Luke on the Loose - By Harry Bliss

Luke on the Loose, written and illustrated by Harry Bliss (RAW Junior, LLC New York 2009) is a fictional comic book that would be enjoyable for children pre-school to grade 2. The readability lexile is ages 4-8.

Luke's father is having "boring dad talk" with a man in the park and Luke decides to break free. He chases pidgins and reeks havoc all over town. Where ever he follows the pigeons, people scream and think a tornado has just been through. Luke's father calls his mother and the police to let them know that Luke is missing. Everyone is worried and trying to find him. Meanwhile, Luke is having the time of his life running around town chasing pidgins. The people he runs by comment that they are surprised that all that commotion is coming from "just a kid." Eventually they find him on the roof where he followed the pidgins and is going to take a nap. The next day, he tries to run again, but is held back by a child leash.

The pictures make the whole story. A young child could look at the pictures and know what is going on without being able to read the words. It is a story that children could relate to. Luke is an energetic kid and doesn't want to stand around and listen to boring dad talk. He wants to run and be larger than life. It is a good story.

There is a lot of onomatopoeia as Luke runs through town. Taxis screech to a halt, the pidgins flap their wings as they fly away, and the fire truck siren goes weeeeeee to find Luke.

Literary Elements:
Personification: The pidgins made comments about Luke running.
Hyperbole: The news stations and police were scrambling around because Luke was "on the loose." They acted like it was a complete emergency.
Onomatopoeia - He swooshed down the street.

Mini-lesson:
The children could relate this text to themselves by thinking of a time where they had to listen to "boring dad talk" or something like that. They could reflect on their patience and how they handled having to wait. The children could make their own comic strip of either what they did or what they wanted to do.