Cardboard

Nov 28, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comic-love

Every page in Doug TenNapel’s Cardboard pops to life with color, action, imagination, and heart!

Cam and his Dad are going through a rough time. Both trying to find a way to live without Cam’s mother. Loneliness, grief, and fear show up throughout the story in heartbreaking quiet ways and not so subtle ways. Add no job, financial woes, bully troubles, and a birthday—well these guys have their hands full! Cam’s father needs a miracle or a bit of magic to afford a gift for his son’s birthday. And m...more
Every page in Doug TenNapel’s Cardboard pops to life with color, action, imagination, and heart!

Cam and his Dad are going through a rough time. Both trying to find a way to live without Cam’s mother. Loneliness, grief, and fear show up throughout the story in heartbreaking quiet ways and not so subtle ways. Add no job, financial woes, bully troubles, and a birthday—well these guys have their hands full! Cam’s father needs a miracle or a bit of magic to afford a gift for his son’s birthday. And magic is just what he finds in a cardboard box. Magic and trouble! Father and son twist, bend, and build people out of the cardboard. People that come to life. And that’s where the trouble begins…

Strong father and son messages color and fill these pages. Fathers trying to find a way to communicate and bond with their sons. (view spoiler) I loved Cam and his father’s banter and relationship, but about half way through, the story seemed to shift more towards understanding Marcus—the neighborhood bully. To be honest, I really didn’t like Marcus. His eyes gave me the creeps. Huge pools of creepiness! I realize that isn’t the greatest reason to dislike a character, but it’s the truth. Haha…Plus I may have overdosed on the sad, misunderstood bully characters and tales lately. I wished the focus and spotlight had remained on Cam and his Dad.

This comic book is built around a brilliant idea! Cardboard people and monsters that come to life! Love it! But it had a few bumps for me. We never truly learn why or how the cardboard comes to life or any concrete reasoning behind the rules of the box. I’m all for mystery and magic--sometimes not knowing fills a story with wonder and power. But here it just felt a bit lazy leaving so many unanswered questions.

A fun adventure packed with action that will find an audience. But for me, this tale lost its bite and magic about half way through.

I will be on the lookout for more from Mr. TenNapel though. I highly recommend his Bad Island.(less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Kaethe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, age-middle-grade, animals, art, contemporary, death, domesticity, fantasy, fiction, format-graphic-novel, grief, humor, magic, monsters, robots, scifi, swashbuckling, trippy

One of the reasons that graphic novels work so well for younger readers is that they're able to bring in a lot of material, lots of different issues, without belaboring any of them.

An unemployed carpenter is looking for work so that he can give his really good son a birthday present. All he can manage is a cardboard box for them to build something out of together. Ignore the magical rules and carry on...there's no reason to make a connection with Gremlins. There's a rich weird kid named Marcus w...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Charles Hatfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd say Doug TenNapel is a sure bet: everything I've read by him (admittedly only a sliver of everything he's done) is smart, brisk, accessible, and graced with enticing high concepts and obvious emotional hooks. He cartoons with brio, he's prolific and seemingly always on full boil (what, about a graphic novel a year?), and so I have to believe he loves his work. Cardboard, a broad, eager, winning fantasy, is his latest, and takes off like a rocket from a simple, tantalizing premise: a widower...more I'd say Doug TenNapel is a sure bet: everything I've read by him (admittedly only a sliver of everything he's done) is smart, brisk, accessible, and graced with enticing high concepts and obvious emotional hooks. He cartoons with brio, he's prolific and seemingly always on full boil (what, about a graphic novel a year?), and so I have to believe he loves his work. Cardboard, a broad, eager, winning fantasy, is his latest, and takes off like a rocket from a simple, tantalizing premise: a widower and his young son stumble on some magical cardboard that can be used to bring to life creatures of their own making; chaos results! I had fun reading it.

