Book: Kong and Me

Order

Kong and Me


English Book Title

Kong and Me

Authors:

Kiki Thorpe (illustrated by Nidhi Chanani)

Language:
Genre:
Release:
Publisher
:
Pages:
ISBN:

English
Fiction
2021
Legendary Comics
36
168116082X

Preview:

Page 4, Page 5, Page 9

Book

Review

By: Noah Percival

I believe it's safe to say that the vast majority of us fans became obsessed with Godzilla and other kaiju during our childhoods. As we move on into adulthood carrying our fandom with us, those of us who have or plan to have children wonder about how to introduce our children into this wonderful fantasy world. Thankfully we have kaiju related story books to use! While Godzilla has seen two children's storybook releases Kong has been sidelined for the most part... but now Legendary Comics have stepped in to fill that titan sized hole with Kong and Me written by Kiki Thorpe and illustrated by Nidhi Chanani.

Kong and Me focuses on Kong's friendship with the character of Jia and their average daily adventures on Skull Island. Fans looking for back story on how Kong and Jia met each other may be disappointed at this missing information but I think this allows the book to exist independently from the movie which some parents may find too intense for this book's target audience.

Most of the book relates to the size difference between the two characters and how they play together using their different scales. A memorable part is when Kong cups his hands together and scoops up some water which Jia then uses as a swimming pool. Dialog is minimal but effective. I believe my favorite part is the following quote. "At times we sure can make a mess, but here's the key to our success. Even when we disagree I still like him, and he likes me." This line felt really special to me personally. Everyone will disagree with their friends at some point in their life and being able to recognize that and maintain a friendship is an important lesson to learn and I really appreciate this message and attempt to pass it on to younger readers.

The illustrations are really terrific being both impressive and charming. Kong is most definitely the MonsterVerse version of the character and not drawn as some generic ape. His and Jia's facial expressions are both really charming. I also really appreciated small cameos throughout the book by other various inhabitants of Skull Island all of which are from the movie Kong: Skull Island (2017).

In conclusion, Kong and Me is a fantastic children's book. One which I believe many parents will enjoy reading to their children. It's even charming enough in its own right to merit a place on any fan's shelf regardless of their age.