The five-year-old boy, whom I read to, picked up The Deadly Double in the library for me to borrow for him. The Deadly Double is a children’s book by David Seidman and illustrated by Erik Doescher, Mike DeCarlo, and Lee Loughridge. It has few colored pictures across five chapters. This is not a children’s picture book. This is not a comic book even though it is about a comic book hero. There are approximately 48 pages and plenty of text. I had to read this book to the five-year-old boy, so The Deadly Double might be suitable for older children.
In The Deadly Double, Superman chases a villainous woman named Mala into space. While he was away from Earth, a villainous man named Jax-Ur dressed as Superman and destroyed landmarks and the natural environment all around the Earth. Mala and Jax-Ur are Kryptonians and have the exact same super powers as Superman. Earthlings thought Superman went crazy and turned to evil. Jax-Ur presented himself to Earthlings as a hero against Superman’s presumed crimes against Earth. Superman had to hide out for a while and later, expose Jax-Ur as an imposter in a Superman costume.
As an adult, I have to say this book is action-packed and riveting from beginning to end. It began with a battle and ended with a battle. I loved it and I didn’t expect to love it. I felt like I was watching an action or adventure show in my mind’s eye as I read to the five-year-old boy. Unfortunately, the colored picture on the cover may have attracted him, but he was not as enthusiastic about all of the text I had to read to him and the too few illustrations I can show him.
I highly recommend parents to consider borrowing or buying The Deadly Double for their children in the seven to nine-years-old age range. This story is action-packed like a television episode or movie. If your children watch live action superhero television series, then they might love reading this book about Superman and other characters in the DC Super Heroes juvenile book series. This book may help to pull your children away from the television for a while. Also, this book may help your children grow an interest in collecting comic books.
I highly recommend teachers and school administrators consider using this book in their first to third grade classes. There is too much text and too few illustrations to capture the attention of a five-year-old child, but I think it is just right for a more experienced reader, aged seven to nine-years-old. At the end of the book, there is a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts. The Deadly Double was designed to as an academic tool for reading, comprehension, and writing. Of course, this is not exactly a classic work of literature such as Charlotte’s Web or The Velveteen Rabbit, but children may enjoy reading this book more than the traditional children’s classics, because this story’s plot is just for fun.
I am glad the five-year-old boy, whom I read to, picked this book out at the library for me to read to him. He was not enthralled by it, but I absolutely loved the action in this book. The Deadly Double offers a pleasurable reading experience without a profound theme that is beyond the understanding and maturity of young children. Perhaps, if teachers assigned books such as this one for reading time, children may find it easier to improve their reading skills if the assigned book was written for pure fun.
Reference
Seidman, David. The Deadly Double. Mankato: Stone Arch Books, 2010.
Links:
The Deadly Double on Amazon.com
The Deadly Double on Abebooks.com
The Deadly Double on BarnesandNoble.com
The Deadly Double on Thriftbooks.com
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