Review Detail

Ace and Bub, also known as The Flying Beaver Brothers, are sports enthusiasts. They live a happy life on Beaver Island, surfing and napping, until they learn that evil penguins are planning to freeze the island. The penguins have headquarters in a giant sunken refrigerator and only they can stop them.

This first volume in the graphic novel series is fun and accessible. I read it with one of my ESOL students who has a very low English level, and he was able to have success with the book. Words like trophy, penguin, and competition were new to him at first, but the repetition and illustrations helped him master them quickly. Developing readers will feel the same sense of accomplishment. The pages have a good balance of text and illustrations, with some featuring wordless action.

Maxwell Eaton’s illustrations are simple and endearing. The beavers are among the cutest characters I’ve seen and they are at their most adorable while swimming through tunnels underwater. Fans of the Lunch Lady series, the Babymouse series, and the Squish series will love this book.