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Staff Picks Blog - Kalamazoo Public Library
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:44 -0700
by Steve Hubbell
Staff Picks Blog
Staff-recommended reading from the KPL catalog
Stewart F (on 7/9/2008) wrote:
Furry Animals with Swords
Wandering the fields and forests of 17th Century feudal Japan, masterless samurai Usagi Yojimbo battles ninjas, bandits and other samurai while offering his warrior services to the powerless. Also, he's a giant talking rabbit, the ninjas are moles, and his friend is a rhinoceros. Blending funny animals with the violence and beauty of classic samurai epics, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo series is one of the best adventure comics out there for teens and tweens. (These definitely aren't for younger kids, as the sight of cute furry animals disemboweling each other with samurai swords might be difficult for parents to explain.) Inspired by the samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa, the stories of Lone Wolf and Cub, and Sergio Aragonés' Groo the Wanderer (which Sakai did the lettering for), and based heavily on the exploits of Japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi, Usagi Yojimbo is as educational as it is entertaining. Sakai won a Parents' Choice Award for the blending of actual historical facts and legends into the Usagi stories, and many of the other characters are also based on real people.
http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?ca ... logid=1766
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:43 -0700
by Jet_Jaguar
"These definitely aren't for younger kids, as the sight of cute furry animals disemboweling each other with samurai swords might be difficult for parents to explain."
I thought that this comment was a little bit odd since I can't recall any issue of UY with characters disembowling each other. Well, there have been one or two with characters committing seppuku, but it's never depicted graphically. UY does have some occasional blood, and it's probably not for the very young (aside from issues of "adult content", there's probably a lot about it that very young readers aren't likely to understand), but I would say that it's never gratuitously violent and that it never goes beyond a "PG-13" level of violence.
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:57 -0700
by Maka
Jet_Jaguar wrote:UY does have some occasional blood, and it's probably not for the very young (aside from issues of "adult content", there's probably a lot about it that very young readers aren't likely to understand), but I would say that it's never gratuitously violent and that it never goes beyond a "PG-13" level of violence.
I think a major factor to consider is the child's personality. I just started reading a few select issues of Usagi to my 9 year old daughter. I wanted to start when she was 7 but given her personality, I thought she would get upset with large numbers of deaths, regardless if the person dying was moral or not.
But I think my 6 year old daughter would have no problem at this age.
And I enjoy it at 38.
Peace, maka