Action Movie Kid by Daniel Hashimoto & Mandy Richardville, illustrated by Valerio Fabretti (Atria Books)

Most internet memes are completely lost on us. We have no idea what the fox said, and equally we had no idea who Action Movie Kid was until this book plopped through the letterbox with a "Ka-POW!" Action movie kid is a YouTube sensation, a little kid with a big imagination ably assisted by his action-movie loving parents. He's such an awesome happy little chap and after we'd checked out a few of his videos, we were giggling like goons!

Wanna see him in action? Step right this way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Q0BB8-2nA


Yep, as you can see, Action Movie Kid is pretty nifty with a light saber, he can stride through steamy jungles to rescue lost treasure to help out a certain crusty old archaeologist, and can leap tall buildings with a single bound (or at least clamber around them, thousands of feet off the ground all thanks to his VFX expert of a dad).

Now AMK has made the leap from YouTube to the printed page, courtesy of mum and dad and hugely talented illustrator Valerio Fabretti.

"Action Movie Kid" book 1 sees our pint-sized hero using that colossal imagination of his to turn everyday life into an exciting adventure. Fixing dad's car with rocket boosters so he's never late for work or fending off zombie attacks from wrinkly old babysitters. AMK is on the scene!

In this pacy story, AMK hears a strange noise emanating from the basement. An inter-dimensional portal has opened up in the washing machine, and a nefarious slime monster wants to slide through and make a meal out of Action Movie Kid! Can he summon enough strength and courage to defeat this nasty slithery beast? Maybe mum and dad can help!

We love superheroes, we loved the presentation of this but the story felt like it needed something more - something "super". I thought Charlotte would be leaping up and down with enthusiasm for this as she loved AMK's movie clips, but she didn't seem very impressed at all with the book version (but did rather like the rather cool AR cover on the book - which you can activate using the Blippar app on your smartphone - don't worry, the burn marks on your carpet will wash straight out!)

We get the feeling that this won't be the last booky adventure for AMK - and now he's got a new baby sister, perhaps it'll mark the start of a superhero team-up that will take the book world (and youtube) by storm.


Charlotte's best bit: Action Movie Kid leaping to life with a very clever AR cover on the book

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fast paced fun for little ones, maybe adventure 2 might see AMK hit his stride

(Kindly sent to us for review by Atria Books)