Customer Reviews

SuperHero ABC

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Long time comic book fans know Bob McLeod as the co-creator (with Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson) of the "New Mutants," an offshoot of the X-Men. From the late 1970's to the early 1990's, he was one of the busiest inkers in comics, finishing the comic art of some of the most popular artists in comics: John Buscema, Dave Cockrum, Todd McFarlane (of "Spawn" fame), George Perez, and Mike Zeck to name a few. On his own, Bob drew the adventures of Spider-Man and Superman, among others. He currently draws "The Phantom" comic book published in Europe.

SuperHero ABC is Bob's first children's book. Ostensibly a book to teach children the alphabet, SuperHero ABC is actually a fun way to increase the vocabulary of children between the ages of 4 and 8. Bob takes each letter of the alphabet and creates a superhero or super team for that letter. For instance, the letter "A" gives us "Astro-Man." As the text reads, "Astro-Man is Always Alert for An Alien Attack."

It goes on like that for the entire alphabet as Bob uses a bevy ("B" is for Bubble-Man) of costumed heroes in delightful bursts of word play and mouths full of alliteration. He gives us such novel and zany characters as "Goo Girl" for "G," the three-eyed alien, "Jumping Jack" for "J," and "The Volcano" for "V," who "Vomits on Villains." The book also marks the first appearance of star-in-the making "Sky-Boy." "T" gives us "The Terrific Three."

Bob is an accomplished illustrator, and the cartoon art here will remind readers of the art style of Disney/Pixar's "The Incredibles." I heartily recommend this to anyone who wants to give a boy or a girl an alphabet-vocabulary book because children do like superheroes - look at the success of such movie franchises as "Batman," "Spider-Man," "the X-Men," and even "The Incredibles."

In a world of pre-fab education for kids, SuperHero ABC stands out as an artful, eye-popping, color-wowing extravaganza that kids and parents will love. Dozens of original new "superheroes" were created to showcase the letters of the alphabet. The figures are funny, gross, impressive, shapely, wacky... The puns flow freely. Be ready for silly and superlative surprises...

As a grandmother of three pre-school age grandsons, I found SuperHero ABC to be a hit. The colorful illustrations and wonderful alliterations hold the attention and interest of young children. Everytime I read the book to my grandsons, we find new things to learn and explore. The boys love pointing out the various letter words as we go thru the alphabet.It is wonderful that the alphabet can become SuperHeroes to children as they learn to read and understand language skills. I would recommend this for all young children and the parents and grandparents who read to them.

Who is seriously stoked about his new SuperHero book! My 4 year old son has been running around the house likey Speedy Boy (who comes from another book) since I brought this home. The full color pages are beautiful and bright, there are some great, new, large vocabulary words that are easy for the kids to understand because of the context the pictures give the reader. I think another reviewer mentioned the appropriate amount of grossness (very midly and tastefully depicted), which is right on, because you need to have someone passing gas, someone vomitting and someone with his underwear on over his clothes, to make a really successful book for little boys right? There are some great female characters too. There is no violence. It is an absolutely fantastic book. Some pages are single pages for each hero and a couple get a double page spread. When I was searching for a book about Superheros for my young son, aside from the fact that I was actually looking for something with well-known characters, this nailed what I wanted exactly. Something very young, bright, and educational. I cannot say enough about it. I would have bought this for him as early as 3 years and I know we will read it for several years to come. Actually, my 2 year old son is already saying some of the names with us as we read too! If you are like me, I usually buy paperback books unless they are tried and true must have children's library titles, award winners, or books I have already seen and read in person to know I want to spend the money on the hard covers. I wish I had just gotten the hard cover version of this. I would also suggest, if you have a Superhero freak on your hands, that you buy the Chicken Socks (by Klutz) Super Hero Starter Kit so that your son can use the included cape, masks, stickers and wristbands to transform hinself into his own Super Hero, as well as a not very well known but absoutely adorable book "I'm Going To Be the Best Superhero Ever" Which is actually my son's very favorite book!

We had the pleasure of meeting Bob McLeod this weekend and purchased his new book, SUPERHERO ABC. My son, who is not quite 2 1/2, immediately responded to the characters!
When we arrived back to our home he quickly chimed in with,"Mommy, hero book ... PLEASE".
Mr. Mcleod was gracious enough to sign this one for my son so we may have to buy another book for my Alexander to carry around. Again, let me remind you HE'S 2!!!
I also think that the style is a great throw back to the classic greatness of the comic books of the golden age. Comics that were made for KIDS.
Remember Moms and Dads,kids who read comic books ...READ.
And I can tell you from experience that this comic book-style childrens book is an engaging way to get your young one excited about reading:o)
A++ for this book!

My husband and daughter stumbled across this book at the local library, and what a find! My 4 1/2 year old, whose interest in letters and reading was lackluster at best, is now identifying most letters and some words. Plus she's suddenly less scared of "scary" things -- a relief to us, sci-fi fans that we are. This has become our bedtime reading staple, and I, for one, am still enjoying the fun illustrations and humorous bits. It's quite an accomplishment to write a book that Mom enjoys too after 20 or 30 readings. Great job Mr. McCloud! We hope you write more like this!

This is a darling book for active little boys and a fun way to work on learning their ABC's and their sounds. We love this book and it has been a favorite for a couple years now. Each year my son, I have two, takes it to class to have the teacher read out loud and it is the hit of the season. I'd gauge the age range for this book at about 3-5 years. We love it so much we are getting it for each of our friends who have young boys for Christmas. It'd be a great reasonably priced birthday gift as well. The family will thank you for it, I am sure. Amazing illustrations. There are a couple yucky superheros in it, while not being disturbing or violent, that appeal to the "gross out" factor in every boy while still keep them working on those letter sounds. Something for everyone! You won't regret it. I just want Mr. McLeod to write a couple more.

As a former elementary teacher and now a grandmother, I buy and enjoy a lot of children's books. I found this one by chance on line at Amazon, bought two for my grandsons (3 and 4). I was so impressed I even showed it to my husband who also thought it was just great for young children who enjoy super heroes and are learning their ABCs. This book is funny, colorful, and original. I highly recommend it. I may even buy another copy for my own collection of children's books.

I bought this for a friend whose son loves all super heros and ended up reading it to my 4 year old daughter over and over- it's really cute and made laugh out loud--

The other reviewers have already written a lot about what's so great about this book. To keep it simple: it's fun and, as a mother, it's a breath of fresh air to read a child's book that makes me laugh out loud. Danger Man doesn't have a dog.....that just cracks me up. So does "Captain Cloud.....he's so cool" and "Firefly.....She has fat feet". And wouldn't you just sometimes love to be able to vomit on people that bug you the way that Vomit Man can? (Yeah, OK, I know one of the reviewers thought Vomit Man was gross.....I guess I've spent too much time changing diapers and potty training my kid to be grossed out by an illustration!) The fact that my three year old, who walks around for days on end in his Batman costume, loves the book is the icing on the cake.