Comics Books

Great book. He displays how to cartoon men, women, children, elderly and many types of animals. He does it in an extremely visual way that even a child could follow along. This book is packed with 95% illustrations and 5% text. To me, that's a winner. The 5% text that is in there is invaluable. The print is nice and large and easy to read. I am very happy I bought this book. It is a keeper.

From the beginning of this book to the end, it is filled with (finally) basic, step-by-step instructions on drawing cartoon people, body parts, the "action line", body language and style. And then it starts all over again with animals! Mostly dogs, cats, and different fowl, it also includes less common animals, like beaver, porcupine, raccoon and many sea animals. Can't forget the great alligators and dragon. Finally, the book spends time on placing the characters, reference lines and specialty shots and the all-important "balloon". Another great one by C. Hart. I think I own most of his books and they are all worth great merit, better than the other books I've seen out there by far.

A few years ago, on a whim, I decided to start drawing. I didn't know where to begin so I bought this book. I really believed I couldn't draw. The techniques in this book were so easy to learn that soon I went from drawing stick figures to expressive cartoon characters. My confidence went up and I took on more complicated projects. Now, I work part-time doing illustrations and it all started here!

Christopher Hart has truly done an excellent job with this book. Filled to the rim with illustrations, techniques, explanations and inside information, if you've ever wanted to learn about humorous illustration or cartooning, put this on your list. You'll be glad you did. :o)

This is an excellent book for any beginning artist or anyone else wanting to learn cartooning. Chris Hart publishes some of the best books on art that I've ever seen. This book gives good details on drawing that is easy to follow and understand. All in all, this is one book that should be in every artist's library.

The book is an immediate hit for my 8-year-old son! He's often enjoyed reading his own children's bible, and now, he opens his bible and comic book and read them simultaneously, side-by-side. The illustrations in this book help supply mental images to the things he's reading, creating a deeper impression and facilitating learning and memory. The books is originally purchased for my son, but now even I enjoy reading it. Once you start reading it, you can't stop! The pictures are beautiful, and the book does not sacrifice content accuracy by omitting bible verses; all the verses are present. Great supplement and companion for a regular bible.

We purchased this New Testament for our 2nd grade First Communion class and it has been a huge hit. We can't keep their noses out of it.

This is a really great way to read and learn from the New Testament of the Bible. The pictures/illustrations are really great and it makes the New Testament come alive. Easier to understand too. This is a great book for any age.

Dear Parents:

If you want your child to grow in the Lord by studying His Word and to also keep their interest in the Word, then I Highly recommend this book. It is also a great tool for witnessing to children. Kids will tell other children about this book because it is exciting and it is word for word with pictures to help explain the text even more. The author doesn't drift off with his own theology. He sticks to the Word of God. So your child will be getting the raw milk, meat, bread, and honey of the Word.

By reading this Illustrated Bible, your child will grow leaps and bounds ahead of other children. He or she will be able to answer biblical questions that will even surprise adults. My children can't put it down. Isn't it a good problem when you have to make your children put the Bible down to go to bed or eat dinner and so on? Well that is what this Bible will bring into the lives of your children.

I also highly recommend the Illustrated New Testament to Sunday School teachers. I guarantee your class will love it.

I'm going to tell you a secret, I enjoy reading it too. Don't tell anybody. Smile. I, as an adult can't wait to turn it to the next page to look at the pictures as well as read the Word. What an exciting Bible.
Ardree

My 6 year old son used to not ejoy reading. When I came across this book at a Christian book store, I grabbed it because I was desperate to find any books that he might be interested in reading. From the time we bought this book which has been about 6 months ago, he has read it almost everyday and asks me to read it to him every night! He loves it and I would have to say, it is probably his favorite book to read! This Bible has given him an amazing love for the Scriptures. Every day he reads a new passage and asks me to read the same passage in my Bible so we can talk about it together. I recommend this Bible to ANYONE--children or adults who have a hard time reading the Bible or anything else for that matter. It will bring God's Word to life!

