INFLUENCERS

The members of the Cat Kid Comic Club learn how to win friends and influence people.

The story opens with the shocking news that “the Cat Kid Comic Club…is no more.” It will surprise none of the club’s loyal readers to learn that “weeks of bitter fights” among the club’s membership of 22 baby frog siblings have led their exasperated father, Flippy the fish, to dissolve the club as punishment. That hasn’t stopped the fighting, though, so Flippy reaches for Dale Carnegie’s self-help classic and gifts it to drama queen Naomi, telling her, “You’re a very smart kid…but your people skills could use some work!” As in previous volumes, Pilkey proffers a deceptively chaotic, devilishly clever exploration of his theme, here the power of influence, and presents the tricky concepts with profound respect for his audience. While Naomi experiments with compliments and gifts to achieve her ends, the froglets share some of their comics, including “I Am Dr. Frederic Wertham,” an entry in their series Irritating People Ruin the World, which is a parody of the Brad Meltzer–Christopher Eliopoulos series Ordinary People Change the World. This comic introduces readers to Wertham, the comic book–hating author of Seduction of the Innocent. A “Chubbs McSpiderbutt” comic presents the notion that “our viewpoints…influence our experience,” and the first drawing lesson after Flippy’s inevitable restoration of the club unpacks the psychology of cuteness in making us “Feel the Feels!!!”

Controlled hilarity makes the concepts go down easy—another winner.