Review: Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre

I'm a sucker for a good graphic novel.  I like them, my students love them, and I get that great feeling of accomplishment when I finish one in like an hour (its getting kind of bad, I find my self gloating to the dog.  He doesn't care, but I still do it).

Anyway, when I saw Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre on NetGalley, I knew it was one that I should check out.

 

Here's the summary from Amazon:

Make way for Claudette the giant slayer in this delightful, fantastical adventure!

Claudette’s fondest wish is to slay a giant. But her village is so safe and quiet! What’s a future giant slayer to do?

With her best friend Marie (an aspiring princess), and her brother Gaston (a pastry-chef-to-be), Claudette embarks on a super-secret quest to find a giant—without parental permission. Can they find and defeat the giant before their parents find them and drag them back home?

 Giants Beware! offers up a wondrous, self-contained world in the tradition of the very best of Pixar. Claudette and her friends will have you laughing out loud from page one.

I thought the characters themselves were adorable and well thought out.  Claudette was the scamp, always trying to get her friends to do things they wouldn't normally do.  She wants to fight giants, just like her handicapable knight-turned-blacksmith father.  Gaston is Claudette's younger brother, and is a typical younger brother---sometimes good for fun, but also sometimes just there to annoy you.  He also wants to be a knight like their father, but a knight that is also a pastry chef.  And Marie, is the princess-in-training.  She's just fun.  She's the light bit of comic relief that keeps Claudette grounded. 

At its heart, its a story about believing in yourself and not being mean to people because they are different.  And honestly, we could use more stories like that.

I was a little confused.  I'm not sure if this book is part of a series, but I felt like I was dropped down in the middle of one.  That there was information, about the town, about Claudette's father, that had probably been explained in a previous book, but really would have helped me out in this one!  If it isn't part of a series, then that was part of the story I felt was lacking.   

Giants Beware!'s book birthday is April 10th.  Here's the amazon link again if you'd like to check it out!  

Please note, I downloaded this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.