By Terri Schlichenmeyer
You are a pretty super kid.
Mom and Dad say that all the time because you’re kind, smart, and you always like to help others when they need an extra hand. Even so, there are times when you might help too much and in the new book “The Adventures of Wrong Man and Power Girl!” by C. Alexander London, illustrated by Frank Morrison, mistakes happen.
When the worst thing you can possibly imagine occurs, what do you do? Who do you call when you need a hero to fix a bad situation? Young Janice hollers for a superhero she knows quite well, and Wrong Man comes to the rescue!
Or, well, he sort of rescues a little bit. Mostly he does the wrong thing, like bringing stinky cheese to a disaster site. Fortunately, Janice has seen this before and she “knows what to do” so she calls 9-1-1, and asks for help.
Sometimes, disasters can happen back-to-back. In a flash, Wrong Man is on the scene with his dance moves but the truth is that you can’t catch crooks by waving your arms or shuffling your feet, so Janice calls 9-1-1 again. There’s just no doubt about it: Wrong Man can be a clumsy fool with inappropriate solutions and bad judgment, and he really has a knack for making a mess, causing big problems to get even bigger.
Even so, Janice knows that he’s only trying to help!
And so is she. People sometimes try to avoid Wrong Man, but they’re always happy to see Janice – also known as Power Girl –because they know that Power Girl is a very smart superhero who does what’s needed. Of course, she still loves Wrong Man very much, even when he messes up, and she’s always glad when he’s around. There are days when Power Girl is powerless, disasters get out of hand, and sometimes “Even Wrong Man is right….”
The world is full of scary things, no matter how old you are. Think about that – and then remember that it’s harder when you’re five years old. Now imagine the most perfect superhero you can – and then read about him in “The Adventures of Wrong Man and Power Girl!”
For your child, this book speaks to the part of her that needs a hero, not just when disaster occurs but every day of the year. Fortunately, as author C. Alexander London shows with a delightful sense of humor, kids don’t have to look far to find that super person in their lives. Young Janice, furthermore, shows kids that resourcefulness is important, too, and that quick-thinking can also save the day.
Now, here’s the bonus: as an adult, this book will appeal to the child in you because its illustrations by Frank Morrison are old-school comic-book style, but with a modern feel to the artwork. Read this book for your 3-to-7-year-old and see if it doesn’t take you back a few years. Read it, because “The Adventures of Wrong Man and Power Girl” is pretty super.
