This engagingly silly story will find a ready and willing audience in middle-grade readers.
In Benton’s middle-grade graphic novel, a young bear wants to be the ultimate bad guy.
Clyde is one bad bear cub from Cubville. He’s the type of guy to spray-paint BUTT on a tree or to throw his Grammy Turtle into the lake. He’s definitely too aggro for Cubville, so he plans to head to Grizzly City and join up with all the other lowlifes there. But on his way, the rough and tough Clyde gets knocked down by, of all things, a sweet butterfly, who introduces herself as Mellisa Sue. One brief hospital stay later, Clyde is finally back on his way to Grizzly City—this time accompanied by Mellisa, whether he likes it or not. But Clyde can barely get past the city welcome sign before being scared by the local residents, so much so that he can’t stop farting in fear. So, back to Cubville Clyde goes, now to save his Grammy Turtle from Fish Jail. As much as Clyde wants to be a tough guy (“I’m bad to the bone, man”), he keeps falling into situations where he ends up helping people, especially with Mellisa following him around and goading him into doing the right thing. Maybe he can agree to be a “bad good guy” in the end. Just maybe. In this appealing adventure, geared toward the younger end of the middle-grade age range, Benton delivers an endearing story of a bear who just wants to be bad and cool. The colorful illustrations and menagerie of animal characters are amusing and visually appealing and will definitely catch the attention of younger and reluctant readers. The silly jokes, such as Mellisa’s and Grammy Turtle’s obsession with thermoses, and ridiculous situations, like the revelation that Fish Jail is just being tied to a rock with a string, help to make this an incredibly readable and amusing graphic novel.
This engagingly silly story will find a ready and willing audience in middle-grade readers.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781545823552
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios/Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Multiple taps transform a giggling block of wood in Geppetto’s workshop into a skinny, loose jointed puppet that suddenly...
Unusually brisk special effects animate this relatively less satiric but equally amusing adaptation of the classic tale.
Multiple taps transform a giggling block of wood in Geppetto’s workshop into a skinny, loose jointed puppet that suddenly delivers a Bronx cheer and then whirls away on a long series of misadventures. These culminate in a final change into a flesh-and-blood boy with help from a fingertip “paintbrush.” Quick and responsive touch- or tilt-activated features range from controllable marionettes, Pinocchio’s tattletale nose and Fire-Eater’s explosive sneeze to a movable candle that illuminates both Geppetto in the fish’s dark belly and the accompanying block of text. Even the thumbnail page images of the index (which opens any time with a shake of the tablet) tumble about, somehow without falling out of order. Though transitions are almost nonexistent in the episodic plot, the text is both substantial enough to have a definite presence and artfully placed in and around Conversi’s brightly colored settings and toylike figures. Text is available in English or Italian with a clear, understated optional audio narration backed by unobtrusive music. A link on the credits page leads to downloadable coloring sheets on the producer’s website.Pub Date: March 17, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Elastico srl
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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