As I read Cardboard, I thought, "This could be a Pixar movie. Or Laika." That's what it reads like, and almost everything filmmakers would need script-wise is already here: every major character has a problem or want and gets to exhibit change (i.e. everybody's got an arc); the initial premise spirals out of control into a series of set pieces that look good on paper and could look great on screen; the plot forks into alternating character bits that could be cross-cut in a movie for maximum suspense's sake; and there's a tender father/son pairing at the heart of it. Plus the grieving widower whose inability to move on in life calls to mind Finding Nemo. Characters that seem broadly drawn at first, such as a truly dislikable neighborhood punk, get peeled back, softened up, and rounded, yet TenNapel doesn't get so sentimental that he forgets to keep on delivering little narrative shocks right up to the end (his inventiveness is in high gear). And reading the book is a breeze: varied layouts and elastic pacing carry the story effortlessly, and, man, TenNapel really cracks the whip.

So, a charming gust of a book, whirlwind-quick, and eager to please: an impressive workout with craft to spare. Yet I find myself wishing that TenNapel's character arcs and themes weren't so obvious. There's something programmed about them, like the over-familiar dramatic riffs in so many movies. You know, stuff that sounds as if it were dreamed up around a conference table: this character will undergo a big Change and resolve his Issues, et cetera. It all reeks of Screenwriting 101.

On the other hand, it does work. I mean, TenNapel does follow through; he doesn't forget his characters or shortchange them; he seeks to deliver a Well-Wrought Tale where nothing is wasted. And he does.

The book's best scene, for my money, is when Bill the Boxer (the first of the many cardboard critters brought to life in the story) wonders aloud about what part of him is cardboard and what part isn't, and whether he has a spirit that sets him apart from other, unliving cardboard things. This scene is basically about the question of soul versus body, and may be a hint of TenNapel's religious convictions, which do crop up in his work. I liked the way it worked here, lending heft and sweetness to a goofy idea.(less)

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Apr 02, 2013 Karen Yingling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cam's father Mike is out of work and out of money, and all he can bring back home for Cam's birthday is a cardboard box. It's not just any box, however-- the weird guy who sold it to the father says there are two rules to it. They can't ask for more cardboard, and they have to bring all of the scraps back. The two soon find out why. A boxer that they make out of the cardboard comes to life, and they let it mow their yard, bringing it to the attention of creepy bully neighbor boy Marcus. He steal...more

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May 20, 2013 Brenda Lower rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

From my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Cam and his dad Mike have it tough. Cam's mom is dead, Mike can't find work even though he tries, and the best thing he can afford for Cam's birthday is a cardboard box. Despite the weird guy that sells it to him, Mike takes the box home, and together they create a cardboard boxer they name Bill.

But everything changes when Bill comes to life. Quirky and not quite sure to make of his new life, Bill pushes forward with enthusiasm. Instant frien...more From my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Cam and his dad Mike have it tough. Cam's mom is dead, Mike can't find work even though he tries, and the best thing he can afford for Cam's birthday is a cardboard box. Despite the weird guy that sells it to him, Mike takes the box home, and together they create a cardboard boxer they name Bill.

But everything changes when Bill comes to life. Quirky and not quite sure to make of his new life, Bill pushes forward with enthusiasm. Instant friends with Cam, they make the kid across the street, Marcus, jealous of the awesome (no batteries needed!) toy that Cam has. When Marcus steels the remaining cardboard pieces to make his own creations, things start getting a little out of hand.

I liked this book a lot! The illustrations are colorful and expressive, without being too busy or dark. Despite the prevalence of cardboard, I'm not overwhelmed by tan- the artist finds ways to incorporate lots of colors even when cardboard takes over the world. There is texture and motion in the pictures that drawers the reader in.

I also really like the story line. It subtly deals with several issues such as Cam's dead mother, Mike's lack of a job, stretching money when things are thin, friendship and betrayal. All these things are woven into the story- the reader sees them, and sees the characters dealing with them. I think that is important- not just that the issues are present, but the the characters are interacting with these issues: Mike is trying to get work but not having success, they eat mac n cheese for dinner (frequently from implications), and they even discuss the mom a little. It's not distant issues, but very real and involving in their lives.

One of the things I like the most about the story is the relationship between Cam and Marcus. They start out not friendly at all, have trials to their very weak friendship, and they talk about those weaknesses. As things that happen in the book kind of throw them together, they start seeing each other clearer, and find they need each other. Not your typical beginning to a friendship, but kind of more realistic than some portrayals.

