A is for Awesome Idea! - or - W is for What Took You So Long?

Don't panic comic book people. Drop the mylar bag and board, put the comic down on the floor and back away slowly. DO NOT attempt to rescue the comic from your child even if one has jelly covered fingers and one is going to chew the jelly off. This comic book is not for you. Take a deep breath and walk away....then walk back and read it to someone that fits comfortably on your knee.

Well it's about time! A couple of years ago when I began the Comics in the Classroom website, and before I learned about boundaries (and well before I learned to sometimes keep my mouth shut and my typing fingers to myself when communicating with creators) I mentioned to a couple of publishers that it would be interesting if their characters were put into board books so us comic fans would have something other than merchandise to buy the very young children in our lives. They said that was a good idea and left it at that. Oh well. Two years later and I know of no other comic related board books other that the Atlas series from Angel Gate Press .

I just read ATLAS: ABC'S FOR SUPERHEROES , one of four board books written by Darren G. Davis and featuring the costumed hero Atlas. This thing is great. A is for Action; B is for Blast . It is written for ages 1-6 and most of the 26 entries have them in mind. There are a few that I wish were different though. For instance: P is for my phone bill which I think I forgot to pay , and R is for the red tape I have to deal with after I catch the bad guys. Kids are nearly out of the target age range before they worry much about the concept of ph=f and red tape is a bit tricky to explain to a four year old. But this is just nitpicky stuff. The pictures are vibrant and the entries are fun. That and it's a board book! Why hasn't everyone thought of this?

The price listed is $8, which is on par with all of the other board books kicking around my living room right now.

My nearly 3 yr old daughter gave this 2 READ IT PLEASE 's and my not nearly 1 yr old son kept trying to chew it. So, great recomendations from them.

BTW, this is the only ABC book that I can remember that has a relevant and sensible X entry. Can you guess what it is?