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Captain Marvel: What Makes A Hero
Introduce the young reader in your life to the inimitable, expectation-destroying, glass ceiling-shattering, world-saving female Super Heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Captain Marvel and Shuri to Gamora, Black Widow, Nebula, and more, in this beautifully-illustrated picture book aimed at the young reader set. Fans of all ages will be thrilled by this adventure that celebrates the strength, intelligence, and ingenuity of the women who are vital to MCU's best stories, distilled into a child-friendly package.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2019
4 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
March 24, 2019
This is such a nice book! For all small children; but I think little girls will be especially happy to see their favorite Marvel characters encouraging them to be the best they can be!
April 30, 2020
On the one hand, I love this book. On the other hand, maybe if Marvel had better representation of women, maybe this book wouldn't have to be 90% secondary characters.
June 7, 2019
Just the kind of positive, girl power, female superhero energy I need in my life right now. <3
March 21, 2019
Basically all the female superhero's in the Marvel universe talking about what makes you a hero. It was a really good read, but not very entertaining. It would be great as a lap read for kids who love marvel but not great for storytime.
March 6, 2019
Now THAT's what empowerment looks like. Highly recommended.
April 15, 2019
beautiful painted images of Marvel superhero's who are women. The characters chosen exude diversity and different strengths, showing that it's okay it be independent, it's okay to be a hero in your own way, and it's okay to be proud of your accomplishments.
September 11, 2019
This picture book features most of the rockin' heroines from the last ten years or so of Marvel movies, and it would be great to give to inspire little girls...and boys too!
February 27, 2019
(4.3/5) This is a wonderful little book! Taking some of our favourite female characters from the Marvel universe, and goes through what makes each of them a hero. The sheer variety of ways they denote heroes - from science, to spies, to emotions and siblings - is amazing ( the only real thing missing is a lawyer hahaha). This is a lovely book, and I can only assume that this would be even better to share with children.
February 12, 2020
I wanted this book to be more. It’s fine as a rah-rah girl power book, but it only TELLS it doesn’t show. Tell me it’s awesome to be a scientist or pilot or even queen mother, good but how about actual adventures with these women? Because a good portion of the characters are secondary characters, my kids kept asking “Who’s that?” I would explain “Captain America’s girlfriend” or “Black Panther’s sister.” I have no problem with that, but why not SHOW these women in stories fighting or inventing or running a billion dollar corporation? Give us real adventures not just the rah-rah speech. It’s a fine book but left me wanting.
PS. The artwork is beautiful. And I, as a SAHM was particularly touched by the inclusion of Queen Ramonda talking about being a mother.
PS. The artwork is beautiful. And I, as a SAHM was particularly touched by the inclusion of Queen Ramonda talking about being a mother.
October 13, 2019
What Makes a Hero by Pamela Bobowicz, illustrated by Eda Kaban, PICTURE BOOK. Marvel, 2019. $13. 9781368048071
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
June 23, 2019
Delightful look at the female members of the Marvel Avengers. Written for the kindergarden/grade school crowd, though, who may not appreciate fully the nuances of the characters.
September 11, 2020
"knowing who you are and what you're capable of in your own skin is more powerful than any suit of armor --it's what makes the ordinary extraordinary."
I absolutely LOVE this quote from this book and discovered this idea when I was going through gender identity issues growing up!!
This quote, among many, was the most inspirational since it hit home with something I had to find on my own and SO MANY still are looking for.
Our suite of armor can be MANY things, from gender reassignment to make-up to whatever else we put on/in our body as modifers.
In the end that doesn't mean anything, it is armor to help ourselves feel better, stronger, in control or our true selves, when in truth, it is and always will be INSIDE OURSELVES! - so we don't need to go into debt or temporary pain/discomfort with the modifiers.
This book has a lot of motivation/encouragement in it in some form or fashion and to my surprise and excitement they pulled some female icons that don't have powers but it is their smarts, actions, and mind that make them heros in this book.
I would get this for young boys too just for the idea and encouragement it gives and would like to see one for them by this author as well on help them know they are not being singled out.
I do wish they pulled more out of the universe like from the X-Men or Daredevil and such, but the author was really set on using the Avenger movie world it seemed.
With that, I noticed that the author pulled the most female heros from Black Panther over Captain Marvel (female based film) and none from the Hulk or Spider-Man series leaving them out.
To be fair, Black Panther did have a lot of females in there with major roles remembered over Marvel, a female driven film... but I would of liked to have seen more from the world of Marvel itself not just the Marvel movies from Disney. (This is me being nit-picking)
Since the author was using the movie world this book would be even better if they did each section in the tone the female heros used in each movie! This would make it a solid 5 stars for me -with my nit-picking a side.
