Zany, buzzy feats of friendship make for a highly entertaining read.
Creatively committed pals cobble together a backyard variety show.
Bea and BFF Box (a cheery cardboard container) wake up bright and early—perhaps a bit too early. It’s 3:47 a.m., and Box has just had a wonderful dream that the two of them must bring to life: mounting their own variety show! When the sun rises, the pair spring into action, arguing and eventually compromising on an absurdly complicated name for their show, passing out flyers advertising their afternoon performance, and creating their own emcee: a wise-cracking sock puppet named Suzy Sockington. Just when everything seems ready, they realize they haven’t planned their own acts yet, so they rush to whip up something spectacular before showtime. In the end, the pair pull together a spirited performance, with percussion, jokes, and a grand finale. Like the first tale in the series—which saw the duo working to grow strawberries—this one is goal-focused, though it compresses the process of planning and accomplishing the task at hand into a single day. This speed-up translates visually into flurries of activity and emotionally expressive close-ups. Once more, Bea and Box’s goofy give-and-take keeps the mood festive even amid conflict. Bea is brown-haired and olive-skinned; Bea and Box’s neighborhood is diverse.
Zany, buzzy feats of friendship make for a highly entertaining read. (Graphic fiction. 5-9)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781250341952
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it.
Two thickheaded macaroni noodles prove the old adage: a fool and his firewood are soon parted.
Fools have been called “noodleheads” for centuries, but until recently few have represented the term quite so literally. Mac and Mac aren’t the brightest pieces of pasta in the world, but their hearts are in the right place. Here, the two decide to help their mama out by gathering firewood in hopes that she’ll bake them a cake. As they are attempting to cut the very branch they’re sitting on, a passing meatball points out that they are mere minutes away from bruised bottoms. When his words come to pass, our heroes decide the meatball is clairvoyant and demand to know their future. Drawing on and smoothly weaving together a variety of folk tales, the brief graphic novel describes how its obtuse protagonists single-mindedly seek cake, even as they anticipate death, purchase “firewood seeds” (aka acorns), and accidentally dig their mother a garden. Emergent readers will appreciate the simple text, short chapters, and comics-inspired paneled illustrations. Adults will appreciate the authors’ note, which goes into some detail about each chapter’s folk origins.
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3673-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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