Tag: Dog Man

Posted in Conferences & Events, Graphic Novels, professional development

I went to the Scholastic Graphix Party!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hi all, I know I’ve been posting pretty spottily this year, and it’s not out of a desire to fade away. It’s been a heck of a year, and life and work have been conspiring against me when it comes to having the time I want to devote to Mom Read It. That said, I am NOT going anywhere. I’m still here, still reading, and honestly, the life changes are largely good. Just wanted to let you know that I’ve got stuff to read and talk about, and I’ll be getting more up shortly. Thanks for sticking with me. 🙂

That said… I went to an actual library-type event! It was great to be out and about after what feels like forever. (BookExpo, I miss you!) I attended the Scholastic Graphix 20th Anniversary Party at the Scholastic offices in downtown NYC, and I had the best time! How can anything be less than awesome when your evening starts off with meeting Dog Man?

The Dog Man, the Myth, the Legend

 

Up next, a Graphix panel with some of the biggest names in graphic novels: Samuel Sattin, who’s brought the manga series Unico to the U.S. (and I have an ARC just waiting for me to read it); Jamar Nicholas, who’s releasing a new Leon adventure; Gale Galligan, who my library kids mainly know from the Babysitters Club (but I keep begging them to read Freestyle so I can form a yo-yo club); Raina Telgemeier – THE Raina Telgemeier – who’s writing a book on making comics with Scott McCloud, whose Understanding Comics is the bible of reading and writing comics and graphic novels; and surprise guest Jeff Smith, the creator of Bone! I couldn’t believe this lineup, and that I was there to see it!

 

The authors/illustrators discussed their upcoming books, gave us a peek at some of the art (WOW!), and talked about the state of graphic novels today, and how incredible it is to have been on the journey with Graphix over the last 20 years. A sneak peek at some of the graphic novels we can expect in the new year, and we were off to the party, with a mac and cheese bar, candy tables, and Dog Man and Unico cotton candy.

 

I screwed my courage to the sticking place and talked comics with Samuel Sattin, Raina Telgemeier, and Scott McCloud, and Mr. McCloud was kind enough to take a picture with me.

Smile cupcakes! There were Dog Man cupcakes, too.

At home, a delighted Kiddo enjoys his Dog Man cotton candy.

 

All in all, a great way to spend an evening. I hope to go to more!

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Dav Pilkey collaborates with George and Harold to bring us Dog Man

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

dogmanDog Man (Dog Man #1), by Dav Pilkey, (Aug. 2016, Graphix/Scholastic), $9.99, ISBN: 9780545581608

Recommended for ages 7-10

Remember George and Harold, the dynamic duo who “write” Captain Underpants an Ook and Gluk? Well, get ready – the twosome rediscovered a comic they wrote back when they were in Kindergarten, spruced it up, and give us the story of a cop whose origins are slightly Robocop-like, with a little bit of K-9 thrown in for good measure. Dav Pilkey presents: Dog Man.

Officer Knight and his canine partner, Greg, were critically injured while defusing a bomb set by the evil feline mastermind, Petey. Officer Knight’s head was dying, and Greg’s body was dying; to save these two brave officers, doctors did what they had to do: sewed Greg’s head onto Officer Knight’s body, giving us the next name in law enforcement: Dog Man. This first volume contains four adventures, including Dog Man’s origin story.

If you love Captain Underpants, you’re going to love Dog Man. It’s a graphic novel with all the elements we’ve come to love in a Pilkey book: the flip-o-rama action, the drawing lessons, the bathroom humor, and the overall sense of fun and play. Pilkey is pure escapism, and I love him for it; he uses his childhood struggles with dyslexia to fuel his mission to create playful illustrated books for kids; he gives kids characters like George and Harold to empower kids to create their own comics; he makes his books read like they were created for kids, by kids.

When kids walk into my library – boys and girls alike – they overwhelmingly ask for Captain Underpants (and Wimpy Kid). I can’t wait to show them Dog Man and watch them go crazy.

Having Captain Underpants in your collections is a no-brainer. So is having Dog Man on your graphic novel shelf. Show kids how much fun reading is, and then print out some comic book templates to let them tell their own stories. Dav’s author website offers a downloadable PDF biography – that’s a great way to get kids telling their own stories!