cover image HOW I BECAME CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE

HOW I BECAME CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE

Kenny Harrison, Kenneth Harrison, . . Tricycle, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-58246-077-2

Newcomer Harrison delivers a cheeky tale of a young wrestling fan's moment of glory. The boy narrator is devoted to Mighty Max, a purple-masked hulk of a fellow with washboard deltoids. At the "Super Duper Entertainment Extravaganza for the Championship of the Universe," Mighty Max faces the green antennaed "Atom Smasher from Planet Z"—and the lucky narrator has front-row seats. "They used every trick in the book," the pint-size Howard Cosell reports as the bout gets underway, "feather pillows, cream pies, and squirt guns." But when Atom Smasher cheats, the boy leaps into the ring and fells the villain with the same secret weapon he uses successfully at home (tickling). Even youngsters immune to the wrestlemania bug should get a kick out of Harrison's poster-like, neon-hued, computer-honed illustrations, which make the opponents' physiques look as if they've been inflated with a bicycle pump. Harrison stays true to a child's perspective, right down to the endpapers (the opening shows the boy's bedroom outfitted with Mighty Max sheets and posters; the closing depicts the superhero surrounded by images of the boy champ). Ages 3-5. (Aug.)