Overall, good book! It's a little bigger than some graphic novels aimed at kids plus has some issues more suited to slightly older kids, so I would say late elementary and middle school. Boys will get a kick of this book, as well as girls. Expect them to make things with cardboard if you read it to them! Have fun!(less)

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May 20, 2013 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, graphic, j, life, ya

Cardboard won me over and I had an excellent time reading it in one sitting over breakfast the other morning. I have to admit I was tentative heading into the book because: I wasn't crazy about TenNapel's "critically acclaimed" effort Bad Island , couldn't get into his Ratfist and only read the first few pages, and only decided to read this one at the request of a colleague who wasn't crazy about it. So I went in not expecting to care for the book and ended up pleasantly surprised.

We have Cardb...more Cardboard won me over and I had an excellent time reading it in one sitting over breakfast the other morning. I have to admit I was tentative heading into the book because: I wasn't crazy about TenNapel's "critically acclaimed" effort Bad Island , couldn't get into his Ratfist and only read the first few pages, and only decided to read this one at the request of a colleague who wasn't crazy about it. So I went in not expecting to care for the book and ended up pleasantly surprised.

We have Cardboard in our teen collection and I'm not sure it belongs there, though. The protagonists are an out-of-work carpenter and his son who seems to be around ten, with the supporting characters being an adult neighbor, a neighborhood bully and peer of Cam's, and cardboard bill, another adult--so not a proper teen in sight. At least, the boys appeared preteen to me, though I don't think the book ever states their ages, and certainly works better if they are. For readers around age ten, this story works in quite a few issues with pretty good depth and complexity; for readers fifteen and up, I can see the issues feeling a bit more simplified and reduced. For younger readers, then, this is a rousing adventure with complicated characters and relationship issues.

I think the moment, very early on, that fully won me over, was Gideon's presentation of the cardboard:

"A good boy is rare indeed! . . . I have the best, most amazing, and utterly stupendous gift in the history of the universe . . . but I'm saving it for a really good kid!"

"Gideon, this is an empty box."

"Empty? It's full! Full of ideas . . . projects . . . adventure!"

"He does like to make things."

"Now you're getting it! Make a submarine, a monster, a train! It beats the heck out of some dumb ol' hundred-dollar, remote-controlled car!

"To the nakes eye, it appears to be just a plain old cardboard vessel! But this is actually a father-and-son project in disguise! Slay the giant! Kill the Nazis! Hunt for buried treasure! It's up to you!

"No, this is not just a box! It's everything mankind ever needed to accomplish pressed into a cube of corrugated pulp!"

Of course, that speech takes on a whole new meaning once Mike and Cam realize that anything they make from the cardboard comes to life, complete with existential angst and a Pandora's box of trouble.

Oh, and the artwork. Bright, vibrant, expressive, and angular, I'm not sure it would work for every story, but it suited this one excellently.(less)

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May 05, 2013 Nicola rated it 3 of 5 stars

The cover of this book is absolutely compelling! But I have to tell you those eyes made me think there was going to be an owl (I love owls) in the story, but, alas, no owl. The whole book is a visual delight. TenNapel's illustrations are fantastic, though somewhat creepy at times. Each page was a joy to behold. However, I have to admit that the story just didn't really do it for me; I have no major complaints. It's just one of those stories that didn't sit right with me and I found it far-fetche...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Lizz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book review for the library's webpage::

Cardboard by Doug TenNapal

New Graphic Novel!

Cam is a really awesome kid whose Dad wants to get him something fantastic for his birthday. Unfortunately, his Dad only has some spare change and comes home with a simple cardboard box (that came with a really strange warning) to make something with. Being an awesome kid, Cam makes the best of it and his Dad plays along, helping to make a cardboard man – Bill, the Boxer. During the night the cardboard man comes a...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Kimberly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-booktalks

Some of you may remember we had a book from Doug TenNapel last year called Bad Island. This was my own very first venture into graphic novels, and with that book, I became a fan. I’ve also just learned that he is also a musician and an Eisner Award-winner artist. (The Eisner Award is given for creative achievement in American comic books, and is sometimes referred to as the Oscars of the comic book industry.)
Cardboard: like a zombie apocalypse, except with cardboard.
As far as stories go, this mi...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Jay Odon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, graphic-novels, teen

This is a book that I picked up at the library and I mainly got it for the illustrations but was drawn into a story so much deeper than originally thought.

