Cul de Sac: This Exit Richard Thompson (http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/press_releases/culdesac.html)
When you have children, a little insanity goes a long way in keeping you sane. This might sound bizarre but the truth is that children have a way of making adults look at the world through the eyes of their innocence… which in turn reveals just how insane “life” truly is.
If Richard Thompson doesn’t have kids, then he’s definitely around a lot of them because the antics portrayed in Cul de Sac are dead on. In the same manner that Bill Waterson’s Calvin was a little boy with a very grown-up logical mind, so too do Alice and her peers question the world around them in a way that makes adults think… and laugh at the insanity.
Although the art made it a little difficult to get right into the book, it eventually did grow on me due to the way those simple scribbles were full to bursting with emotion and expression. And the characters? Priceless! For example, I loved how Alice would never accept her Father’s absurd answers to any of her questions, because she preferred her brother Petey’s even more absurd ones! It does not take long to get to know the characters and you quickly start looking forward to the next Mr. Danders strip, or seeing more of how Alice’s preschool classmates deal with their daily routines.
This collection did not have many laugh-out-loud moments, but there were plenty of snickers along the way. I did not know of this cartoon strip prior to this book but I do look forward to reading further adventures.
(Review copy provided by the Publisher)