What do you think?
Superhero Joe
Superhero Joe and the Creature Next Door
“Super Joe is super fun from beginning to end” ( Children’s Literature )—and now he’s back for another adventure.
One quiet morning, in a small town, a moving van arrives and brings the creature next door! Where did it come from? Why is it here?
From his window Joe can’t see the creature’s face, but he can imagine…the neighborhood will never be the same.
Who can help? It’s Superhero Joe to the rescue! But could it be that Joe’s fears are much wilder than his new neighbor?
One quiet morning, in a small town, a moving van arrives and brings the creature next door! Where did it come from? Why is it here?
From his window Joe can’t see the creature’s face, but he can imagine…the neighborhood will never be the same.
Who can help? It’s Superhero Joe to the rescue! But could it be that Joe’s fears are much wilder than his new neighbor?
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 20, 2015
A lot of picture books go off this idea that a kid sees something, kind of assumes it's scary, and then overthinks the whole situation until realizing, "Oh, that kid-like shape wearing a coat is, in fact, a child as opposed to some kind of giant goblin. Don't know why I didn't assume it was a kid first, but such is life."
This is one of those books.
I have to admit, the neighbor kid who isn't a goblin is still a little...chud-y. And he says his mom doesn't want him to have snacks in his tree house as they will attract bugs. Which, as one picture shows, they do. This kid, who is sort of balding and wearing an oversized sweater is surrounded by little gnats swirling around his head.
Also, earler in the book some movers are hired, and the name of their company is Break-It-Brothers Moving.
This got me thinking, maybe this child has some sort of perceptual disorder passed down by his parents. That would explain his visions of monsters everywhere, and it would explain why adults would hire a moving company that sells itself on the fact that they break stuff.
You know, a better book would be about these parents moving. They have too many knick-knacks, paddywhacks and the like. So what the mom does is she hires this moving company, but then she meets with the owner and slips him some cash under the table to "accidentally" break some stuff. The items selected are up to him, she doesn't care, she just needs them to have less crap. Part of the exchange is that the movers understand the husband will call extremely upset and the wife will also have to pretend to be a bit outraged. And what she'll do is OVERPAY the movers up top and then they will "refund" some of the money, which is really the extra pay, to compensate for the broken objects.
Naturally, in the course of discussing what's really important, tchotkes or the memories to which they are tied, the mover and the wife become very close, and when she sees the mover's stark apartment (almost devoid of objects because he moves things all day and hates clutter) they fall instantly in love, or whatever the instant form of love looks like, anyway. They carry on an affair, but then they have a fight because the wife wants to leave some things at the mover's place, and naturally he freaks out about it. Then she says something like, "Is that how you see me? Just more clutter in your life?" She's wagging a toothbrush she wanted to leave as she says this.
The affair doesn't last. The wife goes back to her husband, and the story ends with her feeling like her only life options are to be discarded detritus in one man's life or saved clutter in another's. She thinks back to her college days and the poetry she wrote and the powerful messages of female empowerment contained within, and she thinks how if that college student could see what became of her, god, it would just be so depressing. She digs through boxes in the garage to find her old notebooks. She knows those poems are in there somewhere. She knows that college student is still somewhere inside.
That said, I wondered if the artist of this book was the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs dude, and it totally was. With cross-hatching like that, you can get me to pick up just about anything.
This is one of those books.
I have to admit, the neighbor kid who isn't a goblin is still a little...chud-y. And he says his mom doesn't want him to have snacks in his tree house as they will attract bugs. Which, as one picture shows, they do. This kid, who is sort of balding and wearing an oversized sweater is surrounded by little gnats swirling around his head.
Also, earler in the book some movers are hired, and the name of their company is Break-It-Brothers Moving.
This got me thinking, maybe this child has some sort of perceptual disorder passed down by his parents. That would explain his visions of monsters everywhere, and it would explain why adults would hire a moving company that sells itself on the fact that they break stuff.
You know, a better book would be about these parents moving. They have too many knick-knacks, paddywhacks and the like. So what the mom does is she hires this moving company, but then she meets with the owner and slips him some cash under the table to "accidentally" break some stuff. The items selected are up to him, she doesn't care, she just needs them to have less crap. Part of the exchange is that the movers understand the husband will call extremely upset and the wife will also have to pretend to be a bit outraged. And what she'll do is OVERPAY the movers up top and then they will "refund" some of the money, which is really the extra pay, to compensate for the broken objects.