I absolutely LOVE this quote from this book and discovered this idea when I was going through gender identity issues growing up!!
This quote, among many, was the most inspirational since it hit home with something I had to find on my own and SO MANY still are looking for.
Our suite of armor can be MANY things, from gender reassignment to make-up to whatever else we put on/in our body as modifers.
In the end that doesn't mean anything, it is armor to help ourselves feel better, stronger, in control or our true selves, when in truth, it is and always will be INSIDE OURSELVES! - so we don't need to go into debt or temporary pain/discomfort with the modifiers.
This book has a lot of motivation/encouragement in it in some form or fashion and to my surprise and excitement they pulled some female icons that don't have powers but it is their smarts, actions, and mind that make them heros in this book.
I would get this for young boys too just for the idea and encouragement it gives and would like to see one for them by this author as well on help them know they are not being singled out.
I do wish they pulled more out of the universe like from the X-Men or Daredevil and such, but the author was really set on using the Avenger movie world it seemed.
With that, I noticed that the author pulled the most female heros from Black Panther over Captain Marvel (female based film) and none from the Hulk or Spider-Man series leaving them out.
To be fair, Black Panther did have a lot of females in there with major roles remembered over Marvel, a female driven film... but I would of liked to have seen more from the world of Marvel itself not just the Marvel movies from Disney. (This is me being nit-picking)
Since the author was using the movie world this book would be even better if they did each section in the tone the female heros used in each movie! This would make it a solid 5 stars for me -with my nit-picking a side.
February 23, 2023
This girl power book has flat illustrations and no story, and it's also extremely preachy. Each page spread includes an illustration of a female Marvel character opposite a wordy page written from that character's perspective. The written sections share a few details about the characters, but they're mostly just Empowering Messages that sound like they were written by a committee.
I did crack a smile when I saw the illustration of Peggy Carter, but her page was also full of bland, fortune-cookie advice. "Every journey begins with a single step," the imaginary committee says for her, and there is nothing that connects to her voice as a character. The author just grabbed random, repetitive motivational lines and spread them out over the book, with little to no effort to personalize any of this to the characters.
This book could have been more bearable if it had been shorter. The wordiness would be less of a deterrent if the author had included fewer characters, focusing on the ones who have major roles or are best-loved. Instead, this book included so many characters that I didn't even recognize names for a few of them. Granted, someone might argue that Peggy Carter is an obscure character, but she got her own TV show for two glorious seasons! Other characters included here are so little-known that their appearance seems to be nothing other than a bid to show how diverse Marvel is to have so many female characters.
This was one of the options selected for superhero storytime this week, since my coworkers and I had assumed that this was an actual story, but it was a hard pass from all of us. The kids would have lost interest after two or three pages of bland, wordy, abstract sermonizing, and we would have lost interest around the same time. As it stands, this book exists for Marvel fanatics who love Feminism! and Girl Power! and don't care about subtlety, quality, or detailed references to their favorite character's personalities or experiences.
I did crack a smile when I saw the illustration of Peggy Carter, but her page was also full of bland, fortune-cookie advice. "Every journey begins with a single step," the imaginary committee says for her, and there is nothing that connects to her voice as a character. The author just grabbed random, repetitive motivational lines and spread them out over the book, with little to no effort to personalize any of this to the characters.
This book could have been more bearable if it had been shorter. The wordiness would be less of a deterrent if the author had included fewer characters, focusing on the ones who have major roles or are best-loved. Instead, this book included so many characters that I didn't even recognize names for a few of them. Granted, someone might argue that Peggy Carter is an obscure character, but she got her own TV show for two glorious seasons! Other characters included here are so little-known that their appearance seems to be nothing other than a bid to show how diverse Marvel is to have so many female characters.
This was one of the options selected for superhero storytime this week, since my coworkers and I had assumed that this was an actual story, but it was a hard pass from all of us. The kids would have lost interest after two or three pages of bland, wordy, abstract sermonizing, and we would have lost interest around the same time. As it stands, this book exists for Marvel fanatics who love Feminism! and Girl Power! and don't care about subtlety, quality, or detailed references to their favorite character's personalities or experiences.
