by Jo Nesbø & illustrated by Mike Lowery ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2012
Hefty but lightweight, with occasional pokerfaced line drawings to reinforce the tongue-in-cheek tone.
With help from friends, an eccentric inventor and his two young associates save both Norway and the world from Swedish-speaking alien chameleons with hypnotic powers.
Having clouded the minds of everyone who watched him compete in the NoroVision Choral Throwdown on television, a mysterious figure disguising himself as singing chiropractor Hallvard Tenorsen moves into the royal palace, sends the king into exile and declares war on Denmark (planning to open his campaign by bombing Legoland, the fiend) as a first step in chowing down on all humanity. What can the motley crew of non–TV watchers ranged against him, led by sensible young Lisa and her short but extravagantly imaginative classmate Nilly, do? Plenty, as it turns out, thanks to timely help from Nilly’s pet Peruvian sucking spider, the titular “Fartonaut Powder” (which induces consumers to odorlessly but explosively “cut the cheese with the strength and noise of a flock of three hundred thousand wildebeests and eighteen water buffaloes all farting in unison”), a giant sewer dwelling anaconda and other aids. Though a bit windy himself, Nesbø, author of numerous adult bestsellers, tucks enough silly antics, oddball adults and sly digs at his country’s culture and foibles into his third Doctor Proctor epic to keep even non-Scandinavians amused.
Hefty but lightweight, with occasional pokerfaced line drawings to reinforce the tongue-in-cheek tone. (Satiric fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3307-6
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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by Jo Nesbø ; illustrated by Mike Lowery
by Jo Nesbø & illustrated by Mike Lowery
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by Jo Nesbø & illustrated by Mike Lowery
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by Jo Nesbø & illustrated by Mike Lowery & translated by Tara Chace
by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 2013
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
More by Dav Pilkey
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
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