A funny tale of awkwardness overcome in big, inviting panels.
It looks like the beginning of a beautiful (and unlikely) friendship.
Shark is a great white shark from Australia who has recently moved to the (unspecified, probably North American) neighborhood with his stuffed wombat, Batty. Bot is a Model R-2300 Cutting Robot who lives 0.185 miles from the park where they first meet. Neither is good at making new friends. Bot has a blade for a hand (makes fist-bumping problematic), and Shark is…well, a shark. No one thinks sharks and robots go together, but these two bond over a shared love for the Glo-Nuts graphic novels, which chronicle the exploits of a half-dozen pastries turned into superheroes by an explosion in an underground laboratory. When bullies invade the park and take over, Shark and Bot try to decide what to do: fight them? Ask them nicely to leave? Make their brains explode with hard math problems? No…dance battle, of course! Will these two awkward new friends come out on top? Yanish kicks off this new graphic-novel series aimed at chapter-book readers with an enjoyable mix of goofiness and metafiction. Two Glo-Nuts episodes, rendered in a strikingly different color palette, appear between chapters. Pages on how to draw the characters and character bios close out this genial first outing.
A funny tale of awkwardness overcome in big, inviting panels. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17335-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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