Kids Draw Manga »

Christopher Hart is the acclaimed author of countless illustration tutorials, including two best-selling art books, Manga Mania and Anime Mania. He lives in Connecticut.

The characters from manga (Japanese comics) have begun to dominate the world of kids' cartoons and comics. Now kids can learn to draw their own manga-style characters with Kids Draw Manga, another addition to the Kids Draw series. Young artists will find a complete introduction to the basics of manga style, from the well-known shiny eye to manga-style noses, mouths, and body types. Pages of step-by-step drawings offer a diverse range of cool manga characters with appeal to both boys and girls, including a basic manga girl and boy, a schoolgirl, a mysterious swordsman, a hero knight, a flying robot soldier, and a laser fighter. More elaborate manga characters, like a spaceship commander and a dark-magic sorceress, are offered for kids who are either older or have worked through the book and are ready for the next level. As in all Kids Draw books, each dazzling spread is easy to follow, fun to look at, and guaranteed to charm a new generation of artists!

School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up-Manga is one of the fastest growing mediums in the United States. Young people are nuts about it. This instructional drawing book is on a beginner's level and does not go into great depth on how to develop characters visually, but it does give good fundamental tips. It starts with the eyes as they are the telltale characteristic of the genre. Hart provides five to six steps for drawing boys, girls, robots, heroes, villains, and other characters and also shows how to draw different poses and action moves. The black-and-white illustrations are clear and easy to follow, but one will need to practice to get the right look. Completed drawings are in full color. The author's comments are entertaining and the images are sure to grab attention. Children will have a great time using this book to spark their own creative imaginations.-Joel Bangilan, Houston Public Library, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.