a man proposing to his girlfriend. Though lots of action happens around and about him, our view never shifts. Everything from the old man's spit take to the shot of the table itself screams weekday comic strip to me generally, and Bloom County / Doonesbury specifically.

The rest of the book spends a lot of time asking the reader to pay attention to what's going on in the background. In fact, almost more than teaching kids how to read on their own, I see "Luke on the Loose" as a title that will actually teach kids how to read a comic book. A lot of the story requires the reader to learn how to follow a story from one panel to another. And when you add in background stories as well, then a kid not only is reading the main story, but they're also backtracking and finding subplots and repeated characters and images to help them make sense of the images before them. I hear a lot of adults who never grew up with comics say that they have a hard time reading them. To them, I would hand "Luke on the Loose". It seems to have applications above and beyond the initial intent.

With its fast-paced trip from Manhattan to Brooklyn (a helpful map appears at the end for anyone interested) this is a uniquely New York book, true. And Bliss has filled it with a multi-ethnic cast (even going so far as to include cartoon characters like Olive Oyl . . . oddly). This really does feel like a New York title, but not so much that readers around the country will be turned off. Basically it just boils down to a fun romp, a child fantasy, and a great little easy-to-read comic that everyone can enjoy. Rural and suburban. Big and little.

Really the star of the show here is the art, the layout, and the premise. The text fulfills its purpose but it's not the main draw. As a whole "Luke on the Loose" is a fun book and a worthy addition to the Bliss oeuvre. Worth a gander, certainly.

The Francoise Mouly-edited Toon Books are among the best edited and conceived books in all of comics (regardless of genre). It's hard to think of a better introduction to the art form than these books, which cleverly disguise their pedagogic nature in the form of their stories. At their heart, these books are Comics 101 courses, carefully breaking down and isolating what makes comics successful and how to make this plain to anyone. Take the covers, for example. Great care is taken to indicate that this isn't simply another illustrated picture book, but rather something far more immersive. The word balloon attached to a character on the cover screams "comics!" and makes a new reader pause to try to figure out how word and image are interacting. Above the main illustration on the cover are a couple of panels depicting action, whetting the reader's appetite for the book's content and again letting them know that this is something different from what they're used to.


After I finished reading Bliss' LUKE ON THE LOOSE, I immediately thought "This is an entry-level Will Elder comic". Reading his bio, he notes that he grew up loving Will Elder, so it was no surprise to see all sorts of eye pops and background gags in addition to the manic main storyline. This story is also a love letter to New York city, in all its diverse glory. It's about a little boy named Luke who squirms away from his father in Central Park in order to chase pigeons, and his tireless chase leads him halfway across the city, causing chaos in his wake.

Bliss packs layers of gags Elder-style on each page, often inserting famous comics characters into his scenes or having animals provide commentary. The way he uses animals in particular is very funny, as when a dog leaps into his owner's arms and hugs him like a person. I love the way the book depicts New York as being simultaneously perilous and packed with potential adventure, yet still full of caring individuals.

Like many of the other Toon Books, it's remarkable in how well constructed this is, given that Bliss is not greatly experienced in crafting long-form comics. The design of the book (simple and elegant) and the steady editorial hand of Mouly no doubt made it easy for him to adapt to a new form. The long-term effect of Toon Books won't be felt for quite some time, though one hopes it will encourage a new generation to read comics and continue to read comics throughout their lives.

Luke On The Loose from the ever excellent Toon Books is a kinetic MAD influenced romp through New York city as one little boy chases and chases and chases pigeons all the way across the city.

The MAD influence comes out in the little touches on every single page, where the backgrounds have so much extra information, so many wonderful little gags, so many great visual reactions to Luke's romp across the city. It's something that hasn't really been in Toon Books yet, as they've rather preferred to tell beautifully simple children's tales, but the inclusion of these extras makes this far more than a beautiful and exciting children's book.

Luke is out with his dad for a trip to the park, when he decides that the day would be far better if it was spent in a madcap pursuit of pigeons across the city. So he slips off and careers through the park, through the streets, over the bridge into Brooklyn and beyond. He eventually comes to rest high on a rooftop near nightfall where he and the pigeons curl up to sleep and stay still long enough for a rescue and his reunion with a pair of terribly relieved parents. Along the way he causes consternation, confusion and chaos in his wake.

Luke On The Loose is an absolute masterpiece of a children's book, one of those that whips by at frenetic pace but leaves you with a huge grin and a great feeling that lasts long after bedtime. Entertaining to adults just as much as children, with both parties getting something different from the tale. Children will love the manic chase across the city and adults (at least adults like me) will delight in the background touches and the little extras on every page that are guaranteed to raise more than a chuckle.

Harry Bliss' work will more than likely be new to you, having previously been seen in the pages of the New Yorker and many beautifully illustrated American children's books. This is his first work in comics. I'm really hoping that it's the first of many.

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to receive the Fall 2008 line of Toon Books (see my review.) My son and I both treasure these books, and that's a very good thing because I read them to him all the time! I can't tell you how many times we've read them, but he's still laughs like a nut each and every time. So I was very excited when I received a package with two more of these Toon Books -- THE BIG NO-NO! and LUKE ON THE LOOSE. Both books are part of the Spring 2009 line and will be released in May 2009.

If you're not familiar with Toon Books, they are a line of comics for young readers. TOON Books' Editorial Director Francoise Mouly (who is also Art Editor of The New Yorker) and Advisor Art Spiegelman (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winner MAUS) introduced these books for young readers in Spring 2008. These books have since received loads of terrific praise. Schools are even beginning to use these comics in the classrooms as part of their reading curriculum.

