Stan Lee's Superhero Christmas

Books
Stan Lee's Superhero Christmas
By Chang
December 17, 2004 - 14:56

Katherine Tegen Books
Writer(s): Stan Lee
Penciller(s): Tim Jessel
Cover Artist(s): Tim Jessel
ISBN: 978-0060565602
CAN $19.99, 32 pages

It is Christmas Eve. Santa is held captive by the evil Ice King. What would Christmas be like without Santa and his generous gifts? I like happy ending in children’s books. Imagine the children’s reaction for a moment when their favourite Christmas is just about to be destroyed. It is therefore wise of Stan Lee to introduce super heroes in this book as rescuers, thus arousing children’s interest in super hero characters. The fact that making their mom and dad into super heroes makes it even more appealing to the children.

The book emphasizes too much on glorifying the super heroes, thus diverting from the main themes - Christmas and family matter. The family fun is only implied but does not have enough emphasis. It is up to the parents to draw that conclusion when reading the book to their children. Nonetheless, the story does give children something to hope for during bad times.

The illustration is imaginative and colourful. I would not pay CAN $19.99 for this book, because it is most likely a one-time book that you read to your child. One thing the author does really well is that he makes both mom and dad into super hero figures, so the content is neutral from that perspective!