Batman Classic: Fowl Play
If the title doesn&#x2019;t tip you off, this latest entry in the publisher&#x2019;s superhero series for beginning readers is stocked with the usual punny dialogue: Oh, I can think of one bird that belongs in a cage. He speaks of the Penguin, of course, who has been plaguing luckless Gotham City with an armada of trained birds that break into people&#x2019;s houses and carry off valuables in upside-down umbrellas. Batman tracks Penguin to his lair, where he is attacked by the birds. Batman versus birds? No, it doesn&#x2019;t sound especially exciting, but the trick is that he doesn&#x2019;t want to hurt the birds. This feeds into the book&#x2019;s gentle green message, personified by worried environmentalist Beverly Birdsong. Like the other volumes, this opens with a list of character profiles and doesn&#x2019;t focus much on plot or sense&#x2014;the finale basically comes out of nowhere (or Batman&#x2019;s utility belt, to be exact). But Gordon&#x2019;s comic-book illustrations are of the sharp, whiz-bang, action-packed variety, and that ought to be enough. Preschool-Grade 1. --Daniel Kraus