THE BIG NO-NO and LUKE ON THE LOOSE were very similar to the other TOON books that we've read. Since they are in a comic book format, they have loads of pictures with lots of color and are jam-packed with action. There are few words on each page so the early reader won't get easily frustrated; and there is also lots of word repetition -- perfect for a young one who is learning to read. Another huge benefit is that the stories are filled with humor which definitely keeps my little guy interested. Take a look at some sample pages from LUKE ON THE LOOSE to get a better idea of how wonderful these books are!

These books will certainly appeal to kids ages four and up, but I love how they will especially appeal to young boys. Sadly, young boys often times just aren't interested in reading as girls of the same age. I think these comic books will definitely help to bridge that gap. I can see how these comics would encourage even the most reluctant reader to pick up a book.

I LOVE these books and look forward to reading them many more times with my son. I appreciate how he enjoys the stories now (at four years old), but I know that he will also love these books as he begins reading. I highly recommend checking these books out if you have a young child who is learning to read!

Luke on the Loose, by Harry Bliss, is a cute little story about a little boy named Luke who runs after pigeons. He runs and runs after them, forgetting about the rest of the world. This book would appeal to the recommended age group (grades K-2). There are lots of fun and silly illustrations.

Here's the rundown on TOON Books: The books are stories in comic book form for young readers. The series advisor is Art Spiegelman, author of the well-regarded Maus graphic novels. Each of the books is recommended for children ages four and up and children in kindergarten through second or third grade. I love this idea of introducing children to the comic book/graphic novel form and enjoyed each of the books. I highly recommend them for the intended age groups.

I LOOOOOVE the pictures in this story about a little boy lost in the big city without a care while his frantic parents enlist the help of passersby and firemen to find him. So will you, if you are familiar with popular comics of the past. In the background, you'll find Olive Oyl, Tintin, Captain Haddock, and the Incredible Hulk.

On the other hand, I don't think this book fulfills the mission of Toon Books quite as well as other selections. There are simply insufficient words on the many pages filled with "Coo," "Flap-flap-flap," and "Aaaah!"

Still the story is charming and silly, and extremely well illustrated. It may win over previously-unenthusiastic readers on these counts.

In this cartoon style graphic novel, little Luke gets bored while his dad talks to another dad, and runs amok in the city, chasing pigeons. Not only are the pictures cartoonish, the situations are as well. Most of the pictures are of Luke running, pigeons flying away, or Luke sweeping up leaves or wind in his wake. Dinners are interrupted, animals are frightened, buildings are scaled, before Luke falls asleep mid-climb, and is rescued and handed back to his relieved father. Good for kids who like action or who are amused by cartoon antics.

The plot of Luke on the Loose is simplicity itself: A little boy breaks free from his father's grasp and chases a flock of pigeons across New York City, causing havoc all the way.

Luke's father and a friend are conversing in "boring dad talk" when Luke is distracted by the pigeons. He runs after them, screaming, and winds up chasing them through Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge, absolutely oblivious to the chaos he and the pigeons are creating as they bring traffic screeching to a halt, disrupt a proposal of marriage, and knock over ice cream cones, until finally the pigeons fly up to the rooftops and Luke shimmies up a fire escape to join them. Luke climbs to the top of a water tower and falls contentedly asleep, surrounded by his beloved pigeons.

Meanwhile, Luke's parents are frantically looking for him, and grownups are watching out along the way, so the story never gets scary. Instead, it winds up with a terrific rescue by firemen in a ladder truck, although Luke sleeps soundly through the whole thing.

The story is very energetic, and it's easy to charge through the panels without stopping to look too closely. That would be a shame, because when Bliss fills a panel with detail, it's worth looking at. In the very beginning, while Luke's father looks frantically for his son, the background is filled with the aftermath of Luke's pigeon chase--a fleeing dog, a riderless skateboard flying into the panel. Bliss repeats some of these details in the final sequence, which is a nice touch. And he also sprinkles allusions to other comics throughout the story: Olive Oyl and Tintin show up in one scene, and other panels include cameos of Captain Haddock, the Incredible Hulk, and what looks like a Thurber dog (it's reading a newspaper).

Luke on the Loose has a classic comic-book look, dominated by flat areas of bright color. Bliss often uses big panels, filling a whole page with a single action, such as Luke's father looking frantically around him or Luke leaping through the air, surrounded by pigeons. Other times he uses a series of horizontal panels to show several moments of the chase in quick succession. The curving roads accentuate the sense of motion, and in one panel, a pigeon seems to fly off the page toward the reader.

Despite the simplicity of the concept, this is not an easy story to read aloud. Some panels have no dialogue at all, while in others, the characters are conversing about ordinary things as Luke bears down on them in the background. The adult cannot rely on the text but must describe the action and the details using his or her own words. Fortunately, Bliss has provided plenty of material to work with.

-- Brigid Alverson

Parents will love this one as much as the kids - or more! What ALL the Toon Books deliver is realistic vignettes of life, teaching lessons without being obvious or forced in the slightest. Wonderful books. Love them all so far!

Luke on the Loose is a wild and wacky pigeon chase through the streets of New York, told in comic book format for young readers (although this is a nice hardback, not at all comic book-like). In Central Park one day, young Luke's father strikes up a boring conversation with another adult. A flock of pigeons catches Luke's eye, and with a blood curdling YAAH! he sends them flying. Off he goes in pursuit-YAAH! YAAH! flap flap flap through Manhattan and into Brooklyn, leaving a trail of feathers and startled byststanders. His father and the police and the firefighters set off to the rescue...Great fun!