Graphic novels are more than just colourful pages and speech bubbles, they are a gateway to imagination, especially for children who might find traditional books a bit daunting. They invite young readers into vibrant worlds where words and pictures dance together. Their dynamic comic book style graphics break down storylines into bite-sized moments, which helps to boost confidence and stamina for longer texts. With their dynamic illustrations, bite-sized dialogue, and fast-paced storytelling, graphic novels can hook and engage even the most reluctant readers. These kind of children’s books use vibrant visual storytelling combined with a quirky characters and a fun narrative, making them suitable for young and reluctant readers. One such novel is Astrochimp by David Walliams and Adam Stower, a banana-fuelled blast through space with a blundering chimpanzee. So buckle up space explorers for an out of this world adventure.
Astrochimp is a graphic novel written by David Walliams and illustrated by Adam Stower. It is a hilarious cosmic caper for young explorers that ignites a sense of wonder. A wonderfully engaging space adventure in a vibrant colourful comic book style. Starring Chump the chimp, if it can go wrong, it will.
Chump the chimp is the silliest primate in the history of NASA and space exploration. Nevertheless, he has been selected by NASA for a top-secret mission – he will be orbiting the Earth to test the feasibility of human space travel. He isn’t the first animal in space, it all started in 1947 with some fruit flies (true story), followed by Dmitri the dog, Bardot the cool cat, Ting and Hong the tortoises and Choti the Gerbil. This is the story of what happens next.
Chump is no regular chimp, he has been selected for space exploration and top secret missions for a start. He just loves to make rude noises from BOTH ENDS and picks his nose with his feet. But he isn’t the brightest and eats banana skins rather than the succulent juicy fruit of the banana itself. Oh, and he is extremely clumsy. Living up to his name he accidently presses the wrong button and everything goes terribly wrong – he freezes himself in deep space for the next fifty years. And then he is rudely awakened by a space pirate, Dmitri the dog. With the rogue space pirate, trying to rob Chump’s spaceship, everything goes from bad to worse and is the start of an Earth-saving adventure.
With things not going to plan, Chump must join forces with Dmitri and Bardot, a jet-pack cat, to battle super-sized fruit flies, rogue robots and a mysterious object hurtling toward Earth in an uproarious space opera that never lets up on the laughs.
Overall, I thought Astrochimp was a hilarious graphic novel. With 224-page full-colour graphics it is a space adventure packed with mayhem, mischief and laughter. A very imaginative tale based on some very real animals that have been blasted into space.
The story is absurd, over the top and great fun, bursting with slapstick chaos and joyful illustrations. It will completely engage its young readers with its funny short text and fantastic illustrations. Stower’s vibrant illustrations burst with banana-skin snacks, giant pineapple starships and slapstick chaos that makes turning each page a thrill ride across the cosmos .
Young readers will love the colourful, weird and wacky characters, ginormous floating pineapples that have been transformed into spaceships, revenge and rescues and laughter on every page. It does a fantastic job of blending absurd humour with themes of friendship and courage.
Astrochimp is a truly captivating out of this world fun story for children age 7+.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £14.99 (Hardback) / £8.99 (Paperback) / £4.99 (Kindle)
For more information, visit www.worldofdavidwalliams.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
