Why we are LOVING these Supertato titles right now
- Written and Illustrated by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet
- Published by Simon and Schuster
As someone who has little people in my family that are fans of Supertato on CBeebies, something they are given the opportunity to watch at school some times too, we are delighted to have been able to share some books from the Supertato series, and I highly recommend buying these (and embracing the reading with daft voices for the various fruits and veg featured throughout!) because the enjoyment they offer up to those who recognise the characters from the series is equal to introducing this series to little ones who love a good adventure (and could be keen on fruit and vegetables too). These two titles that follow are the latest Supertato titles we have been sharing – frequently I should add – and I am delighted to be able to share my insight.
Supertato : Broccoli Boogie
The first thing we noticed about this book was the layout design of its content, which had a superhero comic book style to it. This is a fantastic concept for what superhero character based book, and not only did it not go unnoticed but it was a detail to this book that we really appreciated. It is a format that makes following the unfolding adventure dashed with drama so much easier, with clear boxed text being easy to identify and read – and this ensures the adventrue gets to flow without pauses to confirm where and what on the page should be read next.
We join Supertato as he anxiously accepts that his vegetable friends are ready to dance and enjoy themselves to the music that has begun now that the supermarket is closed. The problem there is Supertato cannot control how strong he is when his body betrays him and moves to the music, and that leads to Carrot being propelled across the store. Supertato naturally goes to her rescue, but when different music begins playing nearby it peaks their curiosity and they go find out more.
Enter Evil Pea, who has picture books of her own by the way, and her security team of Corn, who have taken over the dance floor, and trapped Supertato’s friends. Is he able to overcome wanting to avoid dancing disasters and beat Evil Pea at a dance off, and rescue his friends, you will see – and the moves are captivating as the opponents do their best, which absolutely enthralled the little ones I have enjoyed this book with.
The bold illustrations compliment the comic book style format, and are really beautiful to look at – we’ve spent a lot of time enjoying talking about Supertato’s friends and making up details about them together including what their super powers could be if they were also superheroes. We really appreciate the hero/villian costume for Supertato and Evil Pea – making it easy to recognise them in the adventure for littles ones, and also as it has led to us playing dress up on many an occasion too – and the focus of the illustrated scene is solely on the characters depicted, with minimal distraction in the surroundings – which again allows little ones to follow along easily and not get preoccupied.
We will read this book time and time again, loving the vegetable themed characters and the superhero adventure at the heart of it, and really cannot wait for the next instalment of Supertato in this incredible and hugely popular series.
Supertato : Books Are Rubbish!
We were so lucky to get this title, as it holds not one but two stories inside – double the content is always really awesome, especially when you have huge fans of Supertato to surprise with a second adventure in the same book.
In the first story we meet the veggies in the supermarket and they are all enjoying some quiet reading, until Evil Pea arrives and puts an end to their plans, rather spiteful action on Pea’s part it has to be said. The ingenuis that occurs as a result however is heartwarming, as the different books the different veggies have been reading becomes useful knowledge as they undo the actions of Evil Pea together. It is super inspiring, and really encourages children to read more books so they can gather knowledge that could prove useful as a result too.
We loved this story, not least because it was a team effort that saved the day, but also because it helps little ones to realise the importance and value of books and reading. It is like the book equivalent of that feeling WBD gives you – and that is only one day of the calendar year, whereas this story has reread ability, giving you that love of reading whilst reading about reading! We also loved the familiar characters being boldly depicted in illustrations throughout, complimenting the unfolding adventure perfectly.
In the second story, which happens to also have books at the heart of the adventure, we return to the supermarket we’ve come to love from this series, and find nearly all of the veggies are finding it hard to go to sleep, and so it is Supertato who comes to the rescue – literally seeking out a book to read to them all, which has more success then any of his earlier attempts to get them all off to sleep. In doing this he actually takes care of Evil Pea – without meaning to – and all the veggies come to realise this when they reach the conclusion of their story, and we reach the conclusion of ours.
This is such a beautiful series, collection of characters, and array of adventures, and what makes it the hit it is with children and parents alike has got to be how wholesome the adventures are, and how good beats evil time and time again.
We look forward to finding out which kind of adventure Supertato goes on next, and especially look forward to seeing the stunning illustrations contained in these award winning titles too.
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