by Harry Bliss

Publisher: TOON Books

Format: hardcover, 6x9, full color, $12.95 (order with code JUL088515)

ISBN: 978-1-935179-00-9

Reviewed by: School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2
Bliss has created an ideal graphic novel for emerging readers. While his dad is engaged in “boring talk” with a friend, Luke notices a flock of pigeons and chases after them. The birds lead him out of Central Park through Manhattan and across the BrooklynBridge to a quiet rooftop. The cartoon panels are so successful at engaging readers that young children do not have to be able to read the text to enjoy the story. Each drawing is filled with humorous details. In one scene children see a man proposing to his girlfriend before Luke leaps over his café table. Though he creates havoc wherever he goes, he remains oblivious to everything but the pigeons he is chasing. Children will enjoy his rambunctious adventure as he takes them on a spirited tour of New York City. –Mari Pongkhamsing, St. Perpetua School, Lafayette, CA