I have found Vietnamese manga! Technically, it's Japanese and Korean manga translated into Vietnamese, but my understanding is that it's mostly imported manga that have been popular here. These books are very inexpensive here: less than one US dollar each. I plan to add them to the review queue, but I'll be going through them translating with a dictionary, so it may be a while before my first review of a Vietnamese book occurs.
In the meantime, there is the stack of comics I brought from the US. This is another educational book that I picked up at the NSTA convention this past spring.
Publisher: <a href="http://www.capstonepress.com">Capstone Press</a>
Date: 2007
Writer: Donald B. Lemke, Thomas K. Adamson
Artist: Tod Smith, Bill Anderson
This is part of a series that features science superhero Max Axiom teaching a wide range of science concepts. This particular issue covers safety in the lab, which provides for a bit of irony, since Max is all about preventing accidents in this book, but his origin mentions that he acquired all his awesome superpowers in (wait for it...) a freak accident.
There isn't really a plot. Just Max showing a group of students around the lab, pointing out safety issues, and bringing in holographic guest-scientists to show how the same principles apply in the school science lab as in industrial and research labs.
While it's not much in the story department, and some of the attempts at humor fall flat, the book does do an excellent job of clearly and smoothly communicating the information that it needs to cover, Definitely a worthwhile classroom tool, although it's no substitute for having a specific and comprehensive lesson on safety for the particular lab.
The artwork was quite good, and all of the equipment shown was accurately drawn.
This book accomplishes its purpose quite well.
Rating: 6/10
