Nicolas Debon

I thought this was an excellent example of sequential art. I imagine some of the panels could be made into an effective flip book—in a way it was like watching a documentary of the 1928 Olympic marathon runners. I loved the low-color images, and the contrast of running with scenes of the wind in fields, horses running through a field, scenes of a factory, and cave art were beautiful. The historic record this was based on made a good story, and it was powerfully told.

Presented in panels similar to a graphic novel, this biographical picture book does a good job describing the life of a famous Canadian weightlifter/strongman. I'd never heard of the guy before, but I liked the book quite a bit. Very nicely presented.

Illustrated largely in sepia hues, this graphic novel is narrated from the first person point of view as Louis Cyr tells his daughter about his beginnings as a Strongman. Told in a matter of fact style, the graphic novel shows both Cyr's tenacity and his strength. Many of his records are still unbroken over 100 years later. At the back of the book, there is an Afterword that talks about the real Louis Cyr and has several pictures of him. Middle School aged children who are interested in show more sport and/or history will get a kick out of this book. So would children who are interested in records. Although the storytelling is solid, the author, Nicholas Debon tries to cram just a little too much story into too few pages which translates to some of the story sounds more like a laundry list rather than an easily flowing narrative. That said, children will find this a relatively easy and uncomplicated read through the medium sized text and moderate vocabulary level. Recommended. show less

This book takes students on a journey through WWI. This story follows the main character, Frank and how the war affected his life in many ways. From first hearing of it, to being enlisted, to being shipped off and fighting; this book brings to life the adventure of a soldier. This book in particular depicts the journey of a Canadian Soldier, and is a good way to show students that it wasn’t just the United States that were helping toward the war effort.

This book can be used during a unit show more on WWI, or in describing the life of a soldier during wartimes. Students can compare what they do on a day-to-day basis to a soldier; examining what we take for granted in our everyday life, along with what others have sacrificed for our freedom. show less