A wildly entertaining lesson in heroics.
The heroes of the beach are here! But what makes someone a hero?
Raina the rhino, Shu the horseshoe crab, and Nigel the narwhal are at Burlap Beach when a chunk of ice containing a woolly mammoth washes ashore. Team Unihorn, as they later dub themselves (as Shu says, a horseshoe crab’s tail definitely counts as a horn), break Woolly and some prehistoric krill out just in time. A massive storm is on the way, along with a blood supermoon eclipse. The moon’s rays endow Raina, Shu, and Nigel with superpowers but leave Woolly unchanged. The storm has left the beach a mess, so Team Unihorn use their abilities to help, but they only make things worse. Meanwhile, Woolly’s feeling left out. But when the prehistoric krill merge to form a giant monster, Woolly steps up. He may not have powers, but he possesses physical strength, unexpected talents, and brains. Endearing Woolly leaves an awkward first impression—peeing in Nigel’s seawater and crushing Shu’s telescope—but his recognition at the end is well deserved, and readers will appreciate the message that anyone can be a hero. Each protagonist has a unique size and silhouette, making them stand out amid the action. The animals are adorable, with round, almost cuddly bodies; the whimsical look of the cartoon images keeps the tone light, no matter how intense the action gets.
A wildly entertaining lesson in heroics. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780063002050
Page Count: 96
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
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What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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