A single father, still mourning his wife, is broke, can't find employment and is worried about his son getting a good birthday present. On his way home he comes upon a man selling "treasures". The man is strange but understands that he wants the best for his son on a very limited budget, so he sells him a cardboard box... Yes this might be the...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Mike is an out-of-work carpenter and a widower with a young teen son, Cam. When Mike can’t afford a birthday present for Cam, he encounters a strange toy salesman who offers him a cardboard box for under a dollar. The man gives Mike some rules: he has to return any unused cardboard and he can’t have more.

Mike and Cam make a boxer out of the cardboard, and the boxer comes to life. “Bill” and Cam are fast friends, but when Cam’s wealthy and mean-spirited neighbor Marcus decides he wants magic card...more Mike is an out-of-work carpenter and a widower with a young teen son, Cam. When Mike can’t afford a birthday present for Cam, he encounters a strange toy salesman who offers him a cardboard box for under a dollar. The man gives Mike some rules: he has to return any unused cardboard and he can’t have more.

Mike and Cam make a boxer out of the cardboard, and the boxer comes to life. “Bill” and Cam are fast friends, but when Cam’s wealthy and mean-spirited neighbor Marcus decides he wants magic cardboard, too, things quickly get out of control.

Cardboard is visually appealing with Tennapel’s unique style and bright colors. Aimed at the middle grades, there are strong themes of right/wrong and decision making, but they were obvious and direct. While it’s good for a younger audience, it could annoy older readers. I liked Mike—he’s a strong father figure, which is rare in stories for younger people. He’s not perfect, and he has his own issues to deal with, but he puts his son first.

The story switches focus halfway through—it’s no longer about Cam and his dad, but about Marcus and why he’s such a bully. It was here that the obvious moralizing got to be too much for me. I also felt that the characters were stereotypical—evil Marcus is a long-haired Marilyn Manson lookalike, honest Mike is a muscular, good-looking guy, etc. The overall story actually reminded me of the “Goofus and Gallant” cartoons in Boy’s Life.

• No language or sexual issues
• Marcus has a pet rat that he is constantly putting in harm’s way. I felt like I was supposed to be mildly amused by these scenes. The rat, Fang, always comes out unscathed, and Marcus’s obliviousness to the well-being of his pet characterizes him as a callous jerk. However, this problematic behavior doesn’t change.
• There’s some gross-factor to this book. Marcus has a friend named Pink Eye whose eyes are red and infected.
• The violence in the story involves cardboard people and monsters. Although they’re made out of cardboard, the reader will empathize with cardboard Bill—if he’s sentient, then aren’t the others? So while the war is against “cardboard,” it’s hard to separate the “what’s alive?” element.
• There are fist fights and weapons. The weapons are made out of the magic cardboard and only injure cardboard creatures.
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Jan 13, 2013 Lori Redman rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, middleschool, fantasy

This book was too violent- an emphasis on guns being the answer to their problems, and the whole second half of the book is a lot of "pows" and "kablamos" without too much plot.

At one point, I had to put the book down because I was so disgusted by the villain, Marcus. He is truly a villain with no really redeeming features. Which makes the second half of the book- and his eventual rescue- that much more unremarkable and rather uninteresting.

Add in a slightly existential crisis on the part of the...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Samantha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-comics, fathers-and-sons, bullies, magic, boxing, friendship

A single father struggling to make ends meet buys a cardboard box from a strange vendor for his son's birthday. What he doesn't know is that the cardboard is enchanted. When he and his son, Cam, set to work to make a world-famous boxer they are surprised when it comes to life!

Marcus, the neighborhood bully, while he has anything a boy could ever want, is jealous of Cam's cardboard creation and devises a way to steal some of the cardboard for himself. When he uses the enchanted cardboard to brin...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Angypants rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a strange, wonderful story! A little boy gets cardboard box for his birthday, that he and his dad make into a better gift. Well, and it is also magic cardboard. That comes to life and stuff. Stay with me. And that magic cardboard comes with rules and consequences.

