A lighthearted, slapstick series starter that’s sure to please.
A duck in a trench coat dispatches his duties as barnyard spy.
Ducky is a wacky-looking spy, always seen in profile, his rounded beak poised for inquiry, one big blue-irised eye expressing every emotion, be it suspicion, confusion, or glee. His boss is the exasperated Mr. Pig, and Ducky’s surveillance sidekick is Donny, a wonky-eyed, usually drooling donkey. They form an unlikely team, often getting in their own way as they conduct their investigations. Ducky’s spy skills, or lack thereof, are tested in two stories. First, Mr. Pig enlists Ducky to uncover who’s been eating from his slop trough, but they soon discover that the trough is doing double duty as Donny’s treat bag refill station. Reluctantly, Mr. Pig then asks Ducky to help retrieve his son (a goat, inexplicably) from the clutches of the Cat Gang. The spy content is secondary to the story’s comedic beats, with Ducky’s placid personality, Mr. Pig’s perturbability, and Donny’s clouded consciousness colliding on repeat. Employing high-paced absurdist humor akin to that of Aaron Blabey’s The Bad Guys series, Avery puts visual gags front and center, as when a poorly-put-on cat costume makes Donkey’s butt appear to be a feline face. Backgrounds simulating half-tone-style comic printing and bold foreground lines give the series an appreciably retro look.
A lighthearted, slapstick series starter that’s sure to please. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781760659356
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts.
What terrors lurk within your mouth? Jasper Rabbit knows.
“You have stumbled your way into the unknown.” The young bunny introduced in Reynolds and Brown’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, Creepy Carrots (2012), takes up Rod Serling’s mantle, and the fit is perfect. Mimicking an episode of The Twilight Zone, the book follows Charlie Marmot, an average kid with a penchant for the strange and unusual. He’s pleased when his tonsils become infected; maybe once they’re out he can take them to school for show and tell! That’s when bizarre things start to happen: Noises in the night. Slimy trails on his bedroom floor. And when Charlie goes in for his surgery, he’s told that the tonsils have disappeared from his throat; clearly something sinister is afoot. Those not yet ready for Goosebumps levels of horror will find this a welcome starter pack. Reynolds has perfected the tension he employed in his Creepy Tales! series, and partner in crime Brown imbues each illustration with both humor and a delicate undercurrent of dark foreshadowing. While the fleshy pink tonsils—the sole spot of color in this black-and-white world—aren’t outrageously gross, there’s something distinctly disgusting about them. And though the book stars cute, furry woodland creatures, the spooky surprise ending is 100% otherworldly—a marvelous moment of twisted logic.
Extraordinary introductory terror, beautiful to the eye and sure to delight younger horror enthusiasts. (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781665961080
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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