I can think of few writers whose prose reaches that exalted state described by Mill as completely as Franz Kafka. Prodigious at evoking brutal alienation and irrevocably hopeless despair, Kafka could mold with a handful of lines what others spend countless pages failing to create ¡½ a rare case of mere words, once arranged in painstaking order, arresting the reader like an arcane incantation. In sum: no fodder for a children's book.

And yet, ¡ÈMy First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Giant Bugs,¡É is just such an enterprise. The book is slim, exquisitely illustrated in crisp black and white by Rohan Daniel Eason. Eason shows keen judgment, imbuing his illustrations with enough appeal and geniality to allay any fears while retaining a creeping, hardly perceptible sense of the macabre.

Read the full article here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2013/05/our-11-year-old-correspondent-reviews-my-first-kafka-runaways-rodents-and-giant-bu

With so many billboards, bus banners, and movie posters advertising Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, there's little confusion about what the film-going and literary worlds are awaiting this weekend. The impact of Luhrmann's visionary adaptation can be felt, however, far beyond the film's promotional materials. At Vogue, we're delving into novels about F. Scott's wife Zelda, exploring a reimagined suite at the Plaza hotel, and tasting specially crafted Fitzgerald ice cream flavors¡½all of which are just a few of the indications that Gatsby is having a full-fledged cultural moment.

Read the full article here:
http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/great-gatsby-galore-what-to-eat-drink-read-and-more-to-get-ready-for-the-films-premiere/#1

Most children's books teach things like family, friends, and sharing. Franz Kafka wrote strange tales of alienation, conflict, and the meaningful meaningless of existence. That Kafka's stories could be adapted for children seems, on the surface, to be an exercise in futility. And yet, as Matthue Roth's My First Kafka: Runaways, Rodents, and Bugs (One Piece Books, 2013) demonstrates, there's a sense of childlike wonder that permeates even the strangest of Kafka's parables. That's a tricky proposition to pull off effectively – 51BeIWcvHyL._SY300_especially for Roth, who is tasked with the unenviable job of transposing Kafka's prose into child-sized morsels. Fortunately for weird kids (and their weird parents) everywhere, Roth is more than up to the task, reconstructing three of Kafka's works into the sort of stories that would fit nicely alongside the Shel Silverstein's stranger works.

Read the full article here:
http://heebmagazine.com/kafka-4-kidz/45089

“In “Superzelda: The Graphic Life of Zelda Fitzgerald,” Tiziana Lo Porto and Daniele Marotta cleverly sidestep all of this by largely appropriating what she wrote about herself and what others said about her to narrate a graphic biography of her. Many of the illustrations are based on photographs of Zelda as well.”

Read the ful article here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/books/ct-prj-0505-zelda-fitzgerald-20130503,0,4755390.story

“Journey” is a very apt word apt to describe this work, as the reader is comfortably taken through the subject matter. Journey by Starlight gives the reader a familiar guide, too ¡½ Albert Einstein.

Einstein walks through time and space illustrating the principles and history of physics and astronomy with a single companion, an unseen narrator who plays the role of proxy for the reader and sometimes doubles as a conversation piece.

Read the full article:
http://io9.com/travel-with-albert-einstein-through-space-and-time-in-t-476485650

Zelda Fitzgerald just wanted to be remembered. Lo Porto says Zelda is famous in a few places in Europe, mainly those she and Scott lived, and that Woody Allen's ¡ÈMidnight in Paris¡É introduced her to a wider audience, but many people still haven't been properly introduced to Zelda Fitzgerald. A biography, love story and travelogue all in one, ¡ÈSuperzelda¡É is a fresh tribute that will appeal to even those reading a comic book for the first time.
-Deep South Magazine

Read the full article here:
http://deepsouthmag.com/2013/04/superzelda-to-the-rescue/

Was Zelda Fitzgerald an accomplished flirt who couldn't cope with growing older? A tragic schizophrenic? A talented artist whose attempts weren't supported and whose writing was stolen by her better-known husband? I don't know, because this graphic biography (translated from the Italian) doesn't ever get inside her head or provide any stab at showing her motivations, although they mention all of the above conditions at various times.
-Comics Worth Reading

Read the full article here:
http://comicsworthreading.com/2013/03/19/superzelda-the-graphic-life-of-zelda-fitzgerald/

Botchan (1906) is a comic novel whose enduring appeal continues to entertain generations of Japanese readers. It's main character is a newly graduated Tokyo-bred young man sent to teach mathematics at middle school in an out of the way locality. As a young boy, Botchan, as he was fondly called by the household help Kiyo, is destined to be the black sheep of the family. His relationship with his father and brother is civil at best. Kiyo is the only one who was patient with him and who believed he will amount to something great. But he can be a bit foolish as he runs to all kinds of trouble.

Read the entire article here:
http://booktrek.blogspot.com/2013/03/botchan-natsume-soseki.html

“Are you interested in learning more about life, the universe and everything? It's probably safe to assume that you are. If you're not, you might want to quickly check that you still have a pulse. Perhaps, whilst you'd certainly like to learn more about these issues, you've been struggling to find a suitably qualified guide. If this is the case, you will no doubt welcome the arrival of science's favourite son Professor Albert Einstein – the cartoon time traveller who is waiting to take you on a journey by starlight.”

Read more: http://www.scienceomega.com/article/846/journey-by-starlight-an-interview-with-dr-ian-flitcroft#ixzz2NXmvMefT

“One Peace Books confirmed with ANN on Monday that it has licensed Ichiya Sazanami's Black Bard and Shohei Manabe's Smuggler manga. The company will release both titles in their entirety this year.

Here is the full article (The covers here are previous Japanese covers. Ours will be updated!):
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-03-04/one-peace-books-adds-ichiya-sazanami-black-bard-shohei-manabe-smuggler-manga