From the author of the New York Times bestselling Jedi Academy books comes book three in the laugh-out-loud graphic novel series about cave kid siblings Lucy and Andy. Fans of Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The Terrible Two won't want to miss it!
"Lucy & Andy are Stone Age rock stars! I loved this book!" -LINCOLN PEIRCE, author of the BIG NATE series
Lucy and Andy have some extra space in the cave now the humans have moved out. But they do miss hanging with Sasha and Tommy. Luckily, their new friends live right around the ice block, close enough to form the first-ever explorer's club! These adventurers are on the hunt. Their first big dinosaur bones!
Jeffrey Brown masterfully blends facts with funny in this graphic novel series. Includes theories about how Neanderthals went extinct; a timeline covering the history of Earth, dinosaurs, Neanderthals, and present day; museums, caves, and paleontologists of note; and Neanderthal Fact vs. Fiction.
"Lucy & Andy are Stone Age rock stars! I loved this book!" -- Lincoln Peirce, author of the Big Nate series
"Every kid will love to go back in time with Lucy & Andy!" -- Judd Winick, author of The Boy Who Saved the World
"Jeffrey Brown returns from a galaxy far, far away to bring us a whole new slew of kid-friendly characters!" -- Keith Knight, author of Jake the Fake and The Knight Life
Jeffrey Brown was born in 1975 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up reading comic books with dreams of someday drawing them, only to abandon them and focus on becoming a 'fine artist.' While earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown abandoned painting and began drawing comics with his first autobiographical book 'Clumsy' in 2001. Since then he's drawn a dozen books for publishers including TopShelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, McSweeney's and Chronicle Books. Simon & Schuster published his latest graphic memoir 'Funny Misshapen Body.' In addition to directing an animated video for the band Death Cab For Cutie, Brown has had his work featured on NPR's 'This American Life' His art has been shown at galleries in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Paris. Jeffrey's work has also appeared in the Best American Comics series and received the Ignatz Award in 2003 for 'Outstanding Minicomic.' He currently lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their son Oscar.
The third and final book in Brown’s Neanderthal graphic novel series focuses again on situations that actual cavemen might have encountered, with an emphasis on similarities between then and now. The first scene, for instance, is a familiar one, with Lucy and Andy telling their mom that they’re bored, followed by her telling them to go play outside. Family and friend dynamics center a lot on sibling rivalry as well as Andy’s annoyance with his human frenemy, Richard. Tension is introduced as a sketchy band of three hunters keeps popping up in an ambiguously threatening manner. Between episodes, two modern day paleontologists cut in to reveal facts about Neanderthals to readers. I like that the final episode shows the two larger clans showing compassion for the smaller band of hunters despite how weird they have behaved. Throughout the series, personalities remain well-defined, and characters behave consistently. This is a nice mix of humor, science, history, and imagination.
Still love how accessible this series makes science and history and how the author takes the time, in the end, to explain what is fact and what is fiction, however, he does allude to the fact that this might be the end of the series and I would agree. I'd love to see him do the same concept with a different point in time. The characters are a tad overplayed and there have been so many new characters added that it's a little hard to keep them straight. Quit while your ahead Jeffrey Brown, because these books are great where they are at!
For my kids I would give this book a four star-it was funny and informative, but as an adult (and I know I’m not the intended target) it wasn’t very compelling.
Jeffrey Brown, autor y dibujante americano, es muy conocido por sus cómics autobiográficos y sus novelas gráficas de humor. Su obra más destacada hasta el momento está conformada por una serie dedicada al mundo de las míticas películas de Star Wars, de las que se declara fan absoluto, titulados Darth Vader e hijos.
"Lucy y Andy Neandertal. Duro de roer" es la tercera y última parte de esta trilogía que nos relata las aventuras de dos hermanos pertenecientes a una familia de neandertales, una de las últimas especies de la prehistoria.
En este volumen, Brown acerca al pequeño lector a conocer las relaciones entre la especie humana y la neandertal, dos grupos muy diferentes, tanto físicamente como en estilos de vida, que tras llegar a eliminar sus diferencias y encontrar un equilibrio conviven amigablemente.
