Provided they’re able to follow it, readers will have a difficult time putting it down.
Dolls, socks, and dryer lint all come alive in Leijten’s disorienting graphic novel.
When a few buttons, a bit of wool, some yarn, and a ball of lint come together in the back of a cozy dryer, Lint Boy and his brother, Lint Bear, are born. The pair lives happily among several lonely socks missing their mates until a large pair of wrinkly hands reaches into the dryer and snatches Lint Bear away along with a pile of clothes. The hands belong to a mean old woman named Mrs. PinchnSqueeze, who was formerly a cruel, young white girl named Tortura. Decades ago, Tortura delighted in stealing and ruining the dolls of other children, until one doll managed to escape the girl’s clutches, igniting her suspicions that the dolls she has snatched are actually alive. Now, as an old woman still infuriated by the one doll that escaped, she means to carry out a destructive vendetta against them all. With some heartfelt motivational speeches, Lint Boy stages a daring revolt with the other captured dolls to rescue his brother and rid everyone of Mrs. PinchnSqueeze for good. Although this enthrallingly dark adventure is enlivened by narration just this side of the fourth wall, disorganization of both story events and page layout undermines the narrative intrigue and momentum. And unfortunately, the lack of experience of those readers at which this book is aimed—those easing into chapter books or just starting with graphic novels—makes them most susceptible to being disoriented by this complex tale.
Provided they’re able to follow it, readers will have a difficult time putting it down. (Fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-52860-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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