April 4, 2022
Genre: Adventure
This culturally diverse adventure book explores a variety of commonly known heroes and the different charateristics of of a hero. With some surprising heroes that students might not normally think of, they are exposed to more relatable characters and opportunities to make connections. Throughout this story, children learn they do not need super powers or crazy skills in order to be a hero; they must only be brave and courageous and stand up for those who can not. I thought this was a really fun and engaging story as I read it and thought about how much my third graders from my current field placement would enjoy it! I think this book could be used as a read aloud or as an independent read as you could encourage engaging peer discussions through either format.
I think this would be an awesome book to use in a third grade classroom as it has multiple chances for students to determine important ideas and monitor their comprehension. I think an important idea is revealed on each page and would be interesting to see if students could identify these during a read aloud or as an independent activity. I also think it would be interesting to allow students to read the text individually and monitor their own understanding and comprehension as they read throughout the book. This would incorporate multiple opportunities for students to improve their growth mindset as these ideas are seen throughout the story.
This culturally diverse adventure book explores a variety of commonly known heroes and the different charateristics of of a hero. With some surprising heroes that students might not normally think of, they are exposed to more relatable characters and opportunities to make connections. Throughout this story, children learn they do not need super powers or crazy skills in order to be a hero; they must only be brave and courageous and stand up for those who can not. I thought this was a really fun and engaging story as I read it and thought about how much my third graders from my current field placement would enjoy it! I think this book could be used as a read aloud or as an independent read as you could encourage engaging peer discussions through either format.
I think this would be an awesome book to use in a third grade classroom as it has multiple chances for students to determine important ideas and monitor their comprehension. I think an important idea is revealed on each page and would be interesting to see if students could identify these during a read aloud or as an independent activity. I also think it would be interesting to allow students to read the text individually and monitor their own understanding and comprehension as they read throughout the book. This would incorporate multiple opportunities for students to improve their growth mindset as these ideas are seen throughout the story.
April 11, 2019
Great book filled with positive female role models that are all found in Marvel comic books. After watching Captain Marvel in the theater with my daughters, and seeing the look of awe on their faces as they watched Carol get back up time and time again, I searched online for a book that the girls may like. This particular book focuses on multiple female characters and how they have overcome adversity or stepped up to protect themselves or their peers, etc. It is actually quite moving, even as an adult. My personal children loved the book, and I am hoping my students enjoy reading about female superheroes as well - especially since after completing the "Ask the Experts" assignment, I realized just how much my students love reading about superheroes.
May 9, 2019
The Marvel cinematic female heroes give a pep talk and tell how to be a better person based on their experiences. Captain Marvel encourages stepping up for those who need hope, Nebula and Gamora talk about being stronger from working together, and Maria and Monica Rambeau say keep moving forward through difficulty.
There are 16 heroes in all. Bobowicz presentation of the heroes is a great message - even the ones who don't have super powers are heroes and give a great message about doing hard things. Although they are all female, the messages are not gender specific, so the boys will like this as much as the girls.
For this and more of my reviews, visit Kiss the Book Jr. at https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
There are 16 heroes in all. Bobowicz presentation of the heroes is a great message - even the ones who don't have super powers are heroes and give a great message about doing hard things. Although they are all female, the messages are not gender specific, so the boys will like this as much as the girls.
For this and more of my reviews, visit Kiss the Book Jr. at https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
March 7, 2022
My little ones have been loving superheroes and this book is a great introduction to 16 amazing female characters that make up the Marvel universe.
Each hero answers in her own voice, “What makes a superhero?” They don’t talk about their superpowers: flying, super strength, etc. but something that resonates deeper in all of us.
“It’s that fire in your soul that pushes you to touch the sky.” - Captain Marvel
“When your courage is tested, remain calm.” - Okoye
“It’s important that we speak up for ourselves, but even more important that we speak up for those who cannot.” - Peggy Carter
I also love the diversity of superheroes mentioned. No matter what size, what gender, what background, we can all be superheroes.
Each hero answers in her own voice, “What makes a superhero?” They don’t talk about their superpowers: flying, super strength, etc. but something that resonates deeper in all of us.
“It’s that fire in your soul that pushes you to touch the sky.” - Captain Marvel
“When your courage is tested, remain calm.” - Okoye
“It’s important that we speak up for ourselves, but even more important that we speak up for those who cannot.” - Peggy Carter
I also love the diversity of superheroes mentioned. No matter what size, what gender, what background, we can all be superheroes.
March 29, 2019
I work at a public library so a lot of times when I read childrens book I look at them through that lens and whether it would work for a group story time. I recently became an aunt and have started looking at books in a slightly different lens though. This book has way too many words for a story time, and way to many words for my niece currently, but it is definitely a fun way for younger children who are on the cusp of not really being old enough to watch the Marvel movies but ready to get in to the world of superheros their parents love. This book is definitely one I am very excited to introduce my brother and his little girl to at some point in her young life!
