Tickle the Hulk—and Your Kid’s Funny Bone—in Marvel’s Shake to Assemble

Marvel’s picture book Shake to Assemble is an interactive story that you might expect to see told with pixels on a tablet rather than printed on pieces of paper. Young readers are invited to tap, shake, flap, flick, and even tickle the pages to assemble their favorite team of superheroes.

On our first read-through, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Hervé Tullet’s brilliant book Press Here. Shake to Assemble will get kids giggling as they get hands-on with every page of this highly entertaining picture book.

These are not the serious Avengers poised to save the planet in Age of Ultron. This is a silly, just-for-kids version of the team: the hapless Hawkeye, a boisterious Thor, and five more Avengers to assemble the complete team. The text asks kids to touch the page or book in a certain way to call the next Avenger into action.

Without spoiling too much of the surprises each page holds, I will say that it’s a treat to see the roster selected for this team of Avengers. Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Iron Man are pretty much a given for any Avengers lineup, but I was delighted to see Falcon (in his original costume) and Black Widow join the others. My daughter was even happier. She paused to pat Black Widow and whisper, “You’re my favorite Avenger.”

While you might first wonder why the book wasn’t simply created as an app—especially when the narrator instructs you to swipe the page to make Black Widow appear—it’s a fantastic reminder that a fun story doesn’t need animation and sounds to be engaging.

Shake to Assemble hits bookstore shelves March 31, 2015, for a suggested retail price of $12.99.

GeekMom received a promotional copy for review purposes.