Perhaps best for young crafting enthusiasts searching for a quiet, gentle read—but even they may be underwhelmed.
The third in the Crafty Cat series finds elementary schooler Birdie competing for a choice role in the class play.
When the story begins, readers find Birdie’s alter ego, Crafty Cat, putting the finishing touches on a project: a small model of her human form with butterfly wings. Even after transforming back into Birdie, she’s sure her creativity will convince her teacher she’s right for the highly coveted role of the butterfly in her class play. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy: Class bully Anya has come prepared with store-bought, full-sized wings, as have the majority of their classmates. When their teacher asks the classmates to consider other roles, only Anya and Birdie refuse to budge, forcing their teacher to assign parts: Anya as the butterfly and Birdie as the caterpillar. When Anya has a costume snafu, however, Birdie uses her crafting skills to save the day and learn a lesson: “crafting beats clapping.” Readers new to the series may wonder how Birdie’s secret identity works: Does she actually turn into a cat, or is it just her imagination? Why is her crafting alter ego a cat? The low-stakes, lesson-heavy plot feels more like an episode of a preschool TV show than a typical graphic novel, especially with a narrator (delineated with a text box with a pastel mint background) who directly addresses the protagonist: “What a secret, Crafty Cat. Thank you for sharing. Now it’s time for your transformation.” Characters are all paper-white.
Perhaps best for young crafting enthusiasts searching for a quiet, gentle read—but even they may be underwhelmed. (Graphic fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-487-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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
BOOK REVIEW
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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
BOOK REVIEW
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SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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