Spider-Man 3: Spider-Man versus Sandman

Background

This Spider-Man 3 Movie tie-in from HarperCollins is at a lexile level specifically targeted for Level 2 (Reading With Help) readers. The book is 6" x 9", soft cover, 32 pages. Each page features edge-to-edge art with an overlaid caption, e.g. "Sandman may be made of sand, but he punches very hard! That hurt!"

This is a companion book to Spider-Man 3: Meet the Heroes and Villains.

Story Details

Everybody is at the big party to thank Spider-Man, but Sandman turns up. He's stealing money from the security van. Spidey heads after the truck and fights Sandman on the run. A little kid is in the road, Spidey has to protect her first. Then he goes back to chase after Sandman once more, which is where the story ends.

General Comments

By picking on a very small part of the film, and then adding a specific element to be the climax of the story (i.e. the rescue of the young kid) this book succeeds much more on a traditional narrative level than the companion book - which instead chose to simply summarize all of the movie characters.

Overall Rating

Well presented, clear art and clear text. Appropriate vocabulary. The more conventional structure of the story makes it easier to get to grips with, so I'm going to give this book a slightly higher rating than its partner, four webs.