Testimonials

My daughter Melanie doesn’t like reading but as per her daily 20 minutes a day I recommended the Banana Tales series from Mark McKenna. Melanie instantly loved it and read two books in one sitting surpassing her 20 minutes without a thought. She talked all through dinner about Banana Tale, Tic Tac the zebra and a Rhino who changes colors based on her emotions. Hearing my daughter’s enthusiasm for reading was new and wonderful. On behalf of Melanie and myself, thanks Mark for an amazing children’s book. If it can get my daughter to read then it is a worthy book indeed!

Phillip Russert, father of Melanie, 8

I’m a live in nanny for three amazing boys, and the story of Banana tail and his very different and fun loving friends has become a cherished read for us. Even as they continue to get older the stories of staying true to yourself, heeding warnings, and the strength of friendship will never fade. Author Mark McKenna has enriched the boys with his illustrations so much that they tell me to buy all of his work. I think I will and I suggest you do the same.

I have just discovered Banana Tail and I have a son due January 16th.  I was looking over some work by Patrick Gannon and stumbled across this monkey that caught my eye.  I began to research and it brought me to the Banana Tail website.

We have decided to do his room in Banana Tail theme and I would just like to have any information you may have on upcomming projects. We ordered some items from the web site, but when I went to our local Books-a-Million store they didnt have anything and the lady that was assisting me said that nothing would be out untill next year, does she mean that another story is due then?

Any information you can give me on Banana Tail would be greatly appreciated. My other two children have really became excited about the new addition and my daughter has done an excellent painting based on a piece of cut paper artwork done by Patric Gannon. Please continue to work on this series, I am sure it is going to be big.

Keep up the good work.

Marion Gropen reviews Banana Tail on Amazon.com!

I have been a fan of you, as a comic book artist, for years. Lots of things fell into place for me to find out that you created Banana Tail. Five years ago I started a project getting random people to draw monkeys for me. 300 plus people later I found one of my favorite artists has a children’s book about a monkey. That’s awesome! I am so excited you offer the book for sale. My first love is children’s books. Growing up with so much great art more or less influenced my comic addiction. I love the art form. Thanks so much.

“Her favorite book! My 3 year old daughter loves this book. The pictures are wonderful, much more interesting to her than most children’s book illustrations, and the text is great, too. She has several hundred books and loves many. Every night, she gets to pick 3 stories to have read before she sleeps. This is the first time that she wanted me to read one story 3 times. Get it. Now.”

“I need to purchase 7 more copies of Banana Tail to give as Christmas presents. My daughter Erin does not go crazy over many books or videos. She has Banana Tail up there with Elmo. When I went on the Banana Tail website at home, Erin went crazy! She wouldn’t let me close out of it and when I did she cried for 5 minutes. I think that’s a great sign. She loves it…maybe even more then Elmo. She never went to bed clutching an Elmo book before! Congrats on your characters having such an impact on my daughter, as I’m sure they will on many other children.”

“I’ve worked as a writer or editor on hundreds of comics aimed at young readers, from Disney to Barbie, so it was a pleasure to see Mark’s Banana Tail develop over time from a rough idea to a wonderful finished work. I kept looking at it from a professional’s point of view and I failed to see it with the Magic-Goggles on until I finished reading the book to my four year old daughter and she immediately asked me to read it again. That’s when I realized Banana Tail is more than an excellent combination of concept, story and art — it’s a full-realized world of wonder for your child and the child in all of us!”

“Author Mark McKenna has created unique colorful characters with telling expressions in his book Banana Tail; capturing both my imagination and the imagination of my six year old son. McKenna not only takes us on an wondrous adventure in this story, but reminds us of an important moral–acceptance.”

“Came in the mail yesterday! I was surprised to find it was in “comic book” format! My son was already in the bath when I brought it upstairs and I showed it to him, and he was very excited. He found it on his nightstand after he got in his pajamas and took it right out of the bag-and-board (which was funny, but appreciated!). So we read it once, I asked him if he liked it, and he said he wanted to read it again (which never happens!). I think he loved the art. He hard a tough time falling to sleep, so mommy went in and lay down with him for a while, and he volunteered to her, ‘Banana Tail was NEAT!’ So you have a hit on your hands, at least with one 3-year-old.”

“I would like to add my endorsement to this message. One of my trusty volunteers is also related to this budding author, and shared his book with me recently. It was one of the cutest stories I have read in a long time. (I was actually laughing out loud in the MC as I read it – people were looking at me strangely.) The illustrations are precious and bring the characters’ emotions and feelings to life. It is also written in rhyme and makes a darling read aloud for any elementary class. Hopefully Mark McKenna will continue to write other titles for a series of Banana Tail books. My 2 cents!”

“Our class loved your story! What excited them even more was that Nathan had met the author of the book. We always begin our stories by reading the title and names of the author and illustrator. Nathan is in my first grade class at Abraham Lincoln Elementary. He is one of 29 students in my class. We have two other first grades at our school. There are about 60 students combined at the first grade level. I spoke with our Literacy Coach, she and I are excited about setting up a visit. We were hoping you could read your story and talk about your career as an author. Hope to hear from you soon!”