Age-appropriate, deadpan shark—er, snark at its best.
Will Shark and Bot survive being Glitter Bugs at summer camp?
Shark would rather have stayed home writing poetry. Bot actually wanted to go to Space Camp. But both find themselves at Camp Sweet Sunshine, where camp director Tilton Findleswip hosts a mixture of racially diverse human and species-diverse animal kids who, except for Shark and Bot, are 11s on the 1-to-10 happiness scale. Shark and Bot survive a glitter encounter and escape signing up for the Sweety-Fluff Happy Choir, but what about the Ghost of Sweet Sunshine, who haunts the boys’ bathroom? They settle in as the absurdity ratchets up. Bot lives through mandatory swimming (their counselor puts him in a giant hamster ball). Shark succeeds at craft time (with Bot’s help). They get care packages from home that include the newest Glo-Nuts book. They even come up with a killer (nothing deadly) act for the talent show. Summer camp turns out to be more fun than they expected…despite all the rainbow sparkles and uber-happy song breaks. Yanish’s second graphic novel for new-to–chapter-books readers is even more fun than the series opener. The unlikely duo of Shark and Bot (with Batty the wombat in tow) inhabits large, colorful panels full of fourth-wall–breaking humor and wombat facts. Facts about wombats and instructions on how to draw Batty appear at the close.
Age-appropriate, deadpan shark—er, snark at its best. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-17338-1
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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