4 out of 4 stars
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This is a children’s book written by R.D. Base, an experienced mother of three boys. The colourful illustrations within the book are by Debbie Hefke. This seems to be a self-published book.
Toni the superhero is a young boy with superhuman powers. He stars in this book as someone who aims to inspire young boys to be great at doing ordinary things in spite of the awesome stuff that everyone would see and admire. When Tony is not busy saving the world he helps around the home, socialises with his friends and family, does some reading and explores any hobby he can. He also eats the good food that helps boys and girls grow strong and healthy.
This is a very simply written book suitable for young children learning to read. The prose is straightforward and it is accompanied by vivid illustrations describing what Tony is doing. As the text is being read out to children (or as the children read), they will see the images and be able to immediately relate with the familiar things that they see every day in their homes. This will help them understand what the words are saying. The illustrations will also help them subtly glean lessons the will apply to their homes daily. This would help a great deal to a parent who is trying their best to teach young children to clean up after themselves, care for their selves and others as well.
I think the author’s aim is to tap into the love of superheroes in children and use that to inspire them not to shun doing the ordinary, uncool stuff. I like this fact about the book because these are things we carry on doing for the rest of our lives without thinking about it. A healthy eating habit will prevent present-day common health problems in young people like cavities, hypertension, obesity, etc. A good active and social life nurtures one’s interpersonal skills, encourages cooperation/collaboration and builds the body in terms of physical strength as well as immunity to disease.
I rate the book 4 out of 4 stars because I think it fulfills the aim of a parent passing positive messages to children at a critical stage in their lives. The other reasons are as I’ve stated above. What I would have liked to see is some pages of the book being dedicated to colouring exercises to allow children to interact more with the book. They may not be that necessary though, since a parent may have a separate colouring book, and may want the book to be used by another child. I haven’t noted any errors in the text.
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Toni the Superhero
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