I received a free ARC through NetGalley
5 stars
This is the first Adventures in Cartooning book I have read. I have seen them at the library where I work, and I know they are quite popular with the kids. One of them was a Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee, so I usually take it that it must be pretty good. When I saw this on NetGalley, I decided I would really like to read it. I only knew that it was a graphic book, really nothing else. Still, I wasn't disappointed in my decision to read it.
A simple knight on a simple horse is making his way home to the castle. He meets some random evil characters that are fighting over their roles, even another knight. He runs to the castle to warn the king that some evil characters are heading his way. Met by a mob at the castle, he and his horse, Edward, have to take a secret entrance in. Yes, the horse crawls underground. It's quite amusing. Once inside, he finds out the king is missing and they are filming a movie. Silly? Definitely. From there, random stuff happens, there is a happy ending, and then they go on to explain how to draw simple characters. The end.
I really liked this one. There is some amazing vocabulary for such a short graphic novel; words like alms and mangy. The illustrations are cute and reproducable (yes, I apparently just made that word up) for kids trying to learn to draw. Even the changing fonts are fun. My absolute favorite part is when the main knight mistakes a vacuum for a robot and says "Well that sucks." I've always loved the joke about a vacuum sucking. Don't worry parents; that is the worst thing in the book if you are a stickler for bad language.
The ending tips on drawing are very helpful. There are a lot of suggestions and examples for simple ways to make a wide variety of characters. Kids who love to draw cartoons will find a double win with this book.
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