Now, this is a slightly different book for me to be reading and reviewing but I am very aware of the ever-growing popularity of graphic novels for younger readers. Over the past two years, I have really noticed a love of graphic novels growing in school. This has been especially noticeable in Years 5 and 6. In fact, in the class I just finished the year with there were at least five children who spent the year working through my personal and school collection of graphic novels, swapping them amongst themselves when they'd read a good one and having a chat about them during our "book blather" sessions. Some of them even took them outside at lunchtime because they wanted to keep reading. I love that!
This new graphic novel, which was released two weeks ago, was kindly gifted to me by Scholastic.
This book was written and illustrated by the incredible Scott Morse. He has created other amazing books but I was amazed to find out he works as a story supervisor at Pixar. Scott Morse has worked on films including Ratatouille, Cars and - a personal favourite - Wall-E. He has also worked for Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon. What a resume!
So, let's take a look at this graphic novel: Magic Pickle and the Roots of Doom...
Here is the synopsis for this story:
Evil Square Root, along with his pungent sidekick Herb Cloverson - a smelly clove of garlic - plans to squash Magic Pickle's powers and rule the world!
But Square Root hasn't reckoned with Magic Pickle's own sidekick, Jo Jo - a human girl who is full of daring and smarts.
Can Magic Pickle and Jo Jo dish out some dill justice? Or will Square Root's rotten plot prevail?
This book is exactly as it was described to me. It is definitely action-packed. It is full of hilarious puns. It is visually stunning.
I've added a couple of pages below as a little sneak peek so that you can truly appreciate this artistry:
This graphic novel is sure to be a hit with younger readers. It is aimed at ages 8-12 but can definitely be enjoyed by readers older than 12. For those who have read it, the leek was my favourite character. For those who will read it, look out for the leek!
There are other Magic Pickle books available after I did a little search online, which seem to have been released back in 2008, but they appear to be quite difficult to get hold of. Maybe they are being rereleased or reprinted. I'll have to do a little bit more research on that one.
Overall, this is a fantastic graphic novel and I hope I get the chance to read more of these in the future.
Thank you again to Scholastic for gifting me this beautiful book in exchange for an honest review. It is greatly appreciated.
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