Powerpuff Professor?? Will the Powerpuff Girls enjoy this new take on quality family time?
Written: May 10 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: a great first exposure, primarily geared toward girls, to more advanced reading
Cons: pretty silly, not real morals or lessons, some violence
The Bottom Line: If nothing else, what little girl wouldn't like to be a superhero, even if only in their imagination for the time it takes to read this title.
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| jiastar's Full Review: Amy Keating Rogers - Powerpuff Professor |
For parents who have yet to be exposed to the Powerpuff girls(PPG):
"Sugar, spice, and everything nice
these were the ingredients chosen
to create the perfect little girls.
But Professor Utonium accidentally added
an extra ingredient to the concoction ---
Chemical X!
And thus, the Powerpuff girls were born!
Using their ultra superpowers,
Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup have dedicated their lives to fighting crime
and the forces of evil!"
Blossom - the brainy one, auburn hair and pink eyes -- always dressed in a black-belted pink dress
Bubbles - the sweet and happy one, blonde hair, blue eyes -- always dressed in a black-belted blue dress
Buttercup - the tough one, black hair, green eyes -- always dressed in a black-belted green dress
Now that you're up to speed:
The Book
Published by Scholastic and based on the popular Cartoon Network series, this is #1 in a series of related chapter books. Broken up into 8 chapters and totalling 60 pages in length it is just right for kids who are too big for the old-standby story books and not quite ready for larger titles. Based on my older daughter, and her reading level, Id have to say this book is lovely as a read-together book for those in as young as first grade and as a read-alone book for those in second grade and up.
The font used is a bit larger than standard and made it a clear and easy read. Mixed into the text are full-color illustrations ranging from full-page scenes to one character poses. It served to break up the monotony of viewing the written word, a plus as most young readers aren't used to text-only books.
The story is concise and easy to understand. It does not make use of challenging vocabulary, the words in this books should be familiar to your youngster, but it is also not simplistic. It is a wonderfully age appropriate read.
The Plot
It in we find the Professor mourning the lack of traditional family time he has with chemically-enhanced, lab-created cuties. It seems that every time they try to have a nice family outing, something comes up requiring the girls to forgo fun for fighting crime.
But the Professor comes up with a plan, after working secretly in his lab he comes forth as a superhero himself.. complete with a new outfit, the ability to fly and super-strength.
And for a time everyone is happy. After all, "the family that fights crime together, stays together".
Unfortunately, having daddy around causes the PPG to lose respect in the eyes of the criminals they used to be able to keep somewhat in line. And never mind what happens to their image when the Professor calls them his "cutie-cakes" in mid-battle. And then he starts trying to do all the fighting by himself .... after all, he doesn't want anything to happen to his girls.
But, these are no ordinary girls from the Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. Thanks to Chemical X they are blessed with the ability to be the best superheros around. They really don't need the Professors help, and as for the cutsy name well those are wonderful at tuck-in time but they can hurt your crime fighting image.
So they decide to let the Professor fight .... all by himself. Its a hard battle but he wins in the end and realizes that while this all started out of a desire to be with his beloved girls, he's really not cut out for fighting evil-doers. Not only does it make him tired and sore, but he needs time to work on his experiments, do the dishes, and pay the bills. And so life returns to normal ... well at least normal for the PPG's.
My thoughts
I found this story touching in that it turned tables on how life is in a usual family. Usually it is the parent who has to go off to work and the child who wishes that they could spend more time together. Making it the fault of the PPG's job seems to make it clear that sometimes work has to come first, even before the people we love. I also liked how all the members of the family seemed to always be TRYING to find ways to make quality time. A good lesson for even parents in these buzy times.
But then this is the Powerpuff girls, perhaps looking for deep meaning is going too far. These characters are cute and adorable and funny. The stories include jokes that I have to say are rather intelligent and unexpected.
For example:
a reference to Superman -- the old "its a bird, its a plane" line which will probably evoke more of a chuckle from parent than child
the evil criminal Mojo JoJo -- rocked back and forth while being pummelled pleads for relief due to, of all things, motion sickness (I couldn;t help but giggle)
the breakfast scene -- each girl gets a meal befitting her talents: smily faced pancakes for the ever-sweet Bubbles; a HUGE sausage, bacon, egg breakfast for the superstrong fighter Buttercup; an a vitamin rich meal of .... blueberries, broccoli and fish??? for the brainy Blossom
This scene alone should bring out a laugh and an EWWWWW from your youngster
Any negatives?
The only one I can think of could be violence. These are superheros fighting evil-doers after all. But this is violence akin to the old Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons. Characters get bonked, zapped, and squished but generally come back just fine to fight another day. Depending on the age and maturity of your child you may want to use this as an opportunity to discuss pretend violence verses real.
Final thoughts
All in all an age-appropriate read for the 7 or 8 year old sect. It is funny and fast paced so as to be entertaining and opens the door to the mental attention and focus necessary to journey on to standard sized chapter books.
Recommended:
Yes
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jiastar
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Location: Monmouth County, NJ
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A wife ... a mom ... and a Witch
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