Customer Reviews

The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I took a chance on this book because I enjoyed the better children's comic book stories from the 1940s and 1950s that I had seen over the years. I also trusted the editor Art Spiegelman to edit a quality book.

I'm glad I bought this book - because it is a wonderful, high quality book with excellent story and art content. At about 11 1/2 inches by 9 1/2 inches and over 350 pages, it's a great value at the $40 suggested retail price. At Amazon's discounted price, it's a super bargain!

The stories are mainly 1940s through the 1950s, with one story as early as 1939 and another as late as 1965. I like the five different chapters containing the different type of children's stories - stories about kids, funny animals, fantasy, storytime, and weird & wacky.

There were several stories that I recognized that are among my favorites - such as a Fox and the Crow story titled "The Great Chiseler" from 1951, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories, and the comic book story of the UPA cartoon "Gerald McBoing Boing", which translates well to paper.

I also enjoyed discovering many stories I had never read before - which was fun for me because I had read many such stories over the years.

The large pages and full color will make this book a treat for any child - no matter what age you are. I am 60 years old but I would have loved this book back in my early childhood and all the years in between.

This is an awesome collecton of some of the nicest comics that one would have read and relished as a little kid.

First of all the book is very well put together physically.

* The size simply stuns you!... humongous book
* Stacked with page after...page after..page of full color comics
* Printed in an amazingly thick matt (non-glossy, non-shiny) paper
* Brings out the vividness of the pen/brush art and the true colors
* The soft off-white page color makes them as they appeared in the originals
* The binding is perfect, nice to grab and handle.
* There is enough margin space, and the author/story name is printed along

Other publishers should take a note from this book. The glossy/shiny papers that we have suddenly become fixated with, ruins the art.

This lovely collection includes comics from the 40/50s of
* Unca Scrooge
* Donald Duck
* Dennis the menace
* Little Archie
* Little Lulu
* Pogo
* Fox and Crow
* Captain Marvel

to name a few.

Each character is present in one,two or three stories max, and hence makes a nice mix of all the nice stories.

There are 67 stories in total grouped into five categories,
* Hey, Kids
* Funny Animals
* Fantasyland
* Story Time
* Wacky & Weird

This is a must for the oldtimers who want to get back in time to catch up on some of their best times, and this is awesome for newcomer kids(as well as adults ofcourse) to get introduced to some of the nice stories and comics of a simple, innocent and happy era.

Kudos to the editors and the publisher. we want to see more of these.

You can't go wrong with this one, that too with the steep discounted price!

This redoubtable collection is a celebration of everything that makes comics worth celebrating: the sheer joy and innocence of discovering what happens when you mix lively art with more than a dab of color and throw it together sequentially to tell an exciting narrative. That the book is edited by two of the true luminaries of the field speaks to the quality of the work contained within.

Neither needs an introduction, but it would be a disservice to not mention that Art Spiegelman is the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Maus and his wife, Françoise Mouly, is the art editor of The New Yorker. Together, they run Toon Books, which has the delightful mission of creating comics that are suited and age-appropriate for kids.

The expansive treasury covers a wide gamut of the Golden Age of comics publishing and represents just about every genre conceivable within that time. There are superheroes, funny animals, pure fantasy, swashbuckling adventure, and some very familiar faces (Sugar and Spike, Dennis the Menace, Little Lulu, Uncle Scrooge, among others). The stories in the book are grouped into five sections ("Hey, Kids!," "Funny Animals," "Fantasyland," "Storytime," and "Weird and Wacky"), so it's easy to go right to the type of tale you're in the mood for.

Some kids might skip past the insightful introduction by author Jon Scieszka and the much longer foreword from the two editors, but adults will enjoy the commentary. The foreword in particular is a veritable treasure trove of information about the history of what's contained in the rest of the book, as well as charming explanations from the editors about why they included what they did and why they left other things out.

At $40, this is a pricy kids' book, of course, and is perhaps more of an adult one. Wherever it ends up in the library or home, it's clear that it has mass appeal. There was a time when comics weren't so edgy or controversial but instead just had a distinct charm that kids could easily relate to. Kids nowadays will still feel it, and no doubt adults will want to relive it as well.

-- John Hogan

This oversized book reprints children's comic books from the 1940s and 1950s. Of course, nearly all comic books of the time period were aimed at children, but in this case it means comic books that are appropriate for the very youngest children. Almost all of the comics here could be classified as "humor" comics. There are many classic stories featuring well known characters like Donald Duck, Little Lulu and Dennis the Menace. But the real find is great stories featuring obscure characters like Intellectual Amos, Nutsy Squirrel, Supermouse and Burp the Twerp. This book puts the "treasure" in "treasury".

Great stuff for all ages of comics and comics art. My nephews and nieces (ages 6-4) love these kinds of comic stories.

This is a very comprehensive collection of comics. I gave it as a Christmas gift to my adult children, and I'm sure they will enjoy reading and remembering comics from their youth.

A book for company - and children. Enjoyed by all. It Lulu and others in her era.

Our kids like sharing their parents' pasts, and The TOON Treasury is another way of doing this. My expectations have been exceeded. When the cover was opened, silence ensued. I think that the matching of words to graphic deeds in comics is probably the best early reading program we will ever create. The same applies to Masterpiece Comics.

My adult son loved this book as he is a fan of classics and a fan of comics. This is like a history book of all those comics from the early days when everyone was buying them or reading them in the newspaper, maybe in the 40's and 50's.

Nostalgic for the comics of old? This book gets top marks for bringing back the best memories of childhood. The Barks and Kelly comics of the long past, especially, hit home. Fun comics that everyone from 6 to 96 could enjoy. Its lack of super duper musclebound silliness was especially appreciated. They just don't make comics like they used to. An especially enjoyable journey back into childhood.I hope there are sequels in the future. My most hearty recommendation.