A thoughtful, ambitious adventure for aspiring animal behaviorists.
A dutiful dog is challenged by her wilder side.
Thunder loves her owner, a light-skinned, purple-haired girl named Sage. Sage gives Thunder a comfortable home, serenades her, and takes her on walks. But Thunder is coming to learn more about the gulf between her canine nature and her human’s expectations. Exploring a newfound passion for magic and fantasy, Sage dresses her pet in a wizard’s robe. Thunder’s inner wolf comes to life in her frustration, urging her to rip up the robe and embrace her lupine leanings. What begins as a bright buddy comic quickly becomes a poignant reflection on canine domestication as Thunder realizes that her responses to stimuli in the human and natural worlds are rooted in wolfish instincts. Growling at other dogs is her way of protecting her pack, while her need to hunt comes out when she chases squirrels. Eventually, Thunder flees to the woods. Will she find a way to balance her love for Sage with her wild instincts? Capturing both goofy and tender moments, Murguia’s cartoon illustrations depict the cozy comfort of civilization and the untamed beauty of the woods. Editorial comments in big black arrows and occasional “wagometers” indicating Thunder’s state of mind ramp up the humor. Each chapter concludes with “Pack Manners” interludes—brief comics with hilariously spot-on examples of typical canine behaviors—and backmatter further examines the origins, physiology, and habits of the modern dog.
A thoughtful, ambitious adventure for aspiring animal behaviorists. (author’s note, additional reading) (Graphic fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781250908735
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre.
In the latest installment of the delightfully disturbing chapter-book series, the mundane once more takes on supernatural qualities, this time in the form of veggies.
With this follow-up to Troubling Tonsils! (2025), our host, Jasper Rabbit, once more channels Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. As Jasper narrates, we meet our heroes: fourth graders Thaddeus Badger and Oliver Possum, who love nothing more than eating junk food, particularly the hamburgers at Hurt-A-Burger (a mildly brilliant corporate name on the author’s part). When Oliver’s parents trick the two into a dinner of salads at their favorite fast-food joint, Thaddeus feels betrayed, but Oliver experiences something a little more dire. Soon after, Oliver starts acting strangely, and his parents begin behaving even more oddly. What’s going on? And does it have anything to do with the full moon? Tone is the true star of the show in this series; the mystery unspools thanks to the buildup of unnerving moments. Reynolds combines suspense with a keen ability to artistically frame both sunny innocent sequences and those rich with dark foreboding. Notably, this is no morality tale about eating your vegetables—this tale is fully on the side of its child readers. Brown’s black-and-white images, punctuated with eerie pops of green, heighten both horrifying and comedic moments.
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781665961110
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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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