Some of the most creative rabbit-monsters I have ever seen. Im even thinking about getting a couple tattoos of them.

I LOVE portrayals of monster rabbits because I have one myself--I took him in when I found him hopping down the street one week after Easter--yup, he was one of those poor abandoned Easter rabbits. He repays me by acting the savage beast. It is hilarious to be attacked by such an adorable creature, and his is SO WELL represented in this book!

GET THIS BOOK! This is fun to look at! What an imagination! Fluid and Beautiful designs make these drawings irresistable to stare at for hours. The artist is as imaginative as he is a talented.artist.

What delightful book. Gagne in color is even twice the power of his other popular offerings. I think he has really matured into a fine author and every new book is a joy. All I can say to Twisted Rabbits is bravo. What great designer.

Anyone who loves Monty Python, or who is a fan of Anya understands that rabbits are really voracious, man-eating creatures that hunt the night (or Knight) looking for the unsuspecting. And yet we continue to expose out children to them, believing that appearances could never be that deceiving. Finally, Michel Gagne has decides to take the lid of this secret scandal and reveal to the world the real horror that lurks between those sad brown eyes and cutesy tails.

Gagne was an illustrator in the well-known Don Bluth Studios until they closed in 1992. during that period he and another artist, Dave Kupczyk had a one-on-one competition about who could draw the evilest rabbit. While we won't know the real winner until Kupczyk publishes his own book, Gagne's rabbits are a delightfully evil and twisted as they come. The stuff of fluffy nightmares.

This is one of those books that is reserved for gag gifts for rabbit enthusiasts and excesses of cute, but it is fun for anyone that discovers it. Even as we speak, my cats are checking it out and whispering tales about that famous serial killer, Jack the Rabbit. You can't help but like this thin volume. Recommended for the light of heart.

Inuyasha is the bet manga i have ever read!! Inuyasha is a hanyou or an half-demon. This manga is about a girl from present times that falls into a well and get transported to the past, her name is Kagome. Kagome is the reincarnation of a dread priestess named Kikyou. Personally i think Kikyou is the best female character and Inuyasha is of course the best male character! I' won't give too much away or i'll spoil the WHOLE story...hehe...INUAYSHA IS THE BEST!!!!!! ^.^

Inuyasha is wonderful manga,if you saw the series on Adult Swim on Cartoonnetwork, then you should really get the Manga, its really good. It is about a demon Naraku who is is trying to gather all the shards of 'Jewel of the Four Souls' and Inuyasha and his 'gang' is trying to stop Naraku from doing so, and just about everyone in Inuyasha 'gang' has some sort of grude against Naraku, espeacilly Inuyasha. Also part of Inuyasha's 'gang' is a character named Kagome, she's from the future, and is the reincartion of a powerful preistess name Kikyou, and is the only person that can sense Jewels' shards and is a vital character. This manga is full of lies, decit, action, humor, some romance, and many other things, and its set in Feudal Japan. Its a must read, if you are interested in fantasy.

We all know of the Half-demon Inu-Yasha, the girl from the futrue, Kagome, The Monk, Miroku, And the cute little fox-demon, Shippo. Well, Inu-Yasha severed his half brother's, Sheshomaru's, arm. He has been looking for a new limb sence. Naraku shows up and the trouble begins. An over-all great read!! INU-YASHA, RAH RAH RAH!!!

I like Ms. Takahashi's works, mostly because they keep you busy for about an hour or two, the pictures are pretty, and the jokes are funny. In fact, I liked Inu Yasha even better than I liked Rumic World or Ranma 1/2. Buuuuut, I didn't like the parts when the bad demons come out to play. I'm not a big fan of blood and guts, you see. And Inu Yasha has more of that than Ranma ever did. MUUUUCH more. At least there's hardly any nudity :) Keep an eye out for Shippou-chan, he's my favorite character ever!

