Product Description

Talented and well-known syndicated comic strip artist Wiley Miller presents a stunningly illustrated tale of a boy who is bored by his life and ready to break free from the lighthouse he calls home. Led off by a wonderfully eccentric professor in a hot-air-balloon ship, Basil travels to another dimension where he and a new friend save the fantasy city of Helios from destruction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124726 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 3–5—It's 1899, and 12-year-old Basil lives in a lighthouse on the coast of Maine. A dour, gnomish lad with an oversize head, he longs for adventure. When a balloon piloted by a kindly, mysterious man appears outside his window, the boy leaps aboard and soars off to a fantastic city in the sky. Professor Angus McGookin has brought him to Helios, the home of a secret, advanced society, and Basil is soon caught up in an adventure involving evil scientists, pteranodons, and mechanical armies. Miller's plentiful, full-color cartoons expand on the story, but there's little invention or character development in this rambling story. The narrative flow is clunky, with awkward shifts in perspective from Basil to that of an all-knowing narrator. Miller, creator of the comic strip "Non Sequitur," has crafted a hybrid picture book/short chapter book, but this tale fails to fulfill the promise of its attractive design.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Miller, who is known for his comic strip Non Sequitur, expands a story that first appeared in the Sunday funny papers. Basil, who is 12 but seems younger, finds his life tedious until a stranger whisks him away to a secret floating city, where he meets a new friend and stumbles upon a plot to dominate the world. Miller's lack of experience with longer narrative forms shows in the simplistic story arc and thin characterizations, and also in the episodes' choppy flow, in which the rhythms of a serialized cartoon are still apparent. Even so, the book's unusually plentiful illustrations make this worth a second glance. Varied in size and design, the full-color artwork amplifies the contrast between Basil's pinched, austere appearance and the extravagant wonders he sees--from flying reptiles to a boat suspended beneath a hot-air balloon. Together with such visuals, the spaciously designed text and plot-driven action will help struggling readers (or those new to chapter books) build confidence. An open conclusion hints at future installments. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Robotic armies, flying pet dinosaurs and jet-propelled helium suits feature prominently in Miller's first book for children, liberally illustrated and based on his (Non Sequitur ) comic-strip character Ordinary Basil and set in 1899. The 12-year-old hero, bored with his "ordinary" life on the Maine coast, longs for adventure. He soon gets his wish when he becomes the first Earth-dweller to visit Helios, a magical, futuristic city in the clouds, courtesy of Professor Angus McGookin's balloon airship. The man explains that humans have called Helios many things (Eden, Atlantis, etc.), but "the history of Helios is the history of human accomplishment, not human self-destruction." Basil quickly finds himself-along with his new friend Louise-in a battle with a stereotypical madman-genius, Dr. Von Röttweil (a fallen member of Helios's High Council). Other familiar archetypes and themes abound. Basil has been chosen out of all humankind ("The High Council will be most pleased to know you've finally been found"), for instance, and Von Röttweil's sidekick is a "hideous, hunched assistant"à la Quasimodo. Miller's diverse perspectives ratchet up the suspense, as in several vignettes depicting the children's ride on Louise's pet pteranodon. The characters' exaggerated facial expressions nicely counter the compositions' Gorey-esque edge. Miller has packed plenty into this engaging escape of a read, with a whiff of commentary on contemporary times. Readers will be glad Basil broke the confines of the funny pages. Ages 7-10.(Nov.)

Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -- Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Watch out, Stanley Yelnatz, Basil's in town.
I am currently reading this book aloud at night to my 10 year old son who hates to read. He's a numbers kids, and likes facts, and history and geography, and it is difficult to find interesting historical fiction literature written to his age level. He is not a "Harry Potter" fan. We can't seem to get past the "Magic Treehouse" books which, I think, are a little too young for him, and not exactly great literature.

I picked this book up at our school's Scholastic Book Fair last week. He is completely sucked into it! It's an enthralling story of a boy, living in Maine and wishing for adventure in his ordinary life. It is set in 1899, and so far, I've hit pay dirt!. When I finished reading a section tonight, he asked if he could read ahead on his own! It is exciting, and extremely well written. It reminds me of a Roald Dahl novel, with inferences to historical events (World War I) and mythology (Atlantis). As you would expect from the author, the illustrations are fabulous. I highly recommend it. I predict it is going to be a huge hit -- the next "Holes". I can't wait to find out what happens next, but I, unlike my son, will have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.

"Kids of all ages will enjoy
"Peace Through World Domination!" The comics parrot many a dictator and well-intentioned freedom fighter, while making us laugh. That is the joy of Attack of the Volcano Monkeys.

Wiley Miller's "Non Sequitur" is one of my favorite comics as it segues from mundane to otherworldly each weekend in the Sunday comics. There, Lucille, Beatrice Pterosaur, and Basil Pepperell have adventures-and I want to tag along. Their worlds make sense as they mirror portions of our own. They come closest to the 1960s political Pogo that I can find. Besides, I enjoy Maine accents and lighthouses. In these monkeyshines, Basil returns home from his last crusade to leave immediately on another. He must save little Louise from forbidden Monkey Island, which is not an island l, but a ship that some government has disguised as an island with which to control its indigenous monkey nations. HG Wells, Tarzan, and Star Trek would like a word with that government.

Professor McGookin and his magic round submarine help Louise, Basil, and his resistance fighter monkey-friend Rathbone (Basil...Rathbone, a Holmesian nod) to defeat a dictator and restore liberty to intelligent monkeys. Evil Doctor Von Rottweil (vicious like the dog), by turns, saves Basil's life and is imprisoned by the moneys he has experimented on, but escapes to "evil-ize" something else in the future. This is "HMS Pinafore" meets "The Producers" in "Springtime for Hitler in Germany." It makes me laugh while I think, but is a rollicking good time.

Additional animals play major parts in this story. Bug-eyed owls hunt children and monkeys, but are swept from the sky by Beatrice Pterosaur. Illustrations of this and other events swim around and behind the text to comprise a jaunty nautical reading experience.

In the end, children are smart, democratic revolution can overthrow dictatorship and false idols, and we are not monkeys to be tricked. Moral character lives in the heroes and even its villains. Basil upholds freedom and honor, encourages compassion towards all, and provides an extraordinary good time all at once.

Armchair Interviews says: Readers of all ages will enjoy Attack of the Volcano Monkeys.

Can't Wait for Turtle Island
Kudos to Mr. Miller for this wonderful book. This was my 4-year-old's first chapter book and I was worried that it would not keep his attention. The first night we easily made it through the first chapter and after that, it was a struggle for him to let me put it down. Needless to say, he was disappointed that we have to wait for the next adventure. The characters were colorful (especially Bea for my little dinosaur lover) and the photos were fantastic.

Thank you for helping feed our imaginations!