While practiced readers may grow tired of the faux bad grammar, kids who prioritize fart jokes over proper diction will hope...
Can Pig and friend Duck best the evil chickens and escape Farmer’s roasting oven?
“Me I is Pig….I live in Pig House….I has only ever been called Pig, so Pig is my name.” Pig writes (in Pig language—good thing we can read that!) in his diary, which he found with a chewed pen in the garbage. At first, Pig loves Farmer because of all of the slops. The chickens are evil because they are mean to Pig and his friends Duck and Cow. Pig loves eating and stinking up the chicken coop and making bubbles in Duck’s pond with his farts. But when Pig discovers Farmer’s plans for him (roasting), Pig agrees to act as pilot in the poo-powered tractor-rocket the chickens have created. The mission goes awry, but Pig and Duck hatch a new plan to rid the farm of evil…however it’s going to take a lot of poo and no small amount of pig farts to enact. Those not initially bothered by Pig’s simple sentences and difficulty with subject-verb agreement will no doubt laugh (a lot) at the goofy, scatological antics. Stamp’s abundant line drawings and the smudgy pages (one can just imagine the slops on them) add to the fun.
While practiced readers may grow tired of the faux bad grammar, kids who prioritize fart jokes over proper diction will hope the sequel hops the pond soon. (Humor. 7-11)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-69466-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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