The Mermaid series was good, Ranma was better, Maison Ikkoku was great, and now we have come to Inu-Yasha. I'll tell you, I've read many a manga, but this series is by far my favorite. I'll admit to you I don't know any more of the story besides what happens in the first nine volumes, but as more keeps coming my love of them only grows. out of all of these books, though, only two I can call my favorites: seven and eight. If you haven't read the books I highly recomend you start with one,(no really), but if you're having second thoughts about buying this, STOP. Buy it, and buy it now. I assure you it's worth having.

The writing is good, the drawing is good, and the visual humor is excellent, but what really got to me about these strips us how happy everybody was. The characters bubble over with joy and energy. It made me smile. Then, because I was in such a good mood, I enjoyed the strips even more and got into an even better mood; a vicious cycle. Looking past how happy the strip is, the other striking thing is the really outstanding use of visual humor.

I have not read the strip in the newspapers, so I base my opinions just on this collection. The strip is about a generic young couple--Joe and Marcy--and their baby, Sunny. Strips focus on typical parent situations--the baby won't sleep, baby is heavy when carried, parents and grandparents brag about baby. Other things that happen are that Sunny hangs out with other babies in day care, Joe and Marcy buy a house, and Joe yearns for a Range Rover.

It's a reasonable setting for a strip. Could be boring (boy, that happens a lot), wry, angry, appealing, charming---it all depends on the cartoonist. Armstrong is really good so it is not boring at all. As I mentioned above, the tone is joyful, appealing, charming (as opposed to ironic or angry). I really got to like Joe, Marcy, and Sunny. I wanted to read more about their lives.

The drawing is really good. There are lots of details in the backgrounds and lots of detail in the main characters. The drawings are also pleasant to look at. I've seen other strips where the drawing is well-done but the characters are deliberately made ugly so that I don't like looking a the strip; that is not the case here.

Armstrong makes good use of camera angles. A big problem with cartoons is what to do when your strip is basically 3 or 4 panels of the same guy talking. Armstrong shifts the camera angles around a bit so these strips are not visually deadening. Sometimes the characters engage in a little busywork while they talk--picking up a box, shifting the baby from one shoulder to the other, writing on a clipboard.

Armstrong uses visual humor. There is one strip where Joe is carrying the baby through the mall and the baby gets drawn bigger and bigger in each strip, until Joe is practically crushed under the weight of the baby, a nonverbal joke that the baby seemed heavier the longer that Joe has to carry her. In another strip, the parents are in a bed looking completely frazzled and wornout and the bed is covered with 6 baby Sunnies in all sorts of sprawled out positions, a joke that babies are such restless sleppers that they seem to take up the whole bed when they sleep in it.

Sometimes word panels have pictures in then instead of words. When people are bragging about their kids then the panels tend to have a picture of the kid's head instead of words. One funny comic strip just has two grandmothers talking about their grandkids, and Sunny's granmother's word panel sort of pushes out the other woman's word panel so, victory!, Sunny's grandmother wins the impicit bragging contest.

People's thoughts are sometimes drawn as if they were real. When Joe complains that he feels old, for one panel he gets drawn as an old man. When the harried parents feel that Sunny is the real boss of the household, a panel is drawn in which the parents are kids and Sunny is a domineering adult.

This sort of visual humor is used sparingly, not something that happens in every strip, but it is great to see it. You could overdo that sort of thing so it is probably good that it only happens occasionally.

There is a low level of exageration that happens all the time. When the parents are frazzled they look REALLY frazzled, Sunny's hair is impossibly bushy, reactions of alarm or happiness are out of proportion. It helps here that Armstrong can draw so well. In Armstrong's drawings I can tell the difference between exagerated reactions and subdued reactions.

