A thoughtful, ambitious adventure for aspiring animal behaviorists.
A dutiful dog is challenged by her wilder side.
Thunder loves her owner, a light-skinned, purple-haired girl named Sage. Sage gives Thunder a comfortable home, serenades her, and takes her on walks. But Thunder is coming to learn more about the gulf between her canine nature and her human’s expectations. Exploring a newfound passion for magic and fantasy, Sage dresses her pet in a wizard’s robe. Thunder’s inner wolf comes to life in her frustration, urging her to rip up the robe and embrace her lupine leanings. What begins as a bright buddy comic quickly becomes a poignant reflection on canine domestication as Thunder realizes that her responses to stimuli in the human and natural worlds are rooted in wolfish instincts. Growling at other dogs is her way of protecting her pack, while her need to hunt comes out when she chases squirrels. Eventually, Thunder flees to the woods. Will she find a way to balance her love for Sage with her wild instincts? Capturing both goofy and tender moments, Murguia’s cartoon illustrations depict the cozy comfort of civilization and the untamed beauty of the woods. Editorial comments in big black arrows and occasional “wagometers” indicating Thunder’s state of mind ramp up the humor. Each chapter concludes with “Pack Manners” interludes—brief comics with hilariously spot-on examples of typical canine behaviors—and backmatter further examines the origins, physiology, and habits of the modern dog.
A thoughtful, ambitious adventure for aspiring animal behaviorists. (author’s note, additional reading) (Graphic fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781250908735
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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