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Hamster

Righteous Rodent

And one more from Simon & Schuster and the Glass House Graphics people, before we get away from that. Super Turbo is a new full-color graphic novel series written by Edgar Powers. Volume 1 is Super Turbo Saves The Day! “Turbo the hamster is the official classroom pet of Classroom C at Sunnyview Elementary… and he has a top secret identity as Super Turbo, crime-fighting superhero! He can’t believe it when he finds out he’s not the only superpet in town (or in school)! As he meets fellow superpets, such as Angelina the guinea pig (a.k.a. Wonder Pig) and Frank the rabbit (a.k.a. Boss Bunny), he also encounters a super villain: A rat who goes by the name of Whiskerface. Can Turbo and the Superpet Superhero League save the school from Whiskerface and his rat pack?”

image c. 2021 Simon & Schuster

Stanley the Animated TV Star

More from Animation World Network: “UK and LA-based family and entertainment production company, Komixx Media Group, announced it has secured the worldwide rights to stylish children’s author and illustrator William Bee’s colorful series Stanley. Komixx will create an animation series that will follow the adventures of Stanley the hard-working hamster and his furry friends. The lovable series [Stanley the Builder, Stanley the Farmer, and so forth — Ye Ed-Otter] comes from the British-born author and illustrator Ian Bilbey, who writes under the name William Bee. Komixx Entertainment has brought Bilbey on-board as its art director to develop Stanley into a much-loved animation character for preschoolers.” According to Andrew Cole-Bulgin, joint CEO and Head of Film & TV for Komixx Media Group, “Stanley is an independent, paws-on hamster who’s used to running the show… It’s going to be a lot of fun for Stanley, Hattie, Myrtle, Little Woo, and all their furry friends.” The show goes into production in 2017, then of course it will be looking for world-wide markets.

image c. 2016 Komixx Media Group

image c. 2016 Komixx Media Group

After the Children Go Home…

We haven’t heard of publisher Henry Holt before, but now they have brought us The Great Pet Escape, a new graphic novel for young readers written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson. “The class pets at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School want OUT . . . and GW (short for George Washington), the deceptively cute hamster in the second-grade classroom, is just the guy to lead the way. But when he finally escapes and goes to find his former partners in crime, Barry and Biter, he finds that they actually LIKE being class pets. Impossible! Just as GW gets Barry and Biter to agree to leave with him, a mouse named Harriet and her many mouse minions get in their way. What follows is class-pet chaos guaranteed to make readers giggle . . . and maybe look at their class pets a little differently in the future.” Squeak on over to Kirkus Reviews to check it out. It’s available in hardcover and trade paperback.

image c. 2016 Henry Holt

image c. 2016 Henry Holt

Mysteries for Kids… with Rodents.

Furries have been teaching children to read for generations. Carrying on that tradition is a new series of second-level easy-readers for kids called Hamster Holmes. “Hamster Holmes and his firefly sidekick, Dr. Watt, solve mysteries together in this start to a Level 2 Ready-to-Read series! Hamster Holmes and Dr. Watt are the best sleuths in town! So when their friend Corny O’Squirrel has a mystery he needs help solving, he knows just who to turn to. Every night, Corny is woken up by someone knocking on his door—but when he goes to answer, no one is there! Can Hamster Holmes and Dr. Watt catch the culprit?” The series was created by Albin Sadar, who also co-wrote and produced a video for kids called The Chartreuse Goose. It’s illustrated by Valerio Fabbretti, who has illustrated children books and comic books in the US and in Italy. Hamster Holmes: A Mystery Comes Knocking and other books in the series are published by Simon & Schuster — and of course you can find out more at their web site.

image c. 2015 Simon & Schuster

image c. 2015 Simon & Schuster

Sir BigFrontTeeth

“What can an ordinary hamster do in a kingdom filled with magical hamsters?” That’s the question poised by the Ivan the Hamster Knight series of illustrated books for young readers, created by Helen Penpen. “Ivan is the only hamster with no magic powers, and he finds himself in a very awkward position. Not able to fit in, Ivan is ordered to leave by the hamster queen. His adventure then begins…” Ivan and its sequel, Ivan and the Hamster Knights of the Acorn Table, are available in hardcover over at Barnes & Noble.

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

image c. 2015 by Helen Penpen

The Panda and His Friends in Public

“In 2009, Han L. Lee released an character inspired clothing line entitled The Public Zoo. The Public Zoo is a collaboration of fashion and art. The art on the clothing is heavily inspired by Japanese and Korean character art.” There you have it, right from the artist’s web site. It’s all based around an imaginative panda name Hickup, and his friends like Hopkido the Ninja Rabbit and Miso — the hamster in a cup. All of which are available as prints, household items, and also as wearable art of course.

image c. 2014 by Han L. Lee

image c. 2014 by Han L. Lee

Hamsters and Dragons. All Right!

James Cartwright is a comic creator and writer who has recently started releasing his material on the Internet. Hamsters (illustrated in full-color by Mike Ratliff) is described simply as “Two hamsters venture outside their cage to escape from the clutches of their evil owner, a nine-year-old girl.” Gotcha! Then there’s Rocky Mountain Fire Lizard (also in full color by Pellegri), which goes like this: “As railway tracks are laid across Colorado’s rocky terrain, a dragon awakes from its slumber. A farm boy and privileged girl chase after the monster to be the first to collect the bounty on the creature’s head.” You can find out more about Cartwright Comics, including links to buy them, at the Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society (whew!).

image c. 2014 by Cartwright Comics

image c. 2014 by Cartwright Comics