Tiny Titans is a monthly comic book published by DC Comics. It was recently awarded the Harvey Award for Best Children’s Comic, and with good reason. Tiny Titans succeeds where so many other early education tools fail: kids want to read it.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, the Teen Titans are a team of superhero sidekicks that got together to form their own team. Back in the 1960s, DC wanted to cash in on a younger audience. So Batman’s partner Robin, Wonder Woman’s young sidekick Wonder Girl, the Flash’s protege Kid Flash, Aquaman’s trainee Aqualad, and the Green Arrow’s apprentice Speedy joined forces and got their own comic. Over the years, dozens of other teenaged characters have been a part of the team.
Over 40 years later, DC took the comic to the next step. Tiny Titans features preschool versions of the characters from the Teen Titans. The thing that separates Tiny Titans from previous attempts to create a super hero comic for young children is a lack of conflict.
There are no villains in Tiny Titans. There are no crimes to thwart or space invasions to repel. Each comic contains a series of short vignettes that only cover 2-3 illustrated pages. The art is well designed and executed to appeal to the 6 to 10 year old crowd.
The vocabulary, while more robust than your typical board book aimed at early readers, is accessible for young readers. But the main thing about Tiny Titans is that kids find it fun to read. My son can hardly wait for the monthly arrival of a new issue, and once he gets it he will go straight to the couch to read it cover to cover, often twice.
As I’ve stated elsewhere on this site, anything that gets kids to read is good in my book. Tiny Titans offers short, violence-free, age-appropriate, illustrated stories that kids will enjoy. All that for $2.50 a month.