Send for a Superhero!

Product Information

Create the storyboard for a film / animation about one of the superheroes in the story (e.g. Extremely Boring Man, Steel Man).

McEwen’s mixed-media illustrations shift from soft, homey scenes into energetic comic-book storytelling mode as the family becomes immersed in the story… The over-the-top superhero drama and pratfall-laden clashes slyly send up familiar comic book tropes, while the mid-story interruptions and diversions involving Emily and Elmer showcase a homey family dynamic that many readers will recognize. I've always been a fan of books about books (I even have a shelf designated for them here on Goodreads), so I figured I would love this book. And I did...sort of. It's time for bed and Dad is reading Emily and little Elmer a story... "Danger! Filth and Vacuum, The Terrible Two, are trying to destroy the world!" Who will save the day? Steel Man isn't strong enough; Flying-Through-the-Air-Very-Fast-Man isn't fast enough and Incredibly-Big-Strong-Green-Man isn't big, strong and green enough. Who can help? Clever young Brad 40 has a brilliant idea: he calls on a most unlikely superhero: Incredibly Boring Man, who sends the villains - and everyone else - to sleep! Filth and Vacuum are captured by the army, Brad is a hero, and Dad thinks Emily and Elmer have fallen asleep too. But he's wrong... Text of Rationale:

Coverage:

Veteran children’s-book writer Rosen proves he knows what kids like and what they ARE like. … Although this approach has been used before, rarely has it been executed with such hilarious results. Make some new ‘Wanted’ posters for Filth and Vacuum. Can you add more details to describe their crimes? McEwen's mixed-media illustrations shift from soft, homey scenes into energetic comic-book storytelling mode as the family becomes immersed in the story... The over-the-top superhero drama and pratfall-laden clashes slyly send up familiar comic book tropes, while the mid-story interruptions and diversions involving Emily and Elmer showcase a homey family dynamic that many readers will recognize.

The mayor believes the town is doomed, but a school kid, Brad 40, sends for Extremely Boring Man, whose superpower is that he can send everyone to sleep with his boring talk. Even the birds fall out of the sky fast asleep, having succumb to his boring voice. Soon the Terrible Two are sent off to the land of Nod and the army can clean up Townton's slime- infested streets. Everybody cheers Extremely Boring Man and Brad 40, both superheroes in their own right.Images to Inspire – A huge collection of inspirational images that can be used as the starting point for learning. Each picture is accompanied by a writing prompt, inference questions and related activity ideas! Unfortunately, Dad is too easily fooled - his story has not really sent little Emily and Elmer to sleep, they're just pretending. And so, Dad, like so many million dads before and after him, will just have to continue reading storybooks to kids until they fall asleep for real. Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning.