The Case of the Missing Superhero Books
The Case of the Missing Superhero Books
There are books aplenty to satisfy those ravening hordes of princess-crazed little girls, but as Your Neighborhood Librarian implied in her comment on my last post, boys are much more likely to be into superheroes.
And this is a problem. Not so much for the boys themselves, who are quite happy to re-enact Spiderman scenarios on the playground ad nauseum until dragged inside by spoilsport teachers, and who have a wealth of superhero videos, lunchboxes, and assorted other merchandise with which to enrich their imaginative lives.
No, it's a problem for us children's librarians who are doing our best to lure them in to the world of reading using the bait of their pre-existing obsessions. Books about pirates? We got 'em. Books about mummies and skeletons? Sure! Books about dinosaurs, trucks, sharks, snips, snails, puppy dogs' tails? Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup.
Books about superheroes? Um…let me get back to you on that.
The truth is, aside from repackaged picture books based on the standard Marvel characters, there is a real dearth of superhero books out there, especially for younger kids. I'm not sure why this should be; it's a great topic, and what books there are have instant appeal and a pretty much built-in audience. But I've had to disappoint more kids looking for superhero books than I like to think about.
Normally when listing books in this space, I'll introduce them with something like "here are a few of my favorite books about…" or "This is a small sampling of…" But not this time. Here, for your perusal and edification, are all the decent original superhero books for kids that I know of:
Picture books:
- Max, by Bob Graham
- Superdog: The Heart of a Hero, by Caralyn and Mark Buehner
- Superhero ABC, by Bob McLeod
- Superhero, by Marc Tauss
- The Adventures of Sparrowboy, by Brian Pinkney
- Traction Man is Here! By Mini Grey
Chapter books:
- Babymouse: Our Hero! By Jennifer and Matthew Holm
- Magic Pickle series, by Scott Morse
- MAXimum Boy series, by Dan Greenberg
- Melvin Beederman, Superhero series, by Greg Trine
- Shredderman series, by Wendelin Van Draanen
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants (and its many sequels), by Dav Pilkey
- The Extraordinary Adventures of an Ordinary Boy series, by William Boniface
That's it! If you think of any I missed, I'd be grateful if you'd list it/them in comments.
And if you're a children's book writer, or an aspiring one, looking for a subject—especially one for a picture book—might I suggest superheroes? Little boys everywhere, and their librarians, would thank you for it.
April 15, 2008
I know The Adventures of Blue Avenger by Norma Howe is YA, but it's too good not to mention.
Posted by: Alkelda | April 20, 2008 at 14:47 PM
My son loves the early reader series Supertwins by Brian James. It's a lighthearted series of four books or so about boy and girl twins that are super heroes in their off time. Probably best for ages four through eight.
Posted by: Amanda | April 23, 2008 at 17:10 PM
My library has a list of superhero-themed books. It has a few Marvel hero adaptations and is not totally up-to-date, but it's got some additional titles:
http://www.wilmettelibrary.info/kids/lists/bib.php?bib_title_id=87
Posted by: Lisa Chellman | April 28, 2008 at 15:05 PM
Picture book Another Perfect Day by Ross MacDonald doesn't have a superhero in tights, but it looks like a kind of Superman, with the young protagonist becoming super strong, able to do great feats, etc, until he wakes from his dream.
Another superhero picture book is Superhero Christmas by Stan Lee (yes, that Stan Lee from Marvel comics!) and Tim Jessel.
For me, a superhero fan, it's on my list. Glad you got all my other favorites! Especially Max (I just love that book; I think it's my favorite superhero picture book) and Superhero ABC.
Posted by: Cheryl Rainfield | April 30, 2008 at 20:06 PM
I'm a big fan of the Gregor the Overlander series. With no superpowers per se, Gregor is a great action hero that boys can really get into.
A big second on the Captain Underpants books!
Posted by: Amy Kraft | June 19, 2008 at 20:58 PM
"Michael Recycle" by Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Colombo.
He's an environmental caped-crusader.
Posted by: Marla | May 13, 2009 at 00:34 AM