Panda Man and the Treasure Hunt

Gr 1—3—Rotund, hungry hero Panda Man finds a pair of golden shears that will cause a money tree to grow and bestow untold riches upon him. This nonsensical plot is a device to have the character journey through a series of puzzles and brain teasers with koala swordsman Ko Mando and cub reporter Hutch. Panda Man is greedy, flatulent, and proud, endearing himself to the young, gross-out crowd, and is supposed to be more of a comic hero than a genuine one. In fact, classification of this effort is difficult as it employs more prose description than word balloons, and the story serves largely as a bridge between activities rather than as a narrative in its own right. The artwork is flat and functional, but the character design and situations are reasonably goofy and should provide some entertainment. However, because of the skeletal story, it seems unlikely that the book will offer much in the way of re-read value.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH