Mr. Charlie #101 takes a look at TOKYOPOP's new way to introduce kids to Manga:

TOKYOPOP is constantly diversifying its line of publications as it seeks to broaden the audience for Manga.  The company has a new publishing format that they're aiming at 8-10-year old readers - mangachapters.

A mangachapter is a hybrid of the illustrated juvenile novel (like The Chronicles of Narnia or Lemony Snicket) and Manga.  This is essentially a prose novelette with spot and full-page illustrations, but at certain moments in the story the narrative morphs from prose into comics (or Manga).  These moments of comics outburst can be as short as one page or as long as six pages.

The Grosse Adventures (Vol. 1): The Good, the Bad & the Gassy is the creation of New York Times best-selling children's author, Annie Auerbach (Bob's Egg Hunt).  The heroes of The Grosse Adventures are fraternal twins, Stinky and Stan Grosse.  Stan is more devil-may-care, while Stinky is cerebral.  The brothers, however, share another common trait besides being twins - their predilection for farting.  The story tells us that this may have something to do with their mother, Sheila Grosse, craving beans while carrying the twins, and their father Sheldon Grosse obliging her.  But their sister, Patty, seems to suffer the boy's gaseous tendencies the most, though.

The Good, the Bad & the Gaseous revolves around Stan and Stinky's attempt to build a rocket ship for the Fourth Grade Astronomy Fair.  Not only must the boys overcome sabotage on the part of their dog, Columbus, but they must also face off against the smartest girl in the school and their nemesis, Penelope.

I actually enjoyed The Grosse Adventures quite a bit, as it reminded me of the brotherly adventures of The Hardy Boys, which were a favorite of my 'tween and early teen years.  More mainstream than the other mangachapters series, Agent Boo, The Grosse Adventures is just a fun read, and Mike Norton's spot illustrations and comics pages have the lively streamlined drawing style that I see in the animation of many PBSKids cartoon series.  In fact, the story's opening sequence is present as Manga (comics).

After one chapter, The Grosse Adventures is a winner and highly recommended for 8-10 year old reader.  I can only imagine this book being a problem for those who hate fart jokes.

Visit the publisher's website, TOKYOPOP.com for more information on this title and many others.

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