Giants Beware!

by Jorge Aguirre, Rafael Rosado (Illustrator)

Overview

Make way for Claudette the giant slayer in this delightful, fantastical adventure!

Claudette's fondest wish is to slay a giant. But her village is so safe and quiet! What's a future giant slayer to do?

With her best friend Marie (an aspiring princess), and her brother Gaston (a pastry-chef-to-be), Claudette embarks on a super-secret quest to find a giant—without parental permission. Can they find and defeat the giant before their parents find them and drag them back home?

Giants Beware! offers up a wondrous, self-contained world in the tradition of the very best of Pixar. Claudette and her friends will have you laughing out loud from page one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596435827
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	04/10/2012
Series:	The Chronicles of Claudette
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.52(w) x 9.84(h) x 0.46(d)
Lexile:	GN240L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Born in Puerto Rico and based in Columbus, Ohio, Rafael Rosado is a seasoned writer, director and storyboard artist for the animation industry. He began his career at Character Builders in Columbus, Ohio as an assistant animator. He quickly worked his way up to become a character designer, storyboard artist and commercial director. During his tenure there he worked on such shows as Fox's Emmy Award-winning Life With Louie, HBO's Happily Ever After and Fox's Where in The World Is Carmen San Diego.

After leaving Character Builders in 1994, Rafael went to work for Warner Brothers Animation, storyboarding on Pinky and The Brain and Emmy nominated Animaniacs, for which he also wrote two episodes.

He was then recruited by the newly-founded Sony Television Animation division, where he worked on eleven shows including directing episodes of CBS's Project GeeKeR and NBC's Sammy. He was promoted to Supervising Director on Extreme Ghostbusters and Producer on Men In Black: The Animated Series.

After 5 years honing his skills in Los Angeles, Rafael moved back to Ohio to raise his family. He is now one of the most highly sought-after storyboard artists, working for major studios such as Warner Brothers, The Walt Disney Company, Sony, Universal and the Cartoon Network. Highly diverse, he has storyboarded on action, comedy and pre-school shows, shows as diverse as Boondocks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Batman, The Venture Brothers and Curious George.

Rafael's first graphic novel, Giants Beware!, was published by First Second Books in early 2012. His short film The Tortured Clown was acquired by and featured on the Sundance Channel.

Jorge Aguirre is an author and two-time Emmy-nominated animation writer. He co-created and wrote the graphic novel series, The CHRONICLES OF CLAUDETTE. The New York Times called the first book in the series, GIANTS BEWARE, a “Rollicking fun story.” It also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was a nominee for a Texas Bluebonnet Award. He wrote the book, CALL ME IGGY and the graphic novel series, MONSTER LOCKER, with art by Andrés Vera Martínez. His animation work includes co-creating Disney Junior's GOLDIE & BEAR. He's the Head Writer and Co-EP for the PBS Kids/Fred Rogers Production show ALMA'S WAY. A Colombian-American born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Jorge calls the great state of New Jersey home.

Reading Group Guide

For Discussion:
Giants Beware! is a graphic novel, a story told in words and pictures. How do you think this story would be told differently if it was a novel, with only words? How would it be different if it was a movie, with just pictures?
Which is a better job: giant-slaying, princessing, or cooking? Why?
The village seems to have a secret history with giants. Tell your own version of what that story might be.
"We're not brave," say Gaston and Marie at the beginning of the book. Do you think that's true? Do you think their opinions of themselves have changed by the end of the book?
Gaston wants to be a pastry chef and make swords. Do you think the two are incompatible dreams? Does Gaston's father?
Do you think that Claudette is wise to run away from home? What might be a better solution to her problems?
What would you rather face: man-eating trees, an Apple Hag, or the Mad River King?
What would be your strategy to defeat your foe?
What do you think of Claudette's way of dealing with the baby giant and the soldiers from her village who were on the warpath? What would you have done in a similar situation?
Claudette says at the end of the story that friends matter more than fame or fortune.

Do you think that's true? What matters the most to you?

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Chronicles of Claudette series:

"These stylish books — there are three so far — are called “Giants Beware!,” “Monsters Beware!” and “Dragons Beware!,” and they are just the thing for kids who like fractured fairy tales."—New York Times

Praise for Giants Beware!:

"The story, with its riffs on fairy tales and quest narratives, offers just the right balance of familiarity and originality, with plenty of humorous asides."—The New York Times

"Comedy and fairy tale sensibilities balance perfectly in this exciting debut by writer Aguirre and illustrator Rosado."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This is one book that readers are sure to enjoy again and again."—Children's Literature

"The story strikes a fine balance between beingaction-and friendship-driven. The art is similarly well-balanced: Rosado’s inkdrawings are strong and lively, with expressive characters and well-drawnlandscapes."—School Library Journal, starred review

"This winning graphic novel will inspire kids dreaming of becoming knights and princesses alike by mixing appealing fairy-tale plotswith unconventional solutions."—Horn Book

"Entertaining, lively, and downright goofy, this willfind an audience among fans of fairy tales and comic books alike."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"A zingy little story told with fine flair."—Booklist

“Fast, fun, and joyous to look at!” —Jeff Smith, author of Bone

“A young heroine and her two sidekicks set off on adventure in Giants Beware!” —The New York Times

“A surefire hit!” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Strong and lively!” —School Library Journal, starred review

“The writing is great, the artwork is just stupendous - I can't recommend this book highly enough!” —BoingBoing Geek Week Podcast

From the Publisher

The story, with its riffs on fairy tales and quest narratives, offers just the right balance of familiarity and originality, with plenty of humorous asides…Rosado draws richly expressive characters and ably depicts action sequences…[his] vibrant, full-color landscapes, filled with lush purples and greens, are an exciting backdrop for the threesome's adventures…This is a rollicking fun story…
—The New York Times

Pamela Paul