Saturday, May 03, 2008

Beatrix Potter

We watched Miss Potter last night, a fictionalized film about Beatrix Potter, the children's author of classics like The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The filmmakers changed a few facts here and there to make for better drama, but overall it seemed true to her life.

I enjoy finding out about the people behind works of art that impact on popular culture. I've read books on Herge (creator TinTin), Charles Schultz, Stan Lee, George Lucas, etc. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the film.

Anyway, I've been reading an eclectic mix of books to my daughter at bed time, ranging from Peter Rabbit to Tin Tin - and strangely enough she really digs Tin Tin - more so than Peter Rabbit. And she's 3 and a half.

So, she's been asking me if we can read a girl TinTin - and today we went to Border's in search of a TinTin equivalent for girls - but came back empty handed. The only other large sized illustrated books they had were the Asterix series - and they seem very boy oriented.

Is there a series of graphic novels for young female readers that don't talk down to their audience? Surely there must be something out there. If not, there should be. I'll have to scour Amazon.com for some candidates. Heck, even an illustrated Nancy Drew would be a start.

If anyone knows of any, let me know.

www.passfieldgames.com

2 comments:

Andy Bennett said...

John, check out the series of "Akiko" graphic novels my Mark Crilley. Fantastic stuff. I'd also recommend Jeff Smith's "Bone" and - if you can find them - James Robinson & Paul Smith's "Leave It To Chance".

These are perhaps a tiny bit more fantasy-oriented than Tintin (which is nearly a straight adventure story), but they might do the trick.

I've not read them, but Jimmy Gownley's "Amelia Rules" has been getting a lot of award nominations. I would guess it's a lot more lightweight, but might be worth a look.

Good luck.

Passfield Games said...

Thanks Andy! A friend recommended "Leave it to Chance" as well - so I will check those books out.

Cheers,
John