Max - Softcover

Bob Graham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0744589053 ISBN 13: 9780744589054

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

What does a Super hero do when they are not being `Super'? A funny story about being loved for who you are and not just what you can or cannot do.It's not easy being the son of legendary superheroes Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt. Max has a cape and a mask, but he doesn't fly. His parents can't understand it. It seems that Max is just an ordinary boy, until finally, to save a falling baby bird, Max discovers he can fly! He'll be a small hero, doing small deeds. "The world needs more of those," says his mum. A funny and touching tale about little Max, the reluctant superhero. Bob Graham has three times won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award, in addition to the Smarties Book Prize Gold and Silver Awards and the Kate Greenaway Medal.

About this title

About the Author

Bob Graham is a Kate Greenaway-winning author-illustrator who has written and illustrated many acclaimed children's picture books including How to Heal a Broken Wing, Max, Jethro Byrde: Fairy Child and April Underhill: Tooth Fairy. His 2011 title, A Bus Called Heaven, is endorsed by Amnesty International UK and was the winner of the 2012 Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award - a prize Bob has won an unprecedented six times. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1-Max has been born into a family of superheroes, but, despite his cape, mask, and his parents' encouragement, he just can't seem to get the hang of flying. By the time he starts school, he still prefers the ground, and even his classmates' taunts don't prod him to change. However, when a baby bird falls from its nest, Max throws caution (and thoughts of himself) to the wind and leaps to save the fledgling, the first step toward his becoming "a small hero doing quiet deeds." Now Max flies all around and spends his days quietly helping others and, sometimes, flying around with his parents just for the fun of it. The simple, straightforward story has just a slight dose of tension provided by Max's grandfather, who is baffled by his grandson's reluctance to fly. However, the support and acceptance the boy receives from his parents are heartwarming and reassuring. The colorful ink-and-watercolor cartoon illustrations are the strength of the book. Done in a mix of comic-strip boxes and full-page spreads, they give the story an appealing look and feel, and clearly reinforce the play between fantasy and reality. Storytime listeners are sure to delight in the masked faces of Max's parents, Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt, and his slightly lumpy, superhero grandparents. A welcome, gentle look at the world of superheroes.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

No one will accuse Graham (Benny, 1999, etc.) of excessive subtlety in this story of meeting life's challenges when you are good and ready. Young Max is the son of superheroes Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt and he is the grandson of superannuated superheroes. He, too, is destined for the superhero life-he even sports a cape and mask-but Max is short a card in the superhero deck: he can't fly. His parents school him in the arts of hovering and swooping and hurtling; his grandfather notes challengingly that, "when I was his age, I got into trouble for leaving fingerprints on the ceiling lamp." He gets teased at school for his decidedly un-superpowers. Still, Max remains firmly grounded, not willfully, but simply, because. Soon thereafter, Max witnesses a young bird being nudged from the nest. "This bird was not ready to fly." Fortunately, another one is: Max flies to the baby bird's rescue. From there it's just an arm stroke to the jet stream. For good measure, Graham tosses in this comment from one of Max's school chums: "Everyone's different in some way, aren't they?" These blatancies almost reduce the book to a cliché, though not quite. The rest of the text has a tender quality that can't be overlooked, and the artwork alone-cartoony watercolors of saturated color, broken into numerous panels-will keep young eyes wholly absorbed. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"What's a family of superheroes to do when their progeny is slow to develop his flying skills? Graham answers this question handily with scenarios that will have readers laughing out loud, as Max discovers his own special qualities," wrote PW in our Best Books citation. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-7. The story begins in the lightning-bolt-shaped house of superheroes Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt, where baby Max learns to walk and talk like any other little tyke. But as Max grows up, he has family tradition to live up to, and in one area he's lagging behind everyone's expectations. Although he wears the family superhero suit and receives plenty of encouragement, he can't fly. One day though, he leaps into the air to save a baby bird that has fallen from its nest, and Max hovers and hurtles, swoops and soars. Just as the neighbors accept a thunderbolt house on their quiet suburban street, Max's classmates accept his aptitude for flying. As one friends says, "Everyone's different in some way, aren't they?" The book's large size and brilliant colors work well with the telling of this down-to-earth hero tale, which includes everyday scenes of Captain Lightning changing toddler Max's diaper as well as a heroic double-page spread of Max leaping to the little bird's rescue. Max's mother sums up one welcome theme, declaring that it's not her son's job to catch crooks, but to be "a small hero doing quiet deeds. The world needs more of those." Agreed. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0744589053
• ISBN 13: 9780744589054
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 27