Books rule, TV drools!
Here is a write-up of one of the best kiddie books to come across my desk over the past couple weeks. This one will make an awesome Christmas gift for a smart youngster and/or a fan of comic books anywhere between age three and nine.
Bagel’s Lucky Hat
By Hector Mumbly
The story of Mr. Mumbly, the book’s author and artist, is nearly as fantastic as the story of Bagel, our lead character, and his lucky hat. Mr. Mumbly, you see, had never put pen to paper and crafted a children’s book before this one. He worked as a typesetter and font designer before finally taking the impressive leap to quit that day job at age 50 to, as he puts it, “make exquisitely crafted, fine entertainment for children.”
Let’s hope that Mr. Mumbly keeps doing just that for he is off to one heck of a start with Bagel’s Lucky Hat, the outrageous yet slightly and almost impossibly true tale of a dog, his hat, laughing fish, helpful birds, a giant robot suit and a distant planet. Sound fun?
What sets Bagel’s Lucky Hat apart from many of it’s peers in the kiddie section of your local book store is the impressive range of language and it’s homage to old school, R. Crumb style comic illustrations. Words like “indignantly” and “intricacies” litter the text and will help to expand a child’s vocabulary. The present-day sections of the book are shown in a sepia toned hue that serve as visual separation of what is happening currently and what Bagel is recalling. The artistry is beautiful and full of neat little details, like the electrical outlet halfway behind the chest of drawers in Bagel’s bedroom and the family’s reflection in the stream on a page halfway through the book.
Bagel’s Lucky Hat represents the finer qualities of a children’s book – it is partially ridiculous, funny, sweet, charming and smart all at the same time.
Great Books for Grades 3 and 4