From the creator of "Earthworm Jim" comes a truly magical tale about love, friendship and all things cardboard. Be warned: I think this would freak out little kids. Not everything is lovely within these pages. I found myself on ed...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Maureen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-graphic-novel, childrens-youth, boy-book

This graphic novel has a creative story line that will capture the imagination of kids. Cam's father is down on his luck and doesn't have much money for a birthday present for Cam. He runs into a vendor who offers a cardboard box. Cam's father knows that Cam is a good boy and will love whatever he gets. Cam and his father spend the night creating a boxer named Bill out of the cardboard. However, Cam's father forgot the 2 rules of the vendor: return any scrapes and he can't get any more cardboard...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, children, family-story, fantasy, graphic-novel, horror

Cam's father is not having an easy time--his wife has died, and he can't find any work to support himself and his son. With his last few coins, he buys Cam a cardboard box for his birthday, thinking they could make something out of it. The man who sells him the cardboard tells him there is a rule for using it, though--he must return all the scraps that he doesn't use. Cam and his father make a boxing man with the cardboard, then are stunned when he comes to life. Cam loves his protective new bud...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Robert Greenberger rated it 3 of 5 stars

From my ComicMix review:

I find Doug TenNapel a maddeningly inconsistent storyteller. He goes from the wonderful Ghostopolis to the disappointing Bad Island while delivering inventive graphics aided with strong color. Now we have Cardboard, which starts off with such promise and right around the halfway mark things spiral entirely out of control and become way too over the top.

Mike is an independent carpenter who recently lost his wife and the sour economy means he’s inching towards bankruptcy. W...more From my ComicMix review:

I find Doug TenNapel a maddeningly inconsistent storyteller. He goes from the wonderful Ghostopolis to the disappointing Bad Island while delivering inventive graphics aided with strong color. Now we have Cardboard, which starts off with such promise and right around the halfway mark things spiral entirely out of control and become way too over the top.

Mike is an independent carpenter who recently lost his wife and the sour economy means he’s inching towards bankruptcy. We open on his son Cam’s birthday as Mike, with a mere seventy-eight cents to his name, desperately seeks work to afford a present. Despondently he heads home until he encounters Gideon, a roadside huckster who sells him a cardboard box for exactly seventy-eight cents. When Mike complains it’s empty, Gideon screams, “Empty? It’s full! Full of ideas…projects…adventure!” But of course, it comes with rules which will later drive the story.

The box is at first skeptically received until the two take tools to it and suddenly it is transformed into a boxer that magically comes to life. Bill the boxer comes complete with a rudimentary vocabulary and intelligence making his a step above an adorable puppy. He follows orders and is out mowing the grass before you know it, earning Cam the enmity of his spoiled goth-inspired friend Marcus, accompanied by his sidekick Pink Eye. A squirt of water soaks the cardboard man and brings him near death until Mike uses the scraps to build a device that emits fresh cardboard, which is then shaped to replacement parts and Bill lives.

But Marcus wants the device and his own cardboard man and from there we begin the slippery slope down to lunacy. Marcus of course gets the device and uses it without understanding the rules and just like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, one becomes many and all set to work. Given their intelligence, they decide to rule the world and the neighborhood is taken over by the growing numbers of cardboard simulacrums of people.

Of course, a garden hose would have nipped this in the bud at the outset but Mike and Cam appear to have lost their logical thought processes by this point. And this sort of lack in internal logic, which doomed the previous outing, also comes to haunt this work which showed such lovely potential at the outset.

Mike is despondent over his dead wife, feeling like a failure in raising Cam and is totally oblivious to the mutual attraction he has with his next door neighbor, the single Tina. We’re told how broke he is early on – not enough money to buy food let alone a present, but that thread is instantly dropped until the happy ending. The growing intelligence and development of Bill the Boxer as a character started off well but got shoved to side for the kinetic action that overwhelms the narrative. Mike, Cam and Bill are the most rounded characters while Marcus, hid Dad, and Tina are as two-dimensional as the cardboard that starts this off.

