Review: Adventures in Cartooning Christmas Special by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Christmas is coming! The Magic Cartooning Elf and his friend the Knight join forces to make a Christmas comic for Santa to give to all the boys and girls in the world.
As with previous installments in the Adventures in Cartooning series, Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special is a zany adventure story seamlessly integrated with nuggets of practical cartooning tips: how to write, illustrate, print, and distribute comics! It's a terrific holiday gift, and after reading it, kids will be inspired to make more gifts…with comics!

MY TAKE:

Ah, pretty children's Christmas books.

Adventures in Cartooning Christmas Special is patterned after The Night Before Christmas. That is, it's mostly written in rhymes and the opening line is reminiscent of The Night Before Christmas.

I really like the illustrations and coloring style. It reminds me of those funny Christmas cards.

The only odd thing for me is I didn't really see the cartooning tips. It's either written seamlessly into the story or it's not really there. Although, it did teach how to choose a story for your comics, as well as how to draw panels to begin writing comics.

Thanks to NetGalley and First Second for the e-ARC. Publication date of Adventures in Cartooning Christmas Special is on September 11, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. Cute concept.
2. Simple but likeable illustration and coloring style.
3. The story line doesn't feel forced.

THE BAD:

1. It's more of a storybook than a cartooning how-to.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Instead of toys, we elves write code. Then we connect to the server...
AND UPLOAD!

READ IT IF:

1. You like Christmas!
2. You like funny children's books/comics.
3. You're looking for a nice book for your child.

RATING:



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