These two installments continue Zita’s mad cap adventures int his fantastical space world building and ever growing found family of humans (whose backstory
and adventures would make for an excellent spin off series), robots, and aliens. Hatke wraps up the main macro-plot of this trilogy by the end of The Return but also left the door wide open for Zita to have even more adventures. These will definitely go on my classroom shelves.
I picked up book one in this graphic novel adaptation of a previously published series because the book room at my school had the fourth book. I expected to at least be able to tolerate the story even if it was not the book for me. Unfortunately, this adaptation fell flat on its face. Since I have not read the original prose, I do not know how faithfully this adaptation is to the original. That being said, even if it stuck faithfully to the original, I
would not keep this on my classroom shelves. This graphic novel thrusts the reader into an already established world and spends little time on explanations. For kids just starting to develop abstract thinking skills, a lack of explanation tanks the reading experience. Next, this book had far too many characters with little distinction between many of them. Finally, the art style felt muted and muddled. I will not continue with this series.
The Comix subscription picked yet another fantastic entry. This book stars a young aspiring orc doctor working at the Creature Clinic treating all sorts of fantastical fairytale creatures while also struggling under the pressure of having her mother not only run the clinic but supervise her with exacting standards. When a human shows up – caught in the shoe of a sick giant, the main character must decide whether she will follow her
mother’s orders to dispose of (and not treat) him or live by the code that her mother has always taught her; the Creature Clinic treats all creatures. I loved this story, all the side characters, and the way that the author developed the plot and the main character. So much fun!
Roald Dahl wrote some weird stories. I realized while reading that I have not read the original nor watched the movie adaptation so I cannot speak to the faithfulness of this adaptation. I did appreciate the well drawn artwork and had fun following the eccentric, mad cap plot of many Dahl books. I will put this one on my classroom shelves.
This comic collection was so much fun! Even though I accidentally picked up the second bind up in the series, I still was able to follow along with the story. I love the representation as well as the storytelling and will be on the lookout for the other bind ups.
