by Anne-Gaelle Balpe & illustrated by Julien Castanie & developed by La Souris Qui Raconte ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 2012
So charmingly offbeat that readers who still believe should survive their initial disappointment. (iPad holiday app. 7-9)
No sleigh, no reindeer, no elves, no North Pole, not even a beard. Santa’s actually a construction worker named Fred.
Read in a decidedly pointed manner—“They say that no one has ever seen him. Do you believe all that?”—by a British narrator (there is also an option for French), this exposé dismisses all the Santa mythology. It goes on to explain how Fred leads a host of friends in gathering funds and Christmas gifts on weekends and holidays all year to distribute by bus. Why? Because he likes to give presents to people and watch their faces light up. Along with various low-rent animations and tap-activated sound effects, the retro-style illustrations offer views of a multicultural cast of “helpers” with names like Nouara and Karim pitching in as the holiday season approaches. Fred himself dresses in red for department-store gigs (“because being a fake Santa Claus is a good way to make money”) and jingles not bells but the set of master keys he uses to sneak into your house on Christmas Eve. That last bit seems a bit off-kilter, but giving over Santa’s annual role to good-hearted “ordinary people living in ordinary places” is at least somewhat closer to reality.
So charmingly offbeat that readers who still believe should survive their initial disappointment. (iPad holiday app. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: La Souris Qui Raconte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
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BOOK REVIEW
by Anne-Gaelle Balpe ; illustrated by Eve Tharlet ; translated by Kathryn Bishop
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
What a wag.
Awards & Accolades
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New York Times Bestseller
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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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More In The Series
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi
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BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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by Suzy Kline & illustrated by Sami Sweeten
BOOK REVIEW
by Suzy Kline & illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
BOOK REVIEW
by Suzy Kline & illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
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