Two super new superhero books for your little caped crusaders

Look! It’s not a bird or a plane, but two super new books for our young superheroes-in-training. Because not even the most energetic superheroes can spend all their time leaping tall (LEGO) buildings or running faster than a speeding (Nerf) bullet. For those quieter moments when your little caped crusaders want to exercise their creative muscles, or just need a little snack before returning to Gotham, here are two activity books to add to their crime-fighting collection. The Super Book for Super Heroes is jam-packed with drawing and coloring pages for kids with active imaginations and possibly a future in comic-book illustration. Beginning with “How to Draw a Superhero,” the book covers just about everything from making your character appear invisible, to x-ray vision, to creating some evil villains to spice things up.

British illustrator Jason Ford does a great job of getting the kids started, but the real star of this book is the kids' own creativity, which is needed to fill in the mainly empty pages. And though there is nothing to stop really young children from expressing themselves on these pages, kids who are handy at drawing and can read the prompts will get the most out of the 100+ pages.

When it’s time for the kids to put up their stockinged feet and have a snack, check out The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook by stylist Matthew Mead, whose how-to book of decorated cakes wowed us a little while back. In The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook, there are cleverly named recipes for Batman Toast, Boy Wonder BLT, Superpowered Fruit Salad, and Super Hero Cookies. My recipe-loving daughter curls up with this book like it's a great novel. The bright photographs, fun graphics, and easy-to-follow directions definitely make it an entertaining read.

There are also plenty of recipes that don’t require too much culinary experience, like the Atlantis Cereal, which is basically granola and goldfish-shaped graham crackers in milk. Or the Amazon Princess Star Sandwiches, which take your kids' favorite sandwiches and transform them with the help of a star-shaped cookie cutter. Hey, sometimes it is just the presentation that makes a meal exciting. Along with interesting names, many of the recipes are decorated with superhero logos, like Batman’s bat sign or Superman’s “S.” Thankfully Matthew Mead includes a page of stencils to make such symbols easier to create at home, though I’m not sure how much use I could get out of each before it was destroyed by avid scribblers. You may want to trace the shapes onto cardstock and make additional copies of the stencils so you can use them more than once. If your birthday boy or girl has their heart set on a superhero birthday party, this is the book you’ll want to grab for all the treat ideas including inspiration for several festive cupcakes, plus decorating ideas to give the party some extra punch. And POW, BLAM, WHAMMO. Find The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook by Matthew Mead and The Super Book for Super Heroes by Jason Ford at our affiliate Amazon or an indie bookstore near you. If you're looking for more superhero birthday party ideas don't miss our recent post with tons and tons of them!