When the universe hands out superpowers, most animals hope for flight or super strength—not the ability to conjure instant macaroni and cheese.
Swapna Haddow, the author behind the Dave Pigeon series, partners with illustrator Minky Stapleton for The Terrible Trio #1: The (Not So) Superheroes. Aimed at middle-grade readers who enjoy humour, this illustrated novel introduces a group of underdogs with truly underwhelming abilities. Zeb the zebra represents the team with his power to camouflage—but only on crosswalks. Margarine the penguin provides the snacks, and Barry the lemur contributes impeccable handwriting. While the “real” superheroes are out saving the world, this trio is stuck working mundane jobs at a café. However, boredom eventually pushes them to prove that even the most nonsensical talents can be heroic when disaster strikes.
For educators stocking a classroom library, this title is a practical choice for engaging students who might usually avoid chapter books. The text falls within the 600–690L Lexile range, making it accessible for developing readers, but the themes of self-doubt and teamwork are relevant to older students, giving it a helpful High Interest, Low Readability profile. Stapleton’s expressive artwork appears on nearly every page, functioning much like a graphic novel to break up the text and provide context clues. This is crucial for English learners; for instance, if a student stumbles over a British idiom like “things going pear-shaped,” the accompanying visual clarifies the chaos immediately without breaking their flow. The sentence structure remains straightforward, favoring simple and compound phrasing over complex clauses, which keeps the pacing brisk. By combining high-interest humor with low-readability text, Haddow creates a safe entry point for students to build reading stamina without feeling overwhelmed by dense prose.
