The Adventures of Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey
| The Adventures of Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Louise Jones
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| Summary: A madcap comic-book adventure featuring a doggy policeman and a host of surreal villains. | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 256 | Date: September 2017 |
| Publisher: Scholastic | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780545935210 | |
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Tree House Comix proudly presents: A tale of oppression...a tale of redemption...a tale of rebirth...and a tale of hope. A Tale of Two Kitties!
Dog Man is really a story within a story. Best friends George and Harold, of Captain Underpants fame are now in fifth grade and are now so totally mature and deep that they have decided to create a brand new comic about a police officer with a dog's head. Thus we enter a surreal (and completely bonkers) comic-book world featuring an evil cyborg fish, cloned cats and beastly buildings. Is Dog Man up to the task of protecting the city from such threats?
The book itself is beautifully presented, and the artwork will instantly appeal to young readers. The colours are bold and bright and the text and pictures give the impression that the story really has been written by young children. There are deliberate spelling mistakes and crossings out and the artwork is done in a simple cartoon style. There are plenty of quirky details for those who take the time to look more closely at the pictures; with something new and fresh to discover on each page.
We also have the Flip-O-Rama feature that enables the reader to create animated images by flipping the pages back and forth quickly.
Despite the madcap craziness of the storyline, this is a book with a beating heart at its core. Evil cat criminal Pete has cloned himself in the hope of creating even more chaos, but his clone is a little kitten who only wants to do kind deeds for others. Naturally, Pete is conflicted, as his plans are in ruins but he can't help caring about this sweet little kitten with a heart of gold.
There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and while I was reading the book I couldn't help but chuckle. I did get told off for laughing too loudly at one point! It was also a great book to read aloud together, snuggled up in bed, creating different funny voices for the characters. The chapters were a perfect length for a bedtime story. My son, who has autism and ADHD, loved the fact that the robot in the story was called 80-HD. The author, Dav Pilkey, also has ADHD, and it is nice to see it portrayed as a superpower rather than some kind of disability.
There is a short section at the back of the book showing kids how to draw the characters from the story and hopefully encouraging the next generation of comic book writers. George and Harold also encourage their readers to read to their dogs and there are some lovely photos at the very end of the book of children reading aloud to their pets. What a brilliant way of improving literacy and fostering a love of books.
Dog Man was just SO good I've read it twice already and have been scouring Amazon in the hope of buying the rest of the series. I can't wait to read the next book and hope it comes out soon.
This book is perfect for reluctant readers who don't think that books are fun. If the comic book style appeals, why not try the brilliant Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick which is written in a similar style to Dog Man.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Adventures of Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Adventures of Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties by Dav Pilkey at Amazon.com.
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