Lucy Rosen

Be prepared for a book that was made to profit off a movie franchise. The writing is not fabulous, and focuses on the opening scenes of the Minions movie, where our charming oddball friends are introduced and their mission of finding a nasty boss is established. This book humorously recounts the tribulations the minions faced in trying to find a boss and not accidentally kill him off, and ends with the three main characters heroically setting off on a journey to find the real thing at last. A couple of issues here, obviously. First of all, the story is like a big prologue, and ends before anything actually happens to resolve their problem. If readers have seen the movie, they will know what comes next, but this book can not stand on its own outside of the film's context. Secondly, the purported history of the minions leaves far more questions than answers. How have they been around for millions of years? Why do they want to serve a mean boss? How are they wearing overalls and goggles in prehistoric times? (These are questions that the movie also decides not to answer, and they play it a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it weakens the story for both movie and book.) Third, the book relies solely on stills captured from the movie, which are cute and attractive, but it would have been nice to see a little bit of original art from the book. On the positive side, the tone of the book is excellent, admirably capturing the silly and sometimes dry humor from the movie. Also, I recognize that a beginning reader book is limited for space, so the publishers had to choose one part of the movie on which to focus, and they chose the introduction. My daughters love this book purely for its characters, as is likely the case for many of the families that purchase it, so they don't mind the lackluster quality of its book traits. They are in it for the minions, and are thus satisfied.… (plus d'informations)

In recent months I have bought a fair number of these beginning reader books focused on popular characters and movies, to the detriment of the actual writing. I always thought I would avoid this type of story, but when children come along, some previously held notions are abandoned. My daughters love superheroes, and they don't care if the writing is inferior. And our collection of Justice League beginning reader books grows.

The story in this one is not great, but it is better than other books of the same topic and format. Starro, an evil alien starfish - yes, an evil alien starfish - has taken over major cities across the country. Starro does this by attaching small starfish on the back of the necks of cops and other officials. How the ocean creature accomplished this is a mystery. Superman immediately recognizes Starro's handiwork, and knows he needs help, so he contacts some friends.

Along with the other members of the Justice League, he makes short work of the underwhelming bad guy, and scatters the mind control starfish far across the galaxy. The dialogue is incredibly cheesy, and begs to be read aloud with a puffed out chest and a superhero voice. The narrative is coherent, but so ridiculous that it makes me laugh when I read it. I consider the experience comparable to watching a Mystery Science Theater movie: so awful it's good. Add in my daughters' love of the book, and the inclusion of the Martian Manhunter, and I generously give the book a three-star rating.… (plus d'informations)