Charlie's Superhero Underpants - Softcover

Paul Bright started writing stories for his own children when they were young and he kept on writing even when they left home! He is originally from Hertfordshire but currently lives with his wife in Tarragona in North East Spain. He has written several books for Little Tiger Press. Lee Wildish lives in Lancashire and has been illustrating from a very young age. He loves illustrating children's books and thinks there's nothing better than seeing people laughing at a book he's illustrated.

PreSchool-Grade 2—When Charlie's scarlet underpants blow away with the rest of the laundry, he begins a whimsical, whirlwind world tour to find the precious garment that says "POW!" in front and "KERZAP!" "OOF!" and "SPLAT!" in back. Wildish's humorous illustrations capture the streets of Paris, the Serengeti plain, a Peruvian plateau, the waters of the Mississippi, and the mountains of Nepal, where a Yeti is found wearing Charlie's underwear. The boy negotiates a deal with the hairy beast, trading a woolen cap for the one item of clothing that makes him feel in charge. While Bright gets mileage out of the ever-popular superhero topic, his story is overly dependent on a clunky rhyme scheme and lacks character development. For titles that better explore the feelings of a small person struggling for some sense of power in the larger world, consider Caralyn Buehner's Superdog: The Heart of a Hero (HarperCollins, 2004), Udo Weigelt's Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue (Walker, 2007), or Viviane Schwarz's Timothy and the Strong Pajamas (Scholastic, 2008).—Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT
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