A sweet examination of social dynamics that will especially interest gamers.
Cloud Puppy and her friends explore differences within their shared interests.
Our protagonist—a fluffy white creature who’s “part cloud and part puppy”—loves playing video games, as do many of her friends. But they like different types. Cloud Puppy’s favorite games involve building a farm and caring for a digital pet. Her friend Jack somewhat unhelpfully points out that this is a “lower-tier” game and that he likes S-Tier games, referencing a ranking system that places more competitive games (which also trend toward more violent and scary) in higher regard. According to Jack, the games Cloud Puppy likes are “for babies,” ranked much lower. Cloud Puppy doubts her own tastes, and a kerfuffle ensues. Ultimately, she and Jack decide on a video game trade-off, where each explores games from the other’s chosen genre. This narrative boasts the high-energy cuteness that made the first volume sparkle; likewise, it also explores the challenges of childhood social dynamics. Unicorn teddy bear Berry Rose, strong-willed Cloud Puppy, wild-eyed, reindeerlike Jack, and blobby green Mossquatch form a great team who may fight but always make up and grow together. While the first installment also dealt with an element of nerd culture—comic conventions—this one is more focused on the nitty-gritty of gaming culture, and the conflict may not resonate as strongly for readers who aren’t as interested in the topic. The main story is followed by a shorter one that sees Berry Rose delving into LARPing, offering further opportunity for sparkles, costumes, and imaginative play.
A sweet examination of social dynamics that will especially interest gamers. (Graphic fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781665932158
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that.
Beatrice Zinker is a kinder, gentler Judy Moody.
Beatrice doesn’t want to be fit in a box. Her first word was “WOW,” not “Mom.” She does her best thinking upside down and prefers to dress like a ninja. Like Judy Moody, she has patient parents and a somewhat annoying younger brother. (She also has a perfectly ordinary older sister.) Beatrice spends all summer planning a top-secret spy operation complete with secret codes and a secret language (pig Latin). But on the first day of third grade, her best friend, Lenny (short for Eleanor), shows up in a dress, with a new friend who wants to play veterinarian at recess. Beatrice, essentially a kind if somewhat quirky kid, struggles to see the upside of the situation and ends up with two friends instead of one. Line drawings on almost every spread add to the humor and make the book accessible to readers who might otherwise balk at its 160 pages. Thankfully, the rhymes in the text do not continue past the first chapter. Children will enjoy the frequent puns and Beatrice’s preference for climbing trees and hanging upside down. The story drifts dangerously close to pedantry when Beatrice asks for advice from a grandmotherly neighbor but is saved by likable characters and upside-down cake. Beatrice seems to be white; Lenny’s surname, Santos, suggests that she may be Latina; their school is a diverse one.
A kind child in a book for middle-grade readers? There’s no downside to that. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-6738-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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