Spider-Man: Spider-Man Saves the Day

The cover of "Spider-Man Saves the Day" informs us that it is based on the new moive (the old 2002 "Spider-Man" movie and not the new 2004 "Spider-Man" movie) and on the title page we learn that the book is based on the screenplay by David Koepp and adapted by Acton Figueroa. However, I have to say that only thing specific to either "Spider-Man" movie in this Festival Readers volume intended for young readers ages 4-7 is the reference to Uncle Ben's declaration "With great power comes great responsibility." But you do not see any of the other characters from the film, or the comic book, for that matter; the damsel in distress in the alley has blonde hair so she cannot be Mary Jane even though she is described as someone Spider-Man knows. In "Spider-Man Saves the Day" our hero swings around the city doing a series of good deeds and making the city safe for everyone (except the bad guys). The art is by Ron Lim and I have to say that having the red parts of Spider-Man's outfit lined with metal bands looks really odd (especially because it does not continue to the blue part of the costume). However, young readers will get a sense for what Spider-Man does and why he does it, as well as one of the key elements of the character's mythos, which is that not everybody things he is a hero despite all the good deeds that he does.

My son, who just turned six years old, loves to read this book himself because he can't wait to find out what Spider-man does next! Even the bigger words -- "superpowers," "responsibility," "dangerous" -- are easy for him to read in the context of his familiarity wth Spider-man. I'm going to buy "I Am Spiderman" by the same author and maybe one the Figueroa "Hulk" books too.

This is a good easy reader for young Spiderman fans. It is the first Spiderman book I have found age appropriate for my four year old super hero fanatic. He loves it!