Join Li'l Petey [sic], Flippy, and Molly as they introduce comic making to twenty-one funny, rambunctious, and talented frogs. As the story unwinds with mishaps and hilarity, readers get to see the progress, mistakes, and improvements that come with practice and persistence. Can the trio help the class unleash their own creativity?
The baby frogs' comics are featured as stories-within-the-story! 'Squid Kid and Katydid', 'Baby Frog Squad', 'Monster Cheese Sandwich', and 'Birds Flowers Trees: A Haiku Photo Comic' are just some of the mini-comics. Utilizing humor and drama, prose and poetry, they are illustrated in different media including acrylics, pastels, colored pencils, felt-tip markers, clay, hand-made cardboard sculptures, photographs, pipe cleaners, construction paper collages, and cookies.
'Cat Kid Comic Club' is a pioneering new graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey, the author and illustrator of the internationally bestselling 'Dog Man' and 'Captain Underpants' series. Readers of all ages will be inspired to dream up their own stories and unleash their own creativity as they dive into this new graphic novel adventure from Dav Pilkey and his heartfelt, humorous, and amazing cast of characters.
David "Dav" Pilkey (b. March 4, 1966), is a popular children's author and artist. Pilkey is best known as the author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants book series. He lives near Seattle, Washington with his wife, Sayuri.
My kid loves Dog Man and Captain Underpants. I can enjoy those but I think I like this book more? It's all the psychic tadpoles from the recent Dog Man books learning from Lil Petey how to draw comics and not worry that what they make might be bad. Really sweet book overall, with good creative encouragement, and it made my kid laugh a lot.
Another totally delightful book by Dav Pilkey. As always, he absolutely has his finger on the pulse of young readers. When my now 30-year-old son was young, he loved the Captain Underpants books; I just wish Dog Man and Cat Kid had been available at that time. He loved drawing his own comics, and I totally give Dav Pilkey credit for that. As a children's librarian, I always order 10-20 copies of Dav Pilkey's books, and often all are checked out. "Cat Kid Comic Club" will encourage and create a whole new generation of graphic fiction lovers and creators. Within the funny and sweet overall story, there is a primer on how to create comics, delivered in the most delightful fashion through examples of the club members' increasingly accomplished comics. I loved the smudged pencil and realistically childlike drawings and stories in the early efforts, and I loved the messages of encouragement, both stated and represented through example, that's it's okay to fail or embarrass yourself, to copy the style of others, to use themes that interest you (even if they're gross or violent), to write in poetry if that's your preference, and to use photographs (in the examples, of nature and using action figures) if you don't think you can draw. Really, something for everyone! I'm sure this book will be a great hit. Once we can hold programs in the library for kids again, I'd love to have a "Comic Club" inspired by this book. Thanks for the inspiration, Dav Pilkey!
Cat Kid Comic Club has a lot of value for budding artists and creators, and even creators like myself that need some inspiration. It teaches kids that they can create anything out of everyday objects, and that in order to create good art, you will fail first. And that's okay. It's a message grown-ass people like myself need to hear, too.
I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my own writing, so I don't usually allow myself to write garbage that no one will ever read. But it's good to create for the sake of creating, even if it doesn't turn out how you thought. Because, sometimes, it might turn out even better than you first conceived, and if not, then at least you got some practice.
Being a perfectionist has the tendency to slow me down, or puts me off writing completely for months on end. It interrupts the creative flow. So, I applaud Pilkey for teaching kids early on not to worry so much about failing. I believe this message will give kids the confidence they need in their creativity, in a time when imagination is scarce and--in some cases--discouraged.
If you make something that isn't what you originally envisioned, so what? Keep going. Make something better. Learn from your mistakes, and don't dwell on your shortcomings. Use them to your advantage. Shape your abilities. Become familiar with the curve of your style. And never stop. With this mindset, there's nowhere to go but up because failing is just another part of the process. Don't allow failure to be an ending but a generator that empowers you to try harder.
There are a lot of takeaways from Cat Kid Comic Club, but this was the one that resonated with me most. I just hope this new series will inspire kids to form their own comic clubs. Imagine how many future writers and artists could come out of that.
I am so torn about this book. I get that I am not a member of the intended audience. I don't need to be personally amused by this book. But my job puts me in a position to recommend or not recommend books to children. Is this really what it takes to amuse kids? Poop, death, nuclear explosions? Years ago, I told my daughter's first grade teacher that I didn't like the Junie B. Jones series because Junie's language was full of grammatical mistakes, and I wanted my daughter to speak well. I thought Junie B. set a bad example. The teacher stunned me when she said that the kids know Junie's grammar is wrong, and that is why the books are so funny. So I guess my existential problem, a decade after being told kindly and gently to lighten up about Junie B, is whether or not I trust kids to look at Dav Pilkey's poop illustrations, his cartoon exploding planets and his happy, dead clouds...and get the joke. I hope someday to figure out the answer to that question. It's not going to be today.