Naturally, in the course of discussing what's really important, tchotkes or the memories to which they are tied, the mover and the wife become very close, and when she sees the mover's stark apartment (almost devoid of objects because he moves things all day and hates clutter) they fall instantly in love, or whatever the instant form of love looks like, anyway. They carry on an affair, but then they have a fight because the wife wants to leave some things at the mover's place, and naturally he freaks out about it. Then she says something like, "Is that how you see me? Just more clutter in your life?" She's wagging a toothbrush she wanted to leave as she says this.
The affair doesn't last. The wife goes back to her husband, and the story ends with her feeling like her only life options are to be discarded detritus in one man's life or saved clutter in another's. She thinks back to her college days and the poetry she wrote and the powerful messages of female empowerment contained within, and she thinks how if that college student could see what became of her, god, it would just be so depressing. She digs through boxes in the garage to find her old notebooks. She knows those poems are in there somewhere. She knows that college student is still somewhere inside.
That said, I wondered if the artist of this book was the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs dude, and it totally was. With cross-hatching like that, you can get me to pick up just about anything.
February 21, 2019
Nice message. Didn't capture me though.
January 17, 2023
A picture book designed to look like a comic strip in which Joe faces his fears and meets a newcomer. Fun for 4 to 8 year-olds, tackles topics of shyness, nerves, and friendship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2013
Joe has longed to climb the tree house in his neighbors' yard, but despite all the superhero gadgets he devises, he is too afraid to do so. When new neighbors move in next door, he thinks he's lost the chance to conquer his fears. In fact, he even develops more fears since he watches a neighbor, bundled from head to toe, making the tree house his own. When his mother insists on welcoming the new folks, Joe realizes that he and Phil, AKA Invisible Phil, have a lot in common. After all, he is Superhero Joe. Although there are no real surprises in the book, it could serve as a welcome reminder that some of our fears are groundless and can be eliminated by facing them. The ink and digitally colored illustrations, organized in panels, provide a cartoonish effect to the book, something that works well for this particular title with its emphasis on the imagination.
February 27, 2014
Joe is upset when he finds out his nice, older neighbors are moving to Florida. Especially when a new and dastardly creature moves in next door to take their place. No he'll never get to use the tree house.
But not to fear, Joe is ready and prepares himself for his upcoming battle with the creature by reading comic books. So he knows all about evil scheming.
However all his planning become mute when he finally meets the creature (at the insistence of his mother) and realizes that it wasn't at all what he thought.
This fun story blends the action and mystery of a beginning comic book with the enjoyable ideas of creative and dramatic play. A+ in my book.
But not to fear, Joe is ready and prepares himself for his upcoming battle with the creature by reading comic books. So he knows all about evil scheming.
However all his planning become mute when he finally meets the creature (at the insistence of his mother) and realizes that it wasn't at all what he thought.
This fun story blends the action and mystery of a beginning comic book with the enjoyable ideas of creative and dramatic play. A+ in my book.
March 23, 2014
When Joe's next door neighbors move out he becomes concerned that an evil being has taken up residence in his neighborhood. He arms himself with all the superhero gadgets he believes will protect him from almost an eventuality, but finds a friend in place of a foe when he introduces himself to his new neighbor.
The author so perfectly captures the way a child's mind works. I love the big jump in conclusions from new neighbor to mystery to pure evil! It's delightfully overexaggerated just like kids can be sometimes.
Ink and digital illustrations make use of panels giving this picture book a decidely comic book feel. PreK-2+.
The author so perfectly captures the way a child's mind works. I love the big jump in conclusions from new neighbor to mystery to pure evil! It's delightfully overexaggerated just like kids can be sometimes.
Ink and digital illustrations make use of panels giving this picture book a decidely comic book feel. PreK-2+.
January 16, 2016
This is a cute story of how children face scary situations by using their imaginations - which can both make the situations more scary but also more overcome-able!
Illustrations (by Ron Barrett of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs fame) were great.
Illustrations (by Ron Barrett of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs fame) were great.
January 27, 2016
Review from a 1st grader "This book didn't scare me. I wanted to be scared. Do you have any scary books? It was just a kid. I thought it was an Eskimo, but it was just kid and no scary things. I want to be scared."
November 12, 2013
oe conquers his fear of the strange creature moving into the house next door, as well as the treehouse in the creature's backyard.
November 14, 2013
Conquering fears is exactly what superheros do. This fun book reminds us all that we can be brave and conquer our own fears while trying to save the world!
June 12, 2014
comic book style
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews