Traction Man Is Here

by Mini Grey

On his box, Traction Man is described as a “generic action figure with dazzle-painted... read more

On his box, Traction Man is described as a “generic action figure with dazzle-painted battle pants.” A square-jawed hero up for any challenge, Traction Man guards the toast at breakfast, volunteers for special duty in a sink full of dirty dishes (where he acquires a brave sidekick, Scrubbing Brush), and crawls through the rugged backyard terrain to rescue a trio of unfortunate dolls. Mini Grey’s story is firmly rooted in a young boy’s imaginative play, in which he recasts a wealth of everyday objects and incidences as the props for his beloved new toy’s adventures. Traction Man’s toughest challenge yet comes when Grandma makes him an “all-in-one knitted green romper suit and matching bonnet!” How will his ego ever survive? Clad in the knitted green nightmare, the usually confident superhero looks woefully worried. Traction Man’s story winds down to a perfect conclusion, but many readers will want to go right back to the beginning to look again. There is so much to discover, from the small moments of humor to the way Traction Man’s adventures are distinguished from what is happening in the boy’s real-world life both through the way the use of different fonts and in the style of the illustrations. (Ages 5–9)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2006

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