WAITING UNTIL CHRISTMAS TO GIVE THIS TO MY KID IS GOING TO BE TORTURE!!!
Just got this brand spankin' new book in the mail today and it is amazing. I am so excited that Dav is starting a new series that has Lil Petey in it. My kid is gonna lose it over this on xmas morning, he has no idea it even exists! Bonus points that it encourages creativity featuring different mediums. Swoons is all. More in my review after Christmas. ☺
I like how it show the many different and creative ways to make comics like reusing old broken toys and that" it's okay to fail miserably just remember to focuse on what you love and always try to improve" - quotes from the book
This is a really fun book, especially if your kids are already Dav Pilkey fans! I love that the comics are shown realistically like kids made them. It seems like this would be encouraging for kids who want to create their own comics. I also really loved that Flippy kept telling the kids their comics were too violent or rude, etc. but in the end freedom of expression won out. A classic Dav Pilkey book and my boys (8 and 10 years old) and I hope we will be seeing more Comic Club cubs! Cat Kid is such a sweet character!
I'm not sure if I would have read this knowing it was a spin-off of Dog Man, but it was still cute for a kids read. This reminded me of how creative I was as a kid and made me nostalgic for that time, even though the humor is definitely aimed at younger readers.
I really like Dav Pilkey. This book was super funny. You should definitely read it. It's really, really, really, really hilarious, 'cause there's a poop joke in it.
Dav Pilkeyn "Kisuliin sarjiskerho" (Tammi, 2021) -albumissa Koiramies -sarjasta tuttu kissa opettaa sammakonpoikasille sarjakuvien tekemistä. Se on helpommin sanottu kuin tehty.
"Kisuliin sarjiskerho" on eräänlainen seikkailun ja opaskirjan välimuoto. Se ei niinkään opeteta mitään piirtämisen tekniikoista tai muusta sellaisesta, vaan keskittyy kertomaan liiallisesta itsekriittisyydestä, omien suosikkien matkimisen hyödyllisyydestä ja siitä miten oman albumin voi pyöräyttää kasaan omia vahvuuksia hyödyntäen, vaikka valokuvaamalla ja runoilemalla. Jos ei keksi aihetta tai pelkää mokaavansa, voi tehdä sarjakuvan omasta elämästään tai keskittyä vaikka mahdollisimman tyhmän tarinan tekemiseen. Ihan hyviä opetuksia.
Pilkey ottaa myös kantaa siihen, täytyisikö sarjakuvien olla jotenkin fiksuja, tervehenkisiä ja opettavaisia, vai voiko tarinan rakentaa vaikka koirankakan ympärille. Keskustelu lienee hänelle tuttua ihan omakohtaisesti.
En este volumen el gato hace su club de cómics y se le pide a los niños que hagan su propio cómic . Así que el cómic incluye cómics dentro del cómic. Supongo que está dirigido a niños de 6 años sin embargo he visto a un niño de unos 10 años leyéndolo y disfrutándolo.
Gato tiene la característica de que pese a estar dirigido a niñitos también tiene esa ironía que gusta a los adultos . La comparación más cercana sería con “A turma da Monica”
The only graphic novel I’ve ever finished. It was so good I bought it for the school. Love how the author makes fun of all his other books like Captain Underpants and Dog Man. Especially love the interactive format and use of multiple media types to tell the stories.
About exploring ideas in the creative arts, working together, and failing and trying at a new skill to learn it. Recycles points about the creative arts and boils it down for kids in a smart, accessible style with puns and a few jokes for adults too. Also has a few lessons for parents and educators on censoring their kids creative pursuits and learning to be better people/parents by taking things one step at a time.
I read this all last night It's not my type but i really was interested in it , well because it is a comic! I read comic books a little bit too fast . i am not going to spoil so i will put a spoiler alert !
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In the first one it didn’t really start how I thought it would. the whole thing was just like a whole party. It kind of changed like the dog man series.
My grandboys love these books. Yes, I know they have potty humor at times but the boys who didn’t like to read are racing through them to get to the next one. And their reading has improved dramatically as a result and they are reading other authors because they have the confidence to read chapter books (big books) now. I have to say that this particular title by the author encouraged creative writing. The boys were busy trying to make their own stories and drawings as a result. For those of you who don’t appreciate these books because they are not “fine literature”, just don’t read them. 😊