February 24, 2020
This book is gold!! Introduce your class to the inimitable, expectation-destroying, glass ceiling-shattering, world-saving female Super Heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Captain Marvel and Shuri to Gamora, Black Widow, Nebula, and more, in this beautifully-illustrated picture book aimed at the young reader set. Fans of all ages will be thrilled by this adventure that celebrates the strength, intelligence, and ingenuity of the women who are vital to MCU's best stories, distilled into a child-friendly package. You can use this in your class to read & boost the confidence for young girls.
December 5, 2024
An amazing book! This has wonderful messages for kids, teens, and adults! The illustrations are beautiful, and overall one of the best picture books I can name! Why only 4 stars then? It is more 4.5, but it pulled my attention to the lack of female hero’s in the Marcel universe. Most of these characters are wives, sisters, and/or caretakers. While there are a good amount of stand alone female hero’s, almost no male marvel hero I can think of is in charge of caring over another female hero. Overall a great book, and I will continue to love Marvel, but just a sad realization which I hope continues to improve over the future years.
June 9, 2020
Although this children's picture book is full of good messages on how to be a 'Hero' by being a good person and fashioning your traits as such, I can't but help feel this is just a marketing ploy on introducing children to the Marvel characters.
Steered towards female readers, this book doesn't read like a story, i.e beginning, middle, end. It is more like a catalogue of female Marvel characters and their special talents.
The description are wordy and the pictures are less engaging.
I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone, Marvel fan or not.
Steered towards female readers, this book doesn't read like a story, i.e beginning, middle, end. It is more like a catalogue of female Marvel characters and their special talents.
The description are wordy and the pictures are less engaging.
I really wouldn't recommend this to anyone, Marvel fan or not.
November 11, 2023
Estéticamente es muy bonito y tiene más de las 4 o 5 heroínas de siempre (aunque si se hubiese publicado ahora tendría algunas más y los textos de algunas de las que ya están serían un poco distintos). Cada heroína tiene una ilustración en una página y una descripción en la otra, no mas de tres párrafos, sobre lo que consideran que es un héroe. Algunos textos me convencen más que otros pero es un libro muy bonito y una idea muy buena, sobre todo por lo de incluir a más gente (aunque se hayan visto obligados a recurrir a personajes un poco más secundarios porque tienen pocas protagonistas 🙊).
July 7, 2022
I love the artwork, but it's definitely lacking in other aspects. The characters do a lot of just telling you. There's no real room to breathe and digest what was said before moving to the next one. A very girl power kind of book, but it's missing something to really push it beyond shallow representation.
August 4, 2023
My students are always asking for more GIRL superheroes and although the title doesn't scream GIRL POWER, it is full of it! Each spread is devoted to a female superhero with brightly colored illustrations and one affirmation or thing to remember highlighted in white font. I probably need to order another copy of this for my school library.
February 21, 2024
Every now and again, a book comes along that gives you pause while the whole world seems to slow or stop completely. That is how I felt when I first read this book. Each page features a different woman superhero about which Bobowicz has written a vignette with context about her life, successes, mistakes, and nemesis. A deeply empowering read for girls...or the girl within.
March 27, 2019
Awesome picture book with wonderful female representation! All of our strong and powerful Marvel female heroes are beautifully illustrated and depicted. Perfect for everyone to read and look up to these amazing heroes.
April 21, 2019
Fantastic intro to the Marvel women! I love that they included Pepper, Maria, and other women that wouldn't be classified as "Super". Peggy Carter's entry was perfect. My daughter loves this book already - I see it becoming one of our frequent reads.
June 30, 2019
Marvel comic enthusiasts will enjoy this book dedicated to the female Marvel Comic characters. The author and illustrator highlight the Marvel heroines and the characteristics that are in all of us, that make them heroes.
December 16, 2019
Fantastic messages from Marvel’s women.
I wondered why they didn’t had any X-Men. Ah! They are all from the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I guess the new generation would me more familiar with these characters they’ve seen in recent movies.
I wondered why they didn’t had any X-Men. Ah! They are all from the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I guess the new generation would me more familiar with these characters they’ve seen in recent movies.
March 3, 2020
This is hands down one of the most empowering things I’ve ever read. Yes, it’s a children’s picture book. No, that doesn’t change how impactful it is. I want to hand this book to every person — especially every little girl — so they can know how important and powerful they are.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews