Pictures Tell a Story: Graphic Novels, Picture Books, & Funny Illustrations

In his bestselling picture book "Dirt on My Shirt," Jeff Foxworthy warmed the hearts of kids both big and little. Now, in this I Can Read edition, poems have been hand selected for beginning readers to enjoy. From meeting Auntie Brooke and Uncle Keith to searching for tadpoles and snakes, young readers will love discovering Jeff's vibrant neighborhood all for themselves. "The brief poems are perfect for rote memorization assignments and cover familiar, kid-friendly topics like lost baseball hats and bubble baths. Björkman's artwork peppers every page with tykes and friendly suburban wildlife in perpetual states of pop-eyed delight." -- School Library Journal Filled to the brim with hilarious poems and beautiful art, this book is the perfect addition to any I Can Read library!

Flat Stanley decides to airmail himself to Japan, the land of samurai, sushi, and the bullet train, in order to meet his idol, ninja movie star Oda Nobu. He starts off as just a fan, but quickly becomes his hero's ninja bodyguard. About the series: These brief chapter books find our hero using his state of flatness to rescue his friend from a rockslide at Mount Rushmore and to foil tomb raiders in Egypt. With their breezy "Oh, golly" tone and broad humor (also apparent in the black-and white cartoons) deftly mimicking the originals, these geography-themed books will likely be popular with kids and social studies teachers. (Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Part of the extraordinarily popular Warriors series that started with "Into the Wild". The first manga is "Into the Woods", followed by "Escape from the Forest" and "Return to the Clans." Sasha has decided to forge a life outside of the Clans and away from Tigerstar's evil plots and plans. But life as a rogue is much harder than she expects, and Sasha soon starts to lose hope. Will she be forced to wander alone forever, scrapping for every meal and fighting with the cruel, territorial cats who dwell in the alleys of Twolegplace? Gr 4-6. "Sweet, sensitive Sasha leaves the forest and the ShadowClan after being betrayed by the cat clan's power-hungry leader, Tigerstar. Life without a clan for protection is difficult, though. Can she survive alone? The second volume in a graphic-novel adaptation of the popular series, this title should appeal to its fans, and the gripping plot may attract new ones. Though the cover claims that this is a "manga," the straightforward illustrations are drawn in a simple, realistic style." -- Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

The exciting conclusion to Meg Cabot's magical Arthurian manga, that started with "The Merlin Prophecy" and continued with "Homecoming." Ellie has only one day left to get her boyfriend Will to "truly" believe he's the reincarnation of King Arthur, or the world will plunge into eternal darkness. But Will refuses to believe her! Meanwhile, the upcoming Homecoming game and dance have everyone distracted, especially Ellie. Some people aren't too happy about her Homecoming Queen nomination and are determined to cause trouble. Ellie's got to save her reputation "and" the world before the new moon on the night of Homecoming brings them all to a dangerous crossroad. If Ellie can't convince Will of his destiny, the world may never recover. . . . About the series: Gr 6 Up "The Merlin Prophecy" brings to illustrated life the first bit of Cabot's "Avalon High" (HarperCollins, 2006). When King Arthur fell, the Order of the Bear rose to track each generation's incarnation of him. Now Merlin, otherwise known as Mr. Morton, has found a modern Arthur in Will, the captain of the football team at Avalon High. And it's up to new girl Ellie, otherwise known as the Lady of the Lake, to make sure that he survives an attack by his half-brother Marco, otherwise known as Mordred. Throw in Lance, his girlfriend Jennifer, and mean Morgan, and the round table is nearly complete. Coronado uses more of a traditional black-and-white comic-book format than a true Japanese-style manga (think "Archie", not "Oh My Goddess"!)." -- Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CA" Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

To mark the fortieth anniversary of its debut, Monty Python presents . . . another selection of old routines. But wait, wait. These are the skits the troupe decided would work on stage, presented in the two acts cinemortalized as Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, with pieces that appeared in other versions of the stage show appended. They're accompanied by memoirs from all six frontline Pythons, girl-Friday Carol Cleveland, and musical coconspirator Neil Innes that, except for the late Graham Chapmans, cadged from A Liars Autobiography (1980), are all new, as is a prefatory oral history on the whole MP-on-stage experience. Filling out the volume are the program for the Hollywood Bowl gig, a report on MP on Broadway that Esquire extracted from Michael Palin, 100-plus pictures the publisher swears have never been seen before, and an insert, Great Moments in British Acting, that, what with references to Tiger Woods and homeys, has got to be of relatively recent composition. And every bleeding bit of it is herneatingly, stroke-inducingly, chokingly hilarious. Probably always will be. -- (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)