Three excellent books for kids

Little Vampire by Joann Sfar (First Second Books)

French cartoonist Joann Sfar unleashes his macabre kids comic "Little Vampire," with three stories that mix dark comedy with sincere sweetness for a collection that will no doubt speak to children as it values not only their intelligence, but empathy and perspective.

Little Vampire himself lives in a haunted mansion with other ghouls -- all grown ups. In one way, he finds himself cloistered among his own kind, since everyone else in the mansion is a ghost or a monster or some kind of zombie creature, and each treats Little Vampire with the sort of gentle demeanor one would hope caretakers of a child would employ. But Little Vampire of is of two kinds -- ghoul and child -- and though he is fulfilled as the former, he is desperate to make some connection as the latter.

Little Vampire demands that he be allowed to go to school -- and all the horrors of the mansion work to make sure that he does and that it's a great experience.

Certain issues involved in the particulars of being a monster disrupt Little Vampire's attempts to go to school -- monsters don't keep hours agreeable to school boards. In making the best of

the situation, though, Little Vampire manages to make a connection with a boy named Michael and it's this friendship that fuels the book.

In the other stories in the book, Little Vampire uses supernatural solutions to help Michael contend with a bully and the entire ghoul gang takes up the cause of some dogs escaping an animal testing laboratory.

In each story, Sfar's artwork -- so beautiful in "The Rabbi's Cat" books -- works toward comedy, unfolding some very funny, very rollicking little adventures. It's all undeniably European, however -- I can't imagine an American creator would use some of the dark and mature subject matter that he does so casually, but in Sfar's hands, I barely batted an eye at any of it. Sfar is such a master at his craft -- without a doubt, one of the best cartoonists in the world today -- and any kid's library will be elevated by the inclusion of "Little Vampire."

Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons by Agnes Rosenstiehl (Toon Books)

The second release in Toon Books' new line of easy reader graphic novels, "Silly Lilly," is a charming affair by French author/illustrator Agnes Rosen-stiehl. In a series of seasonal sketches, a young girl named Lilly is followed through her reactions to the changes.

That's a funny thing about being a kid -- before you are really aware of time, of real change in the sense that an adult is, you are aware of the flow and passing in one very sensual way and that is the shift of seasons. Seasons, like anything else, are relative and will look and feel different according to where you live -- at the same time, the basics are generally the same and this is structure we teach children.

Seasons, it seems, are the first formal lesson we give in the cycle of life. Lilly gets silly in the park in spring, the beach in summer, the apple orchard in fall, the snow in winter and the playground in spring, bringing the year full circle and, more importantly, transcribing a year of change for not only the earth, but the girl as well.

Rosenstiehl crafts a simple sketch of a graphic novel here, presenting the idea of sequential storytelling in its most base form without making it a pantomime. There is a crafty underbelly to the humor, with slight story tension being brought out in delicate ways.

"Silly Lilly" is the cutest tour de force imaginable.

Flight Explorer Volume 1 (Villard Books)

As an offshoot of the larger "Flight" anthology series, "Flight Explorer" gathers short tales of wonder for kids by 10 creators aiming their sights to younger readers. With a science fiction bent, the stories offer uncomplicated but alluring little slices that imply adventures far beyond the panels presented here.

"Flight" series editor Kazu Kibiushi ushers in the title with a short incident involving his character Copper and his dog Fred as they encounter giant toad stools that need traversing -- as usual, Kibiushi is fun, with fluid and personable artwork. Other highlights of the book include Johane Matte's "Perfect Cat," an examination of the positives in being second best; Philip Craven's hilarious "Big Mouth," featuring the blundering misadventures of a creature of the same name; Zita the Space Girl in "If Wishes Were Socks," in which Zita and her two space faring friends find out the dangers of a wondrous wishing sock; and "Snow Cap 2nd Verse," Matthew Armstrong's adorable, silent vignette about a girl and her monster and the sorts of accidents that can happen in such a friendship.

Interestingly, many of the contributors here are those who hone their craft online (among more traditional outlets) and that provides a great counterpart for any kid who might pick this book up. Not only are there accessible extensions of the work within, but the creators themselves provide a good example in getting their own work out there if they are so moved.

The stories walk a nice line -- they're both exciting and amusing and strike a great tone in being so. It's very nice to see publishing houses stepping up to the plate and offering quality-driven, age appropriate comics for kids -- the comic book publishers have long since abandoned that market and are only making a minimal effort to get it back through the use of licensed characters. "Flight Explorer" offers something different -- original characters that hold as much presence as any others, with skilled characterizations that grab readers and draw them in. It's also a signal of one of the great victories of fiction aimed at younger readers over the last decade or so -- the acceptance of the science fiction genre as an acceptable and sometimes preferred vehicle for quality work. And the uni-sex appeal only adds to the power.

"Flight" series editor Kazu Kibiushi ushers in the title with a short incident involving his character Copper and his dog Fred as they encounter giant toad stools that need traversing -- as usual, Kibiushi is fun, with fluid and personable artwork. Other highlights of the book include Johane Matte's "Perfect Cat," an examination of the positives in being second best; Philip Craven's hilarious "Big Mouth," featuring the blundering misadventures of a creature of the same name; Zita the Space Girl in "If Wishes Were Socks," in which Zita and her two space faring friends find out the dangers of a wondrous wishing sock; and "Snow Cap 2nd Verse," Matthew Armstrong's adorable, silent vignette about a girl and her monster and the sorts of accidents that can happen in such a friendship.

Interestingly, many of the contributors here are those who hone their craft online (among more traditional outlets) and that provides a great counterpart for any kid who might pick this book up. Not only are there accessible extensions of the work within, but the creators themselves provide a good example in getting their own work out there if they are so moved.

The stories walk a nice line -- they're both exciting and amusing and strike a great tone in being so. It's very nice to see publishing houses stepping up to the plate and offering quality-driven, age appropriate comics for kids -- the comic book publishers have long since abandoned that market and are only making a minimal effort to get it back through the use of licensed characters. "Flight Explorer" offers something different -- original characters that hold as much presence as any others, with skilled characterizations that grab readers and draw them in. It's also a signal of one of the great victories of fiction aimed at younger readers over the last decade or so -- the acceptance of the science fiction genre as an acceptable and sometimes preferred vehicle for quality work. And the uni-sex appeal only adds to the power.