Rhinoa’s Manga Reading Challenge has inspired me to choose some reading that is very new and different for me, and I’m enjoying my first experiences with the world of Manga. This week I read two more books for the challenge: Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest, and Return to Labyrinth, Vol. I.
The Tempest, illustrated by Paul Duffield, was the second book I’ve read from the Manga Shakespeare collection. I started with Macbeth — the play I am most familiar with because I used it in my 6th grade classroom for 16 years — and I enjoyed it but liked The Tempest better because I liked the artwork better. I’m looking forward to eventually reading all the books in the Manga Shakespeare collection. They’re a fun way to introduce yourself (or a class) to the different Shakespeare plays.
Many years ago, my family and I enjoyed the movie, Labyrinth. A few months ago, my husband and I watched it again on DVD, and I think I liked it even more than I did way-back-when. So for Rhinoa’s challenge, I decided to read the Manga series of Return to Labyrinth, by Jake T. Forbes, to see what happens to the story after the movie ends! At the library, I found Volumes 1 and 2 of what will eventually be a 4-volume story. I finished Vol. 1, and am most of the way through Vol. 2…Volume 3 comes out on May 12th.
The story in Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 1 takes place 13 years after the end of the movie. Here’s a short summary from the publisher:
The Goblin King has kept a watchful eye on Toby: His minions secretly guiding and protecting the child… Legions of goblins work behind the scenes to ensure that Toby has whatever his heart desires… Preparing him for the day when he will return to the Labyrinth and take his rightful place beside Jareth as the heir to the Goblin Kingdom… That day has come……but no one has told Toby.
I felt a lot of loyalty to the movie and to Brian Froud’s original artwork and Jim Henson’s wonderful creations, so this book was a little hard for me to accept at first. But, it’s fun to follow the adventure along, so I will continue through the story and read the upcoming volumes, too. And anything that keeps Brian Froud, Jim Henson, and David Bowie fresh in mind is definitely to be enjoyed and appreciated.
Robot Dreams, by Sara Varon, is a wordless graphic novel for children. Library Journal called it a “small, “simple” story of friendship and letting go…“…A dog purchases a robot kit so that he might have a friend to hang out with. The robot, a mellow type, enjoys hanging out with the dog, eating popcorn, watching movies, and going to the library. A trip to the beach, however, turns out to be a less than stellar idea when the robot goes swimming only to rust up and find that it can no longer move. The dog goes home for the night, intending to take the robot along later. Unfortunately, the beach is closed the next day and the poor robot is stuck on the sand, dreaming of things both good and bad. As the months go by, both robot and dog have their own small adventures, real and unreal. By the end, however, they each find new and separate companions. The last image in the book is of the robot seeing the dog with another robot, and understanding that this is a case when you’ve just got to let the person you love go.
A Fondness For Reading 