Pilkey is still having entirely too much fun with this popular series, which continues to careen along with nary a whiff of...
Trying to salvage failing grades, George and Harold use their handy 3-D Hypno Ring on termagant teacher Ms. Ribble—and succeed only in creating a supervillain with a medusa-like ’do and a yen to conquer the world with wedgie power.
Using a pair of robot sidekicks and plenty of spray starch, she even overcomes Captain Underpants. Is it curtains (or rather, wedgies) for all of us? Can the redoubtable fourth graders rescue the Waistband Warrior (a.k.a. Principal Krupp) and find a way to save the day? Well, duh. Not, of course, without an epic battle waged in low-budget Flip-O-Rama, plus no fewer than three homemade comics, including an “Origin of Captain Underpants” in which we learn that his home planet of Underpantyworld was destroyed by the . . . wait for it . . . “Starch Ship Enterprize.” As in the previous four episodes, neither the pace nor the funky humor (“Diapers and toilets and poop . . . oh my!”) lets up for a moment. Pilkey is still having entirely too much fun with this popular series, which continues to careen along with nary a whiff of staleness. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-04999-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001
“Freakity freaking freakiness!” (to quote Carlos) on a high and gleeful level.
Seasoned fourth-grade monster hunters Carlos and Benny find heaping helpings of horror in the lunchroom.
Cued by a spectacular transformation on the lenticular cover, the sudden replacement of Monterrosa Elementary’s formerly motherly lunch ladies with thinly disguised giant praying mantises is just the beginning of disturbing changes. It seems that while the boys are now getting all the fattening fast food they can handle, the formerly well-adjusted girls, even monster-hunting ally Tina, are being fed a revolting glop made from bugs that has them mouthing off, becoming physically aggressive, and eyeing boys—hungrily. Further spurred by the disappearances of several younger (male) students, the sleuths enlist the help of gung-ho comics-store owner (and wheelchair-using Samoan ex-wrestler) Mrs. Tamasese in a desperate ploy to expose the culinary cabal. Along with trotting in a cast of exemplary diversity (in a departure, Latino Carlos narrates, while white boy Benny acts as best pal), Hale spins the scenario in such wild and hilarious directions that even the climactic release of whole garbage bags full of roaches in the crowded lunchroom isn’t the grossest thing that happens. By the end, though, all is set more or less right amid discussions of gender expectations and claims of mass hallucinations.
“Freakity freaking freakiness!” (to quote Carlos) on a high and gleeful level. (Horror. 8-10)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1324-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
A definite pick for fans of goo reading.
Knightly adventure isn’t all that flows following the literal “kid”-napping of Princess Phlema’s beloved goat.
An outrageous ransom note demanding the priceless Book of Loogey—a volume of mystical Gazoon’Tite teachings (plus “at least one outstanding oatmeal cookie recipe”)—prompts King Mewkus to summon his knights. Unfortunately, the kingdom of Boo’Gar has been at peace for so long that, of the entire order, only 13-year-old Sir Rowland remains. But even as Rowland uncertainly gallops off atop Tulip, his trusty ostrich steed, to face the huge and slimy Nose Goblins of the Boogerbald Mountains, it is revealed that the princess’s goat is actually under the king’s very nose, hidden in the castle by local monks Pik and Flik at the behest of conniving King Sinius of neighboring Sneezix. Fortunately, Roche digs out a generous handful of allies, ranging from the not-unfriendly Nose Goblins (“We not just scary plot device,” affirms green-skinned Tony) to intrepid Princess Phlema herself, to help Rowland save the day and win a bit of self-confidence. In the frequent color cartoon illustrations, which are about as simply drawn as the plot, Rowland and the rest of the main human cast are white, but in crowd scenes at least the author does vary the skin tones of his figures. The tale’s educational value is enhanced by drawings of medieval weapons and tools at the end.
A definite pick for fans of goo reading. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4494-7987-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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