We were sent four of the new DC Super Friends books from Random House for H to try. There are several titles that have been published at the end of March, from some First Reader titles to some great Activity Books targeted at 5-8 year olds. Read on to find out what we thought!
DC Super Friends need no introduction – the title first came about thanks to the tv series which featured the characters from DC Comics – Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman Spiderman and Aquaman. Wonder Woman does seem to have been written out of the DC Super Friends history, unfortunately, but the others remain.
We’ve been working on expression a lot with H’s reading as she’s progressing well in reception. Generally she can tackle tricky words and work them out, but still reads with one tone. To help her along I’ve been looking for books which have a bit more of a POW! going on where she’ll learn to recognise how to read it differently. These books are ideal!
We were sent Hero Havoc, where Bizarro just wants to be like Superman, but doesn’t quite get it right. He just wants to be a hero too, and doing it the opposite way to Superman does seem to create havoc. Really, it’s all about finding a superhero task for Bizarro which suits him – and as a parent I was glad to see a happy ending.
The other book was Crime Wave where Black Manta steals the worlds biggest pearl, so Batman, Superman and Aquaman all try to get it back while avoiding the Black Manta’s giant octopus. Both books have short sentences and are ideal for children who want to read a story independently. There are great illustrations and plenty to talk about (and read) on each page.
The other two books we’ve received are a fantastic Wipe-Clean Activity Book which has been used the most – H’s superhero name (which you fill in at the start) is Super Robin, and I love the pen can be stored safely and has a little rubber on the lid to remove the pen marks from the page. She has really enjoyed doing the activities, and there’s a good variety of puzzles. The type of things covered are writing, counting, drawing, spot the difference, mazes, colouring – all simple stuff but the kind of thing she enjoys doing.
Finally, The Super Friends Sticker Book has over 50 Super Hero stickers and loads more activities within, from decorating to completing puzzles. Given H loves stickers, this is right up her street.
In summary, I think these books are great. I do feel sad at the lack of female superheroes, mainly as I grew up with them in the seventies and eighties – these days most superheroes seem to be male (but that’s my issue rather than H’s), but I found all these books to be suitable for H and her age and reading ability.
The DC Super Friends books are available now, published by Bantam Books, part of Random House Children’s Books.
We were sent the books for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own. Book pictures link to Affiliate links.