Benny and Penny and Swans in Space

My library got two new titles in today.

Benny and Penny in the Big No-No by Geoffrey Hayes 978-0-9799238-9-0
This is one of the Toon line of books, with a very nice hardcover binding. Benny and Penny are a pair of mouse siblings who play (and bicker) in a realistic way. The "no-no" of the title is going over the fence into a new neighbor's yard without permission. The art has nice details without being too busy. The action is easy to follow. This would be a great book for an advanced kindergartner or first-grader to read on their own. (I'll test that later, once the book has been processed, by handing it to my own first-grader.) The vocabulary is simple without being condescending, and the moral at the end isn't hammered home.

Swans in Space by Lun Lun Yamamoto 978-1-897376-93-5
Finally! After months of trying to get my hands on this book, it arrived. It's a full-color manga that seems to be aimed at girls. I've just started reading it, but so far I'm enjoying. The binding is paper, but it seems like a slightly tougher paper than whatever Viz uses for Pokemon. This is another one I'll run by my daughters once it's processed for circulation. (I'll try to post a plot summary then, too.)

More on Majoko

So I took The Big Adventures of Majoko, Vol. 1 home for my daughters to read. The 9-year-old zipped through it and loved it. The 6-year-old tried. She's getting into reading on her own (heck, she's almost a grade level ahead of her class in reading), but the manga right-to-left format confuses her. So, we're reading it together. I read the longer bits, and use my finger to help her follow the action. I have her read the single-word exclamations and the like. We read two chapters in a half-hour that way. We'll probably read more this Friday, while waiting for her older sister to get out of dance class. It's a fun way to spend some quality time with her.

My older one wants me to get Volume 2 already. She's also curious about Udon's other titles, none of which our library has yet. At least I contacted Udon, and they're written back to say Swans in Space, Vol. 1 should be available from my distributor now. It seems they had some publishing issues. Yay!

A Rant

I want Swans in Space! I've read nothing but good things about the book. The publisher, Udon Kids, did a great job with The Big Adventures of Majoko (which I'm taking home to share with my daughters tonight). I saw the preview of the book on their site (http://mangaforkids.com/) and I have high hopes for this book. However, I'm not having much luck ordering it. I've tried twice, and my distributor canceled the order both times. I also see no other library in my consortium (consotia?) owns it either.