Mafalda (Mafalda and Friends #1)

This laugh-out-loud collection of b&w 1960s comic strips—the first of a five-volume series by Argentinian cartoonist Quino—stars stout, curly-haired six-year-old Mafalda as she relays precocious sociopolitical observations about mid-century Latin American society à la Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. When her father points out their location in the Southern Hemisphere on the family globe, Mafalda ascertains that hanging upside down at the bottom of the Earth explains Argentina’s perceived status as an international underdog: “Gravity makes your ideas fall out of your head.” Eager to prove that she and others in her community have what it takes to join the rapidly developing vanguard of global scientific enterprise, Mafalda uses the family seltzer pump to power a homemade space suit. Poignant moments also unravel alongside Mafalda’s well-intentioned if questionably executed exploits, as when she dreams that her mother has earned a college degree, then wakes to discover her mother as she’s always been, a diploma-shaped curler in her hair a sole sign of academic achievement. The assured comedic visual energy of the paneled strips fosters giggles and food for thought via coming-of-age themes that transcend time and place. Ages 7–11. (June)