Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight

by Ralph Cosentino

Book Overview

Have no fear'the Dark KnightTM is here Created nearly seventy years ago, Batman is one of the world's most recognized super heroes. Now he's starring in his very own hardcover picture book, designed specifically for young children. Learn how Bruce Wayne , a mild-mannered businessman by day, became a tireless crime fighter?Batman'by night. Illustrated with bright, bold pictures and told in simple language, Viking's Batman is the perfect introduction...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670062553
• ISBN13: 9780670062553
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.2" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

High-Quality Retro-Style Book, Excellent for Young Children

Obviously a labor of love by the author/illustrator, this Batman storybook is a high-quality product. It's a hardcover volume with nice glossy pages, which are perfect for conveying Consentino's colorful, action-packed artwork. My four-year-old son received this book for Christmas, and it's been a staple of his bedtime reading ever since. In fact, he already has the text memorized, and he loves the big, bold artwork (which adults can appreciate for its 1940s-ish retro style, right out of the Golden Age of comics). I was so pleased with this publication that I've pre-ordered Consentino's similar "Superman" book due out in April.

The perfect superhero book for toddlers!

I picked this book up for my son last August in Boston when "The Dark Knight" was in theaters and he was seeing images of Batman everywhere. He has loved superheros for the past year - but being that he is not yet 3 it is difficult to find appropriate reading material that features superheros but not much, if any, violence. The pictures in this book are vibrant, and the story is simply, but not dumb. For Christmas he got the Fisher-Price Imaginext BatCave and now sits and recites this book while he plays with the cave. I wish there were more of these books for all the superheros!

This Book is Perfect

I love this book. The art is flawless and the story is great. Simply stated but not simple in content. It fits so much 'Batman' into such a little book. And the retro comic book look of the book is just wonderful. I'm completely impressed. And I've been a big Batfan for many years now, so I take these things pretty seriously :) I highly reccomend this to everyone. Young or old, fan or not. It's a great little book. The complete package.

Outstanding Design and Art

Wow-- if they had books like this when I was a kid I would have worn the cover off! Designed for the younger set, as an adult I can appreciate the incredibly clean lines and deep rich color work-- I bought this book for myself after seeing it in a store and all I have to say is WOW. Cosentino does an excellent job of combining elements of the classic Dark Knight to tell his story to audiences of all ages. If you enjoy the clean work of Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes or Paul Popinski this is truly the book for you. Be warned, however, that my friends three year old grandaughter did find parts of this scary-- but then that sums up the roots of the Dark Knight doesn't it?