Some of my favorite cartoons to watch as a kid involved the Disney character of Goofy in a parody of the Wide World of Sports. Goofy would be in this documentary about certain types of sports. I remember there was a short about winter sports and another about the Olympics. There might have even been one about fishing or water activities in general, but I'm not certain which or both is accurate.
In those cartoons, a narrator would tell you about the history of the sport Goofy was participating in and then Goofy would screw-up in hilarious ways. I loved how Disney crafted something that was both fun and educational. I guess that's one reason I became an educator as I wanted learning to be fun. So when I saw A Goofy Guide to Penguins at my local library, my mind immediately went back to those old Disney cartoons and I thought that this would make a great review for Family Comic Friday.
Despite the title, this is not a Disney publication nor does Goofy appear in this book. Published by Toon Books, A Goofy Guide to Penguins is written by French humorist Jean-Luc Coudray with art provided by his twin brother Phillipe. If you are familiar with my Family Comic Friday article, you might recall that Phillipe Coudray was featured for his Benjamin Bear series last year.
The Coudray brothers worked together to craft a satirical look at Penguins. While there are little snippets of factual information about the flightless birds from the Antarctic, the majority of the book is filed with silly riddles and one-page sight gags. That does not mean that I didn't enjoy this book. It just was more funny as opposed to educational than I would have like.
Making up for the lack of educational aspects to the book, the editors included a 2-page spread of 100% real facts about Penguins. I wish they had done a better job on that section. It seems that 2 pages just wasn't enough space as several of the illustrations had little or nothing to do with the subject matter, especially one diagram about high and low pressure weather systems. That one just seemed really random.
I applaud the Coudrays and Toon Books for trying to make learning fun with this edition. But it needs a little work if both parties are looking to make 'A Goofy Guide' into a series of books. My advice would be to make the funny to educational ratio about 55:45 like those old Disney cartoons. This book is more 80% silly to 20% learning.
Nevertheless, this was a good book that will delight young readers from ages 5-9. Oh, and yes, though written by a pair of French brothers, this edition was published 100% in English!
Worth Consuming
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
The French are known for many things: fine wine, exquisite cuisine, the impressionists, free jazz, their oft occurrence of surrendering... But one thing the French don't get enough kudos is for their comic strips and graphic novels. That's one reason I choose this book as my selection for this week's Family Comic Friday.
'Benjamin Bear' was created by Eisner Award nominee Philippe Coudray and is the star of a series of books that collect one-page strips based on a particular subject. The title for this volume is Brain Storms and each cartoon features the brown bear and his forest friends solving tricky riddles (such as the brilliant method of proving that 4+4 can =9) and other problems such as how two people in separate cars can cross a river using only 5 stepping stones and still be able to drive on the other side.
Published by Toon Books, this volume is considered a 'level two' comic in that it's easy to read and is recommended for readers in grades 1 and 2. But I don't see older readers not delighting in this series as well. This book does have some punchlines and words that might be a little too difficult for younger readers to understand, so a parent, older sibling, or other guardian might need to help explain those.
The art is quite simple in that old-school Parisian style. One thing I must say about French cartoonists- they are simplistic to the Nth degree, yet they're every bit as imaginative and stunning as a Jack Kirby or Neal Adams. Oh- and though this is a French cartoon, it's published in English! So you can put away your handy dandy French-to-English dictionaries.
I found this 2015 book on the new arrivals shelf in children's section at my local library. There are two other volumes in the series thus far. I highly recommend this book and if the rest of this series is as good as this one- I tout them too! The Benjamin Bear books can be found new and used on Amazon. Prices vary but this volume starts at about $7 plus any shipping or tax costs.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