Man, reading this collection really brought home to me how bad contemporary cartoonists are these days. They are all talk. They don't use the visual part of the cartoon at all. The few that are well-drawn are just realistic and don't really play around with the drawings. That's fine, and I respect that those well-written and realistically drawn strips (there are only a few of them anyway) don't want to break the reader's belief by engaging in fantasy. Also, I have read that cartoonists can't have interesting pictures any more because the newspapers have shrunk down the size of comics so much that they can't fit anything in but word balloons and heads. Fine again. Nonetheless, it sure was nice to read sucn an enjoyable cartoon collection as this one.

Judging from the number of daily strips compared to the number of Sunday strips, I think this collection is edited and is not a complete set of strips over some fixed period. That might be why they seem perticularly good--the less successful strips have been weeded out.I wish there was another collection that I could buy.

Robb Armstrong manages the difficult feat of creating characters who are funny, real, and deep. And for what it's worth, I am a white male in my mid thirties. His characters speak to everybody, because of the deep truths they portray. In fact, I wish they were real, and lived next door to me. Failing that, I look forward to reading his strips for years to come. I'd put them up there with Doonesbury and a few others as classics of the genre.

I have been a fan of Jump Start since it was introduced to my local newspaper. It is a breath of fresh air seeing African Americans depicted in such a positive and realistic light. I can't wait until Mr. Armstong compiles another book with the addition of Jojo Cobb! An excellent read. perfect for the Coffee Table.

I say hats off to Robb Armstrong for creating and hitting it big with his very popular comic strip all about a whimsical African-American family! It all begun with the high-school courtship between Joe and Marcy. Then they got married, launched their very busy careers as a policeman and a nurse, and along came their two very precocious kids, Sunny and Jojo (what curious names!) Then the whole family goes tumbling into the wildest adventures with a bragging Pop and a doting Mom, household chores, police car chases, shootin' up with the bad guys, the hectic emergency room, the crazy day-care scene where small kids all act like grown-ups, and of course, Sunny's very bushy, untamed hair! And it's all told in a true-to-life vein shot through with intoxicating flights of fantasy and very saucy, well-crafted satire, especially where Joe turns into a very muscular superhero every time his ego gets stroked and the whole family being chased around the house by rabid IRS agents! Rather like "Rose Is Rose", only with a very endearing cast of black folks!

Robb Armstrong is a genius. No two ways about it.

"Jump Start" is a delightful strip and I'm lucky my local paper carries it. Considering the paucity of good strips featuring black families, this one has set new standards in many ways.

Joe and Marcy, the Jump Start couple are professionals. He is a police officer and she a nurse. They have intelligent conversations and are delightful and believable.

I like the fact that race is simply a part of the story and not the focus of the story. One of my all time favorite strips in creation was a Jump Start strip. Joe and Marcy's friends, Clarence Sr. and his wife complain about how people "act stupid around them" because they are an interracial couple. Joe tells them, "friend, they aren't ACTING." Translation: If folks can't accept interracial families, then the stupidity is NOT an act. I LOVE THAT STRIP!

The Jump Start kids, Sunny and baby Jojo are adorable. I love the way Sunny remains bilingual -- fluent in English and baby talk. Baby Jojo acts like a crib sized executive with his day care pal Benny his faithful partner/employee/man Friday. It is so hilarious to see the way the kids interact!

I love all the strips when Sunny runs from the comb. One can almost feel her pain during these feared comb out sessions. Is there a child in the world who likes to have their hair done? I sometimes doubt that. I love the one where Sunny thinks dreadlocks will save her from the comb. I also like the fact that Sunny and Jojo have playmates of all races because that is how the world really is -- made up of all races.

Robb Armstrong is a genius!

I bought this for a friend for her birthday. I have never even heard of the website. My friend knew about the website and absolutely loved the book. I plan on giving it as a gift to at least 5 other people.

It's both a humorous and "keeps your mind in the gutter" type of fun. Every page is funny and cute at the same time! I love it! I can only hope the author brings more books as adorable as this one!

I absolutely loved this comic from the moment i picked it up. The title pretty much sums it all up

This book is just full of awesomeness!
Want a great laugh you wont have to look far.

