A Giant Mess (I Like to Read Comics)

A play on words yields a hugely imaginative story about cleaning up in this short but eventful early reader comic by Ebbeler (The One and Only Dylan St. Claire). After a white child named Molly makes a "giant mess" and is unwilling to tidy it, a series of "booms," accompanied by the appearance of a large green foot, suggest that the situation is about to get more chaotic. With bushy black eyebrows and elephantine ears, a giant arrives, lifting the roof off Molly's house and making a Godzilla-like grab for the child. Rampaging the town with pretend play that includes zoo animals and a biplane, the giant makes a mess even larger than Molly's: "Jack! Pick up your toys," shout picnicking giant parents nearby. Calling to mind Molly's earlier antics, Jack tantrums before halfheartedly putting things away in all the wrong places: dumping a train inside a house and tucking zoo animals into a store. Finally, Molly hollers "stop!" and insists the giant take responsibility for the disorder. Spare text is presented entirely through dialogue, while colorful sequential panels feature subtly textured digital art--Ebbeler's busy cinematic pages have an energy that translates to big fun. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Gr 1-3--Molly's mom implores her to clean up her bedroom, but just as the little girl protests, they get an unexpected visit from an equally messy Jack the Giant, a barefoot, green-skinned child with jug ears and a fuzzy caterpillar unibrow. As the massive toddler wreaks havoc on Molly's town, it's up to her to teach him the value in picking up one's toys, which in Jack's case happen to be freight trains and townspeople. Ebbeler showcases an imaginative and delightfully chaotic spread in comic form. Each panel will captivate young readers, depicting Molly and Jack's adventures from different angles and inspired perspectives. The artist's clever layout and descriptive text ("Boom! Crack!") provide a colorful landscape for beginning readers to devour. Molly and her mother are white, but Ebbeler depicts townspeople in a variety of skin tones. VERDICT A larger-than-life comic adventure that's sure to entertain emergent and newly independent readers.--Claire Moore, Manhattan Beach Lib., CA