An overcautious, underwritten spinoff.
The Cat in the Hat comes back yet again—with a new author and in graphic novel format.
The cartoon art is done in a different, less finished style, but the Cat beneath the tottery striped chapeau will be instantly recognizable (if younger-looking). Two children are at home alone when the frenetic feline slips indoors, over the strenuous objections of the kids’ pet fish. The Cat unleashes Thing 1 and Thing 2, who turn on all the taps. Once the house fills with water, the Cat creates soapy chaos until the house is on the verge of exploding. He then brings in a Super Dooper Bubble Scooper to vacuum up the foam while the water conveniently vanishes. Order magically restored, the Cat leaps back out the window. Baltazar writes in prose rather than verse—clunky prose at that (“Having fun, Fish? It still counts. Even on accident”). With no mention of a parent, this narrative lacks the tension of the original books, in which children and fish alike worry that Mother will come home at any moment to discover the Cat’s shenanigans. Though the story is billed as new, the author/illustrator matches the earlier titles beat for beat; little sets this tale apart. Readers who dote on the classic Cat won’t find much reason to return.
An overcautious, underwritten spinoff. (instructions on drawing the characters) (Graphic fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593703038
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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