Con un estilo contemporáneo, vocabulario asequible y diálogos concisos que facilitan la comprensión, la historia transcurre como una sucesión de sketches de un pequeño grupo cuyas anécdotas darán a conocer un ámbito diferente. Cada historieta, a pesar de tratar temas independientes, no queda de forma aislada, sino que la secuencia de todas construye una trama lineal que avanza poco a poco y retoma el punto en donde quedó el volumen anterior.
El objetivo principal de este tercer tomo es ampliar los conocimientos ya expuestos abarcando otras áreas como las alergias existentes, el ADN, animales como los piojos o los dinosaurios, rituales funerarios o estrategias que empleaban para hacer más cómoda sus rutinas. Todo ello de una forma entretenida, amena y divertida.
Debido a la adaptación, y con el firme propósito de una mayor comprensión e identificación, el autor incluye una serie de anacronismos y expresiones contemporáneas que posteriormente explica.
Cada referencia histórica del tema tratado es analizada al final de la historieta de la mano de dos arqueólogos contemporáneos, Pam y Eric, que vuelven a aparecer y mediante conversaciones e imágenes comentan los descubrimientos que realizan basados en estudios científicos. Dichas exposiciones no ocupan más de una página, por lo que no irrumpen demasiado en la lectura y suponen un cierre al aprendizaje.
En este tomo los puntos principales que destacan son el descubrimiento de fósiles como punto de partida para investigar y descubrir información sobre los primeros hombres, fauna y flora, las colecciones de objetos encontrados, la velocidad a la que podían correr, el tipo de habitáculos existentes en las cuevas o la evolución y el fin de los neandertales, entre otros.
Además de los arqueólogos, los propios personajes, destacan por realizar sus propias explicaciones o enseñanzas puesto que entre clanes se informan e intercambian ideas.
Los personajes conforman un grupo de lo más variopinto cuyas relaciones, bien construidas e hiladas, evolucionan poco a poco. La dinámica existente entre ellos favorece no solo comentarios sarcásticos característicos del estilo del autor sino innumerables situaciones cómicas y aventuras épicas.
En este volumen se incorporan al elenco un trío nómada de la especie denisovanos, especie de la que hasta el momento poco se sabe más que se asentaban por los terrenos que conocemos como Siberia y que llegaron a convivir con los primeros hombres y los neandertales.
Los pequeños sketches mantienen su estilo divertido, centrando el foco principal en Andy, que como personaje se convierte en la estrella debido a su personalidad torpe, inmadura y cobardica lo cual provoca situaciones absurdas, comentarios sarcásticos y bromas que predominan en la historia haciendo de la lectura un pasatiempo agradable.
El dibujo de los personajes, y la estética en general, es muy sencilla, no posee grandes detalles ni elementos recargados, más bien transmite la sensación de una imagen limpia cuyo foco recae en la idea que se trabaja. Tanto los movimientos como las expresiones de los personajes están muy bien logradas y consiguen recrear la comicidad que lleva adscrita la novela gráfica. Del mismo modo, a pesar de que el vestuario y estilo de los personajes sea bastante contemporáneo los fondos consiguen contextualizar bien el ambiente y transmitir el espacio rústico, salvaje y natural en el que se movían.
Al término de la obra propiamente dicha el autor incluye una serie de páginas en donde amplía de forma más detallada datos relacionadas con los primeros encuentros de huesos, yacimientos neandertales e investigaciones, así como una pequeña reflexión sobre la existencia del universo desde su concepción hasta la actualidad. También, presenta algunos museos en el mundo en donde poder visitar elementos de este periodo histórico como son el Museo de la Evolución Humana Natural (España), el Museo de Historia Natural (EEUU) o el Museo del Hombre Neandertal (Francia), del mismo modo propone la visita a una serie de cuevas famosas ubicadas en España, Francia, Croacia o Irak, o el nombre de expertos paleontólogos de la talla de Pat Shipman, Françoise Bordes o Katerina Harvati.
Es también al término cuando se hace referencia a los elementos anacrónicos y ficticios incorporados en la trama y las diferentes reflexiones que conlleva la obra. Finalmente, el autor hace su cameo en un pequeño sketch sobre sus reflexiones y esperanzas en la ciencia, manteniendo el firme propósito de conocer mucho más de lo que actualmente se ha descubierto.