Just how did the cardboard become infused with magic? Gideon gives an incomplete answer first saying it is a result of alien or alien magicians that also can understand quantum particle physics. We never quite know or how Gideon obtained this wondrous object. In the grand scheme of things, its largely inconsequential to the overblown action.

TenNapel’s artwork is quite good and he tells his stories well, aided with superb color from Der-Shing Helmer. He acknowledges the editorial contributions that he felt made the book work but frankly, it needed serious editorial guidance to retain the emotional core which was sacrificed for too much cardboard plotting.
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Oct 01, 2012 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cardboard, by Doug Tennapel
Graphix, 2012
Recommended Grades 4-6
Fantasy (283 pages)

LOVE. I love this book because it is funny and crazy and heartwarming.
When Cam's dad gives him an empty cardboard box for his birthday he doesn't let it get him down. Together they work to create something amazing out of that plain box. Rich kid bully, Marcus, across the street taunts Cam for being poor. Magically, the man Cam and his father created out of cardboard comes to life and becomes a member of their famil...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Selina Lock rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiftyfiftyme, graphic-novel

Mike is trying his best to keep his head above water and provide for his son Cam, but there's not much carpentry work around. Desperate to buy Cam something for his birthday he stops off at a cheap toy stall and ends up buying a cardboard box. There are two rules that go with buying the cardboard - you have to tale all the scraps of cardboard back and you can't ask for any more cardboard.

Cam obviously thinks this is the worst birthday present ever, especially when spoilt, local bully Marcus rubs...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Liviania rated it 4 of 5 stars

You might be familiar with Doug TenNapel through his creation Earthworm Jim or one of his other graphic novels, including GHOSTOPOLIS. I haven't encountered any of TenNapel's work before and thought CARDBOARD was an interesting introduction. The art reminded me a little of both Jhonen Vasquez and John Kricfalusi. It's very stylish and dynamic with some character designs that make me cringe. (Marcus, the bully, has these dead fish lips.)

CARDBOARD can be enjoyed many ways, from creepy adventure to...more
You might be familiar with Doug TenNapel through his creation Earthworm Jim or one of his other graphic novels, including GHOSTOPOLIS. I haven't encountered any of TenNapel's work before and thought CARDBOARD was an interesting introduction. The art reminded me a little of both Jhonen Vasquez and John Kricfalusi. It's very stylish and dynamic with some character designs that make me cringe. (Marcus, the bully, has these dead fish lips.)

CARDBOARD can be enjoyed many ways, from creepy adventure to morality play. Although aimed at children, there's plenty for adults to enjoy. Cam's father may have the most on-panel time of any of the characters. Mike is an out-of-work carpenter recovering from his wife's death and doing his best to provide for his son. But on Cam's birthday, he can give him nothing more than a cardboard box he bought from a strange vendor. Together, Mike and Cam make a boxer from the present. And that boxer comes to life.

But the cardboard came with two rules and Mike decides to break them. Soon Marcus is making his own cardboard creations - ones that are far less benign than Billy the Boxer. It's a journey to the center of the id to stop the cardboard run amok. (How does the cardboard come to life, you may ask? A religious alien wizard did it.)

I thought CARDBOARD was a creative book with high visual interest. It has cross-generational appeal and tackles tough topics in a funny way. I only had strong issues with one line. While giving good, sensible advice to Mike a character tells him, "Cam needs a father and a mother (249, ARC)." It's not said in a way that indicates the reader should be credulous of the advice. Mike does have a prospective romance with a neighbor that he keeps sabotaging, but the counseling should've focused on moving on. Single parents should not feel pressured to find a spouse for their children. Nor should a father and a mother be the only acceptable arrangement.

CARDBOARD probably won't turn people who aren't fans onto the way of the graphic novel. But for those who do enjoy the form, it's an entertaining magical realism adventure. (less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Bookstorequeer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, fantasy, graphic-novel, young-adult

I wasn't completely sold on this title when I started it. It seemed a little cheesy with the overdone, "so poor they could only afford cardboard" thing, with a mysterious man who gives them a magical gift. But, there are of course moments of great humour and fantastic writing (I like this guy, Tennapel, he's good!) and by the end, I was loving it. If you can hang on through the cheesiness of the original premise then you should be smiling by the end of it.

Since this graphic novel is aimed at you...more

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May 15, 2013 Jackie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sequential-art-graphic, magic-magicians, ya-fiction, fantasy, good-vs-evil, bullies, death, single-parent-family

When Cam's dad, an out-of-work carpenter, brings home a scrap of Cardboard for his son's birthday, it seems as though he has hit the lowest point imaginable. There are rules attached to the cardboard, and of course, the family doesn't follow them. They begin using their mind's eye and creative skills to craft beings that satisfy some deficient part of them.

They are poor, the economy is brutal, and Carol, wife and mother has passed on. Rules are not meant to be followed. Those bullies who steppe...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tween-and-teen

Cam is a terrific kid, but his father just can’t seem to get ahead. The only thing the man is good at is slinging a hammer, and the economy is so bad that no one is hiring construction workers. For Cam’s birthday, all his dad can afford is a cardboard box he buys from a mysterious stranger for $0.78. The stranger warns Cam’s dad that he can’t get any more of the cardboard, no matter what and that he must return any unused cardboard when he is done building whatever creation he chooses. Cam isn’t...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Abby Johnson rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 04, 2012 Aleap rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: youth-graphic-novels, magic

Imagination reigns in this story about an out of work father who can only afford to buy his son cardboard for his birthday. To help it seem like a more special gift rather than the empty box it is, the father helps his son, Cam, to create a boxer, Bill, and he turns out to be just the start of it all.

Instead of returning the leftover scraps of cardboard to the man who sold Michael (the father) the cardboard in the first place when Bill is created, they keep it and use it to create more magical b...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Warnie B. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, juvenile, comics-graphic-novels, fantasy, plano-public-libraries

Down-on-his-luck dad Mike doesn't have enough money to buy his son Cam a birthday present, until he happens upon a mysterious toy seller who offers him a cardboard box for $.78--as long as he follows two simple rules. Of course, the rules get broken and chaos ensues, but, also of course, more than goes wrong with the cardboard comes right in the end.

I liked this one a lot--great illustrations, fun, interesting story, some amusing lines. There were a couple of things that irritated me (view spoi ...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-fiction, graphic-novel, website, fantasy

Mike is an out of work construction worker single father. He has no money for his son Cam's birthday. He ends up buying a cardboard box and together they create a cardboard man who comes to life. Soon they are creating all kinds of cardboard things. But mean kid Marcus is jealous of Cam's cardboard creations and steals the cardboard creator. He creates monsters who take on a life of their own. Soon cardboard is running wild and terrorizing Marcus, Cam, Mike and the rest of the neighborhood. They...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Marika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Cam's unemployed father gives him a cardboard box for his birthday. It's certain to be the worst birthday ever until the man they make from the cardboard comes to life. It turns out this is no ordinary cardboard and what was the lamest present ever becomes something desired by the rich bully, Marcus, who lives next door. But Marcus has a twisted imagination, and his creations develop frightening minds of their own, minds that desire the destruction of anything of human flesh. Tennapel's ability...more

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May 08, 2013 Sue Wargo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, young-adult

remember when you went to a party or event for a small child and they loved the box better than the gift? Even SpongeBob and Patrick had some of their most amazing adventures with a cardboard box. While I digress, Doug TenNapel's book Cardboard tells the story of a down and out dad who gives his son a card board box for his birthday without knowing the magical powers and adventures that would await. TenNapel has a brilliant writing style, gorgeous graphics, and a timeless story to hook a tween t...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Cornmaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school, juvenile, middle-school, ms-hs

Great GN with wonderful references to literature, including Plato, Frankenstein, and Pandora's box. Nice father-son relationship themes in the story, along with themes about being trapped by fear and having the courage to break free from that particular "box." Younger readers can be introduced to metaphor, and boys will love the typical comic book action sequences.

I really liked when the bully revealed his true inner self, and was not rejected for it, but embraced by Cam.

And then there's the the...more

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title link	preview: Cardboard
avg rating	preview: Cardboard Goodreads rating: 3.93 (1227 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13356190-cardboard?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335057102l/13356190.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13356190-cardboard?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Cardboard by Doug TenNapel[/url]

Cardboard

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