Readers and listeners with a taste for the quietly surreal may find this an (almost) perfect option; the rest will find...
Bruno, an anthropomorphic cat whose yellow eyeballs and hipster vibe may remind readers of Pete the Cat, recounts experiences with friends new and old in this French import.
Small, gray Bruno walks upright and wears a blue-checked cap on his oversized head. Valckx divides the first-person narrative into six chapters of varying lengths. Each describes a day in Bruno’s life, whether odd, damp, sans electricity, dumb, boring, or pretty great. On the first, “peculiar” day, Bruno and his friend “Ringo, the old pony,” meet a fish flying through the air then visit her underwater world. The day without power is candlelit and cozy, recounted in just two pages. The rainy day includes a narrow escape from a hungry wolf, and the almost perfect one offers opportunities to play with friends, enjoy ice cream, and (almost) do a good deed. The deadpan tone contrasts humorously with the unlikely events and the quirky all-animal cast. Sophisticated vocabulary and an episodic plot, as well as the relatively lengthy format, suggest that this will be most accessible to older listeners. Hubesch’s cartoon-style illustrations, with a palette dominated by blues and creams and slightly wobbly linework that recalls William Steig, feature vaguely European-looking cityscapes and a wide variety of species.
Readers and listeners with a taste for the quietly surreal may find this an (almost) perfect option; the rest will find other ways to fill their days, and that’s OK. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7765-7124-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Taking a seat in first class aboard the graphic-novels-for-preteens train, this import features a carrot-topped lass who travels the starways with her piratical uncle Yellow Shoulders, foiling the plots of Supermuscleman, nefarious Chief Executive Dictator of the Universe. Presented in small sequential panels of brightly hued cartoon art and spacious dialogue balloons, Sardine’s adventures take her from the space prison Azkatraz to Planet Discoball (for a dance contest presided over by Empress Laser Diskette and her offspring, Prince Beejeez), from encounters with deadly, as well as thoroughly nerve-wracking, Honkfish to a deliciously violent round of “No-Child-Left-Behind-School II,” a virtual game. With nonstop action, humor geared to multiple levels of cultural awareness and the promise of more episodes to come, even readers stubbornly resisting the trendy format’s lure will find that, as Supermuscleman sneers shortly before gorily blasting his own foot, “Resistance is futile.” (Graphic novel. 7-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59643-126-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
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