Kaboom!: Blast Off

Written by Jay Odjick

Illustrated by KC Oster

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9836-3 

142 pp.

Ages 8–12

February 2026 

 

Zack seems like a regular kid. He likes riding his bike and imagining himself as a superhero. He is lured by ads for the snack Choco Pops and the energy drink Splurge and is impressed with the fabulously rich like Konstantin Pierce. Compared to his boring parents who sell refrigerators, Pierce looks pretty exciting. But there seems to be another story that the imaginative Zack does not know. While he believes his parents are at a trade show and he's staying with his Auntie Jess, his mom and dad, calling each other Shadowbird and Greywolf, are working for F.U.S.I.O.N. as true superheroes, currently stopping those who steal ancient artifacts. As for Konstantin Pierce, he's more villain than entrepreneurial genius.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

Pierce is looking to extort world powers by controlling the weather and he's concerned that F.U.S.I.O.N. agents are going to get in the way. He arranges for them to be eliminated. Not surprising that Zack is shocked when flying robots and a masked man come and take his parents and aunt away. Thankfully his parents have a household security system to protect Zack and he, along with a cute robotic dog rejected by Pierce, are whisked to his parents' underground headquarters where he virtually meets Tana a.k.a. Teknik from New Zealand. Tana/Teknik explains that, like his parents and her Māori father, she is an agent of F.U.S.I.O.N., the First Universal Secret Indigenous Operatives Network, which is tasked with working against any threat to Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and ways of life.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

So, as Zack and his new robot sidekick Rusty poke around his superhero parents' secret den, Pierce is threatening the U.N. even though he realizes that a thumb drive with the activation codes is missing. But, after finding a special Lycra suit fit for a superhero, Zack, who becomes known as Kaboom, works to help get his parents back and thwart Konstantin Pierce and his villainous henchman and drones. 
 

Looks like there's a new superhero in town as Blast Off! is just the first book in the new Kaboom! graphic novel series. Zack a.k.a Kaboom is a little impetuous, a lot funny, and kind of sweet, and he's a character whose adventures middle graders will want to follow. Jay Odjick, who'd previously illustrated Robert Munsch's Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn (2019), gives us a story in which a kid becomes a hero. But Jay Odjick also blends Zack's story with Indigenous superheroes from around the world—Māori, Inuit, Nahua, Khalka, and Algonquin appear in Blast Off—and the importance of doing good. Still Kaboom!: Blast Off is not a story that is told to preach or convey messages of how to live. It's about superhero fun with lots of humour, like when Zack starts pushing buttons he shouldn't or when he mishears Tana when she says kinetic and he hears Connecticut. With Zack just being Zack and Jay Odjick getting all the voices just right for all his characters, Kaboom!: Blast Off entertains completely.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

But, without the artwork of KC Oster, a new illustrator for me, Kaboom!: Blast Off just wouldn't be the hit it is. I like the style of this Ojibwe-Anishinaabe comic artist, who previously did the art for Rabbit Chase (written Elizabeth LaPensée, 2022). Their graphics are not cluttered, focusing on Zack and the other characters, keeping the details for lively interactions like altercations with the bad guys and fight scenes. And by not limiting their palette of colours, KC Oster makes the art exciting and lavish.

 

An Indigenous superhero organization, a kid hero, a robotic dog, and operations to stop the bad guys sounds like the kind of graphic novel that middle-grade readers will latch onto. I think Kaboom! has just made a dynamite arrival.

Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn

Written by Robert Munsch

Illustrated by Jay Odjick

Translated by Joan Commanda Tenasco

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-7511-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

February 2019

Robert Munsch's picture books have become a staple of youngCanLit from the publication of his first book almost 40 years ago and, with Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn, Robert Munsch continues to provide diversity in his story-telling, always honouring young readers whose lives provide the basis for his tales.

After young Donovan bemoans that there is nothing to eat, much to his mother's surprise who has filled the refrigerator with her shopping, he is reminded of his grandfather telling him he used to eat bear for breakfast. So grabbing a rope, Donovan heads out to snag a bear for their breakfast.  With the "thump, thump, thump, thump, thump" of his feet, and calling out "Bear, bear, bear, bear, bear!" Donovan is often answered by a refrain of "Kid, kid, kid, kid, kid!" Spotting an ant or a squirrel or a dog, he shoos them away. But when a bear appears to his call and growls at the boy, Donovan starts to tiptoe away, before walking quickly with a pat, pat, pat and finally running with a whomp, whomp, whomp as fast as he can home, though with the bear following. It's only after Donovan's grandfather takes a frying pan to the bear who has crashed into the house that they are able to finally eat breakfast, and it is definitely not bear.

From Bear for Breakfast by Robert Munsch, illus. by Jay Odjick

Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn has all the trademark Robert Munsch elements of a child's bravado, humour in all the right places, and repetitive lines and action sounds that little ones will want to help read. Though many will not be familiar with eating bear for breakfast, those children for whom it is not unfamiliar will appreciate acknowledgement of their experiences. To help embed that experience, this edition is a dual-language one of English and Algonquin, translated by Joan Commanda Tenasco. Useful for children familiar with one language and learning a second, dual-language books have been suitable for English-language learners but recently they have become increasingly popular in Canada to help preserve Indigenous languages. Although I have seen Cree, Inuktitut, Michif and Mi'kmaq editions of dual language books, this is the first I've seen in Algonquin and, by providing a translation of a Robert Munsch story, Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn will win new readers across cultures.

From Bear for Breakfast by Robert Munsch, illus. by Jay Odjick

Moreover, with Anishinàbe artist Jay Odjick's illustrations to add veracity to Robert Munsch's words, Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn becomes more of an Indigenous cultural experience than a silly animal story. From the outdoor scenes of coniferous forests, typical of La Loche, Saskatchewan, the home of the Donovan who inspired the story, to the boy's home's decorations of a thunderbird and other Indigenous art, Jay Odjick ensures a genuineness to Donovan's story. Though young children will be able to see themselves and their family in Donovan and his mom and grandfather, little touches like Donovan's T-shirt with a feather and his grandfather's braids add a distinction that shows respect for another culture and its ways of living.

Whether you choose the English edition of Bear for Breakfast or the dual language edition of Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn (there are also French and French-Algonquin editions), there will be enlightening discussions about cultural meal choices along with animated story-telling. Clap, clap, clap.