I have the book sitting on my desk and people come in all the time to flip through it. Everyone leaves laughing! It's not too raunchy (well minus a few that might be considered not exactly 'work safe') and the majority of them of hysterical. My personal favorite is the chainsaw "whir!" but a lot of the engineers are partial to the can of botulism.

I love the way it props up even though the cover gives me a bit of trouble sometimes. It's a great book to share.

Educational, emotional, dramatic. Also beautiful. Graphic novel format really works here: It can convey things a text-only book or video can't.

the story of Laika has so much to teach us - about the way progress depends upon violence, about the way we exploit others for our own goals, about the way individuals who are oppressed by a political system participate in the oppression of others, about who we consider "expendable" in the name of our own achievements - and this graphic novel brings that all to life in a way that is touching and illuminating without being schmaltzy.

Nick Abadzis interweaves narrative and history very skillfully in his work Laika, throwing light with dazzling artwork upon the interactions between dog and dog-handler; dog and dog-catcher; the vastness of space and mankind; Soviet Union Premier and ordinary citizen. At once it is a simple tale of a good-natured stray dog from Moscow, which would become known to the world as Laika, as well as an intricate account detailing the almost manic race to reach space. It is also a tale of office politics and intrigue, where we see the clashes between the decent Oleg Gazenko and the bullish Sergei Korolev (both real figures from history). And Laika is at the center of it all, representing the fragility of life in the vastness of space. Abadzis gives voice to Laika and to this age. A good read.

The story of the dog that was sacrificed for the conquest of Space by the Russians is well known. This illustrative graphic novel describes the events well and, for those who do not fully appreciated the political undercurrents of fear and the low standard of living and low hope that existed in Russia during that period, it effectively brings this forward. My 12-year old son managed to read the book in one sitting and he now absorbed the sad reality as the lesson in life and politics that drove the events of that time. The illustrations bring the past back to life.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking book, as much about the powerful trust that animals place in us as caregivers as it is about the early days of the Russian space program. It's also about political dissidents in communist Russia, and the struggle we all face between our duty to ourselves and our duty to a higher calling (in this case, the communist party), and a hundred other things.

Read this at home if you're disinclined to public displays of emotion.

I am certainly pleased with my order. It arrived in timely fashion and in good shape

The strips where Dewey introduces his grandmother to the young woman who keeps trying to date Dewey are really funny. Although the strips with Dewey and his gambling-addicted grandmother are my personal favorites, I also like the color section on "Empire County Strikes Back" about the competition from the bookmobile. The whole book is entertaining. I have all four Unshelved books and keep at least two on the coffee table.

The crazy antics at the Mallville Public Library continue apace in the 3rd year of "Unshelved." The characters really continue to grow in this collection, so that the dramatic tension (such as it is in three panels) is interesting, while the workplace humor is so hauntingly familiar. I've heard librarians rave about the humor, but just like you don't need to be an engineer to like Dilbert, the weird patrons and stressed out employees are the same people you meet and interact with every day, regardless of where you work.

"Empire County Strikes Back" is a great bonus feature, a full-color mini-comic. In ways that are more reminiscent of 1984 and Dick Cheney than Star Wars, it tells the story of a super-automated bookmobile that threatens to steal all the patrons from Mallville's library. I won't give away the ending, but I will say it would fit well in another sci-fi classic--Star Trek.

Buy this book. Heck, buy all four books while these guys remain relatively undiscovered. You can impress all your friends at cocktail parties in 2010 when you say you read "Unshelved" back before they sold out.

I shared my copies of all the Unshelved collection with my 22 year old son and he enjoyed the humor as much as I do. He really liked the references to RPG and movies he likes. Please give these books a try, they are all great!

