Indeed consider it the epitome of this story book. Saving world and community and helping family are important things.briellejee wrote: โ14 Jul 2018, 22:45 I think not giving Toni the typical superpowers like Superman is to help children realize that even though in such small things, they're already a big help to their parents. I think this is to teach kids to be more aware of their own surroundings first before saving the world.
Why doesn't Toni have abilities? Is it a safety reason?
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Re: Why doesn't Toni have abilities? Is it a safety reason?
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Like many other readers, I have started to believe that Toni does not have any superpower per se. He is probably called a superhero because his character is ideal for the children owing to his healthy habits and lively relationship with others. Let's see what the next book reveal.kfwilson6 wrote: โ31 Jul 2018, 19:36The images of him flying were quite confusing. I'm not sure how that and the blurb on the back of the book play in. Will it turn out that Toni has superhuman abilities or not? We will have to wait and see.Shrabastee wrote: โ26 Jul 2018, 07:30 I suppose that is precisely the reason Toni doesn't show any superhero streaks. A lot of accidents have been reported to occur while little children have tried to mimic the actions of their favourite superheroes. However, one drawing shows Toni flying, and the same photo is shown as a framed one on his walls. That might be counterproductive.
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I fully agree that children are highly impressionable and curious. This makes them far too eager to try extraordinary things if we don't add impossible factors to attaining superhuman abilities. However, that begs the question whether or not picturing Toni as flying but not presenting any real reason he can, could actually encourage children to try flying.JudasFm wrote: โ28 Jul 2018, 11:34 To be fair, there are precedents for the safety thing. For example, in Peter Pan, it was originally just happy thoughts that enabled you to fly. After various nannies and governesses wrote in to complain about their charges flinging themselves merrily off the tops of wardrobes, the whole "fairy dust" thing was hastily written in.
For those of you thinking that it was so long ago, and children these days are far more sophisticated, there were similar problems with the 1966 Batman TV series ("Holy broken bones, Batman!")
All that said, I don't think this is the case here. I agree that the focus on this is to show how normal people can be superheroes too, even without having/using cool powers
I genuinely think that we could be reading too much into this particular text but it's a valid question.
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I agree with this wholeheartedly. Sometimes the hardest things for kids to do seem to be the normal everyday tasks that get them no flashy recognition or instant rewards, but are still necessary in the larger scale of things. And postive attitude is also truly the best superpower.Dael Reader wrote: โ02 Jul 2018, 14:37 I think the author is subtly showing us that you don't need special powers to be a superhero. You can be a superhero to your family and friends by spending time with them and helping them out in ordinary ways. In fact, maybe the willingness to work and play and help others in need is the greatest superpower of all.
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Kids often can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality, so yes, Toni the superhero is a safe alternative to modern superheroes.Cristal2408 wrote: โ01 Jul 2018, 14:43 Something most noticed while reading is the lack of "superhero abilities" in Toni. He helps at home, plays and has a healthy lifestyle. He can fly too, but he is not shown battling villains, he is shown being a good kid and son. Do you think this is because the author didn't want children jumping through the roof wanting to be like Toni? Are the actions meant to influence kids towards helping at home and being well behaved? Is it safer for children to read this book rather than modern superheroes?
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