Considero que "Lucy y Andy Neandertal. Duro de roer" es un cierre de trilogía maravilloso que recopila de forma divertida una parte de la prehistoria y que ofrece a los más pequeños una nueva forma de aprender ciencias naturales e historia al mismo tiempo que se sienten identificados con los personajes y disfrutan con este grupo de lo más particular.
Por el momento el autor no ha dado noticias de que la trilogía vaya a tener secuela, pero firmemente espero que se anime y nos regale más aventuras de esta loca y divertida pandilla de neandertales.
Lo recomiendo especialmente para los primeros cursos de primaria y como lectura necesaria en cualquier biblioteca infantil siendo un buen recurso alternativo para educadores y familias.
Always an entertaining read. In this book, Lucy and Andy encounter strangers who are determined to take their things. I could read this series at any point. You always feel like you’re transported through time and the characters are a lot of fun. I believe this is the last one, but if any more are published, I’ll be reading them.
Lucy and Andy Neanderthal: Bad to the Bones (Lucy and AndyNeanderthal #3) by Jeffrey Brown, 208 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Crown (Random House), 2018. $13. Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS – ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL – HIGH
Lucy and Sasha decide that they are going to create a club that discovers new things in the world around them. While out looking they find dinosaur bones and some other Neanderthals. The other clan of Neanderthals keep cropping up throughout the book and are not very nice, and eventually they try to steal from the family’s cave. All the kids ban together to set up traps to discourage the outsiders from being in their cave.
Throughout the book there are two scientists who comment on what happens in each chapter, explaining the facts from the chapter and other interesting tidbits, which I totally enjoyed. The illustrations are in black and white, and I wish they were in color because my boys aren’t pulled in by the drawings but would love the story if they would just give it a chance. Overall, it’s a creative story with funny story lines and interesting information.
This humorous yet informative prehistoric graphic novel series concludes with Lucy and Andy discovering huge bones and continuing their friendship with the humans with whom they briefly shared cave space. They also must deal with trickery from a trio of unsavory characters intent on taking advantage of their youth and innocence. Richard and Andy continue to argue with each other, and Lucy has plans to grow a garden but does so by planting the vegetables and not the seeds. In between the prehistoric scenes, Pam and Eric provide historical context and scientific facts about evolution. No matter the age, readers will surely pick up information they didn't already know about life long ago. Middle graders and even some fourth and fifth graders are sure to enjoy this title.
In this third volume of the series, Lucy and Andy create a new club with their friends, learn about hunting, and start a garden. Readers who are not familiar with the characters will learn about the previous volumes in the short introductory section. The story is broken down into chapters, which is unusual for a graphic novel. The black and white cartoon art is simple to the point of being unimpressive, especially considering that the humor is not very funny. The author’s interjections of history and science are jarring and do not flow well with the rest of the book. Students in grades 3-5 who are looking for a new graphic novel series, especially those who enjoy history, may be intrigued by Lucy & Andy Neanderthal.
Number three in this graphic novel series for younger readers, Brown tells the story of a group of young kids (all Neanderthals) experience life during this more primitive time though the kids act fairly similar to modern day kids (so it will be easy for readers to relate). The black and write graphic narrative is interrupted at times by two modern day paleontologists explaining information to support what is happening to the Neanderthals. I actually find the informational interruptions more interesting than the narrative. There are also interesting informational end pages. It is an accessible chapter book and a good series to get the right kid hooked on (previews of other texts included.)
An enjoyable series that should have been a few books longer! But I'm very happy that Mr. Brown added an epilogue to this final tale. Things turned out as I had hoped they would.
I also hope that kids who read these books pay attention to the non-fiction sections. They can learn a lot about Neanderthals and paleontologists, enough to dispel wrong ideas about the one, and maybe start a dream about becoming the other.
I think this is the last in this series and I'm glad about it. I find the Neanderthal facts interesting but the actual story is just blah for me. Andy always gets blamed, Richard's a jerk, random strangers are creepy, etc.
Read this with my 7 year old. He thought it was 4 stars and I thought it was much less. So I have it 2. I’m glad he liked it and there were definitely some interesting facts about Neanderthals. But overall I was left underwhelmed
Another enjoyable prehistoric adventure with Lucy and Andy. Includes facts at the end of the book in addition to the tidbits we are fed throughout the book.
My 6 year old son loves this book but I really didn't like the book. I know the book was written for children but many of his graphic novels are fun for me to read too, and this wasn't.