If you like books, you should make Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum's daily comic strip Unshelved, available at [..], a must-read. When I was perusing their books at Book Expo, I asked, "But why would I need it in book format if I can read it online?" Well, I have to say, having sped through all four volumes, that while I'm now a subscriber, their books are so much fun. My favorite is Library Mascot Cage Match, mainly for the absurdity of a library even having a mascot, let alone two duking it out.

It's hard to pick who my favorite character is. They each have their often wry charm, and I might just have to say Merv, the precocious student always hanging around the very kid-like librarian Dewey. The authors manage to cover everything from reading habits to technology to relationships with spot-on, laugh-out-loud humor, and it's often just a short phrase that provides the zinger. The constant struggle between the Mallville Library staff's desire to help their customers (even the one wearing a "Say `No' To Libraries" t-shirt) and outwit them is perpetually amusing. With the addition of the full-color Empire County Strikes Back mini section, where the staff have to try to defeat a bookmobile, Barnes & Ambaum really outdo themselves. My only complaint is that this book is so fun it was over way too quickly.

My wife is Jewish and I am in the process of conversion. I bought the book version and each year, I've faithfully bought the calendars and have given them as gifts.

They're informative, respectful, sensitive, hilarious, and I often feel I'm given a little bit of Judaica on each page.

A superb and highly enjoyable work!

I highly recommend this series.

Alan Lennox, Va

I recommend this calendar for anyone interested in Jewish culture and humor. As a history and trivia buff, I found it loaded with unusual and interesting facts and figures too.

Extremely well-edited, this author has a gift for picking just the right material, and blending beautifully to give the reader a rich experience.

More a book than calendar, I suggest you buy two: one to use, and one to keep as a reference.

Marilyn Shoen

NYC

FUNNY, FAT, FULL!!! OK, IT'S NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT TO BE ETHNIC. WHO CARES? THIS IS AN ETHNIC BOUQUET OF A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING. I WAS PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED WITH THE INFORMATION ABOUT NON-JEWS WHO CAME TO THE AID OF JEWS.

A WINNER. I LOVE GETTING AND GIVING IT.

IRV SACKOFF,
WEST VIRGINIA

Ususally calendars are simplistic -- a gimmick behind a date. A Little Joy, A Little Oy was a shocker. It's a superb blending of date and facts, humor, sentiment. Filled with information that many books don't offer, it far exceeded our expectations.

For anyone interested in Yiddishkeit I recommend it highly! A unique offering.

Ernie Small, LA

I received the book version as a gift, then I went out and bought the calendar in 2002, fell in love with the thoroughness of the entries. Then again in 2003 and now in 2004.

It never fails to disappoint. Frankly, I'm amazed that the entries are not only fresh, unusual, hysterical, but keep getting better and more seasoned.

It's full of a variety of Yinglishisms, which are my favorites, along with history, literature. Something for everyone.

I'm buying them up as great gifts.

More please!

Jason Blauvelt

This book is all about a nice but young vampire, known simply as Little Vampire. He is surrounded by a montage of ghosts who care about him, but he has fixated on the idea of going to school, as he wants to be like a regular kid. Everyone is baffled by this notion, and they all recommend that he find some other way to spend his time. But as the only child around, he is lonely and convinces them to humor him. Off he goes to school, with a pack of school supplies (including a bottle of blood to use as ink).

Unfortunately, the school is empty, and Little Vampire is still lonely. The ghosts band together and fill the school so he can pretend he's in school, with the Captain of the Dead as the instructor. Because he wanted as real an experience as possible, Little Vampire broke the rule against being noticed by mortals, and wrote in the notebook at the desk he sat at. This process was repeated for several days. It's actually pretty funny, and fun to watch his relationship with the mortal boy sharing his desk develop. Wouldn't you love it if someone came in and did your homework every night?

But eventually, this leads to a grim situation: the mortal boy must be killed, because he knows about Little Vampire and the ghosts. However, the boy--Michael--manages to innocently change the Captain of the Dead's mind, saving himself. Little Vampire and Michael become great friends, and it's a nice thing for both of them. The rest of the story goes into a small adventure they have, with Michael getting home just before he is supposed to get up.

Overall, this is an engaging and highly amusing read, whatever your age. There are several funny and memorable characters, but more importantly it is a story with substance in the form of nice life lessons about friendship and taking responsibility. And I can't forget to mention the art: it's sharp and goofy, and overall very pleasing. Note that if you are thinking of getting this for a child in your life, the topic may be a bit morbid. Ideally, try to have a look through this book (or the other Little Vampire one, Little Vampire Does Kung Fu) first.

This was a great book for my kids, who hate the fake-scary books available. This book was totally appropriate for my 7 and 9 year old but had enough creepy grossness to keep them interested. This book was bright and funny and my only complaint was the panels were often written in cursive so it made it hard for my little one to read by himself. Wonderful illustrations and the read aloud will let you try out all you goofy accents.

Little Vampire is sensitive and fun. The artwork is terrific. I will read this with my 2 year old grandson when he is a little older. I know he will enjoy the story and ask lots of questions. Even a yougster will figure out the metaphors of the characters and plot.

I really loved the artwork, it reminded me of Edward Gorey, and the way the book is written, older children will think it's cool and funny. There is a great, simple message, but it's not didactic. As a teacher, I think boys will like this book, especially older boys who like to draw strange creatures. The cartoon style makes it very readable. What I liked most about this book is the fact that it speaks to children without talking down to them. Perhaps this is partly to do with the fact that it was originally written in French...

Little Vampire lives in a great big mansion and while he has the ability to change into a rat, a wolf, or a bat, he is a sad Little Vampire. That is because even though he does not have to follow rules and does not have to do anything he does not want to do, Little Vampire wants to go to school. The ghosts are aghast at such an idea and even his mother's reminder that he has his dog, Phantomat to play with, cannot stop Little Vampire from wanting to go to school. So one night Little Vampire and Phantomat head off to the school at the edge of town. It has a playground with swings, wooden hooks in the hallway for hanging up coats, and on each desk there is a notebook with a child's name on it. But there are no students and Little Vampire's name does not appear on any of the notebooks. Little Vampire comes to the conclusion that students only go to school in broad daylight and at night there is nobody at the school.

Now, that could be a cute little story just by itself, but that is just the opening of Joann Sfar's "Little Vampire Goes to School." The Captain of the Dead decides that if Little Vampire wants to go to school he should have the opportunity. So all of the ghosts go to school each night and the Captain teaches school. This could also be a nice payoff to this story, but we are not even halfway through, because the Captain has one rule for his class. The ghosts had to bring their own school supplies so they would not write in any of the "daytime" students' notebooks. However, Little Vampire does not care and decides he is going to write in the notebook of a student named Michael who forgot to do his homework and gets quite a surprise when his teacher makes him open his notebook to read what it is he did not write.

This is a marvelous story, originally published in France as "Petit Vampire va à l'école" (and there is even a video version of the story, which makes me jealous), and translated by Mark and Alexis Siegel. My description of the book's narrative thread ends before the halfway point and there is much more of the tale to tell (such as what you have to wear when you stand in the corner because you rely on others to do your assignments for them). Sfar matches the marvelous story with delightful drawings, which is often where such stories fall short of reaching classic status. I like the simplicity of the Little Vampire's appearance along with the wonderful look of the Captain of the Dead and many of the other ghosts.

The only downside is that Sfar refuses to tell you what a hemzalleh is even though it is very yummy and you have to stop reading the book and get on line to find out what it is (I had to do it; you have to do it). But the good news is that there are more stories about the Little Vampire and I have "Little Vampire Does Kung Fu!" sitting on the shelf to be read next and find out more about our young hero and his new friend. This book had earned five stars before I got halfway through it and it just kept going. When you read "Little Vampire Goes to School" and see how right I am pass the world along, because you certainly know someone who will love this story (no, they do not have to be of school age).