A Tale of Two Kitties (Dog Man #3)

Gr 1-4—Fifth graders George and Harold, inspired by reading classic literature in school, have finished their third "Dog Man" graphic novel. A cop with the head of a canine and the body of a policeman, Dog Man fights crime while trying hard to be a good boy. As in the earlier installments, he defends his city from a daunting array of bad guys. Flippy the fish returns as an evil cyborg to ravage the city with an army of Beasty Buildings, and Petey the mad scientist cat clones himself and causes double trouble for our dogged hero. Though George and Harold are a bit older and "totally mature" now, their artwork remains charmingly childlike, with bold outlines and colorful simple backgrounds, and their dialogue retains its amusing misspellings and quirky syntax. Madcap action and general silliness abound on every page. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud situations, puns, delightful Flip-o-Rama animations, and a lot of licking and chewing on furniture—enough to keep even the most jaded young reader enthralled. VERDICT Pilkey has done it again. This latest installment is just as "supa" funny and irreverent as the first two volumes in the series. Sure to be popular, it's a great choice for elementary school graphic novel collections and of particular interest to reluctant readers and fans of the series.—Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT