Early Readers: Wedgieman: A hero is born by Charise Mericle Harper, illustrated by Bob Shea

You have to wonder why no one ever though of putting these two wacky authors together and having them make an easy reader before. It's genius!

Veggiebaby is a superhero. He ignores the warning signs and plays with his food, plus eating all the vegetables. When he grows up, he becomes Veggieboy and begins to practice his superhero skills; flying, superstrength, x-ray vision, and shapechanging. Oops, maybe not that last one...Soon, Veggieboy becomes Veggieman, getting a cool new costume. He sets out to do brave deeds, but an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction gives him a new name - Wedgieman!

This is a really fun - and funny - easy reader. It's subtle, but not so much that kids won't get the humor. The illustrations and text complement each other perfectly, and as I said these two authors are a great fit. I thought the final story, where Wedgieman gets his new name, wasn't really necessary. It didn't really fit with the vegetable theme and the story was already funny enough without it. However, kids will no doubt find it hilarious and ask for more Wedgieman adventures.

This is a more challenging early reader, at 460 on the lexile scale, and accessible to readers who are managing Fly Guy and similar titles.

Verdict: Step into Reading is doing some really good things with their new easy readers and this one will be a great hit! Recommended.

ISBN: 9780307930712; Published 2012 by Random House; Review copy provided by publisher (added to summer reading prize books); Purchased for the library.

Revisited: There were eventually 3 titles about Wedgieman published, but sadly they are all now out of print. If they were brought back into print, I'd recommend adding them to your collection if you missed them the first time around.