Dog Man: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #1): From the Creator of Captain Underpants By Dav Pilkey

Review Dog Man: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #1): From the Creator of Captain Underpants

From worldwide bestselling author and artist Dav Pilkey comes Dog Man, the canine cop whos part dog, part man, and ALL HERO!George and Harold have created a new breed of justice. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers, and scampers after squirrels. Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?Dav Pilkeys wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to ones self. Dog Man: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #1): From the Creator of Captain Underpants

Not so much that I, an adult, love it, but the kids I tutor in English love it. There are a multitude of black and white simple and comical sketches and loads of funny situations kids can connect with. The only thing I wish were different is that there is a lot of slang, along with some vulgarities of the sort that appeal to kids, and the language is not very good. You would hope, if your child spoke that way, that he/she would grow out of it. However, since the story is narrated by one of the kids in it, this may be unavoidable and one of the book's charms (for kids), rather than a fault. For kids who are native speakers surrounded by adults speaking properly, the errors wouldn't matter.
That said, the learning benefits of the books in this series pale in comparison with the natural, yet accurate, not vulgar, correctly spelled, and often useful vocabulary in the conversations in all the Calvin and Hobbes books. Nevertheless, no matter how good and nutritious a food may be, if a person doesn't enjoy eating it and won't eat much, it won't help him, right? So I am grateful just to have something that a reluctant ESL pupil enjoys reading! For that purpose, fortunately or unfortunately, it is the books in this series that fill the bill. This was not our first, and we will probably be buying and reading of them. English I got these books for my son, because of the great reviews. All the reviews failed to mention that most of the content on the book talks about poop, butts, and gross stuff. I mean, maybe this is the reason why kids find these books so entertaining?.
The books have vibrant colors, and yes my son loves to read them, but I don't really love when he reads it a loud to me and there is a poop comment every time. I have to admit he loves to check the last pages and try to draw the characters. English Potty humor, phonetic spelling, and funny plot lines make this an engaging, fun, and easy read for young readers. Flipping through it at the book fair, I put it back on the shelf we have enough poop jokes in this house, thank you very much but my kindergarten child begged me to buy it. As she read it to me the next day, I found myself laughing out loud at the silliness of it, starting when the doctor says, You're a genius! to the nurse who suggests they sew the police dog's head to the police man's body following an explosion (and creating Dogman).

The negative reviews harping on the way the author makes light of violence in this book (e.g. the bombing by villian/cat, Petey) is ridiculous. Every child's comic book hero is created by some violent act (do you remember Batman? Spiderman? Ironman?), but in this book, the author chooses to focus on the humor and ridiculousness of the hero, a Dogman, rather than the horror of the world in which he lives. Later books in the series build on previous plots. It's smarter than it seems.

My six year old child thought this book was hilarious, and she's now read the entire series multiple times. If you're looking for a way to pry a child away from a television screen on a rainy day, here it is. English I am disgusted and frustrated that this is the type of garbage kids are reading. I bought this for my 6yr old and I refuse to ever purchase another of these books. The gross crude humor is not funny, it’s gross. My kids want a comic style book and we have yet to find one that is clean and appropriate. It’s just sad that this is what is deemed as funny and “kid humor”I’m sick of the crap that is offered to kids on tv and books. I refuse to support it. English My 7 year old daughter absolutely loves this book. Despite having a high level of reading ability, she's been resistant to reading for pleasure. This book has snapped her out of her rut and brought enjoyment back to reading. She tore through this book in one evening and laughed nearly the whole time. The grammar is not the best, which bothers me, but this is a book that keeps my daughter's interest so I'm willing to overlook it. English

There is no doubt that children love these books. My 5yo who is a reasonably good reader loved this first book in the series, reading it from cover to cover (230 pages) in a single sitting. But essentially these books are junk food reading: delicious, high risk of binge reading, but just not very good for you.
Obviously with a comic style book there aren't many words to the page and there are lots of short phrases or single words/sounds rather than full sentences, which goes with the style (the language is very American). I expect they are brilliantly useful for encouraging reluctant readers it must be a massive boost for a child to see how many pages s/he has read and enjoyed and if getting your child reading is your top priority, then these will be a great choice.
But for a child who is not particularly reluctant, I struggle with the idea of allowing them to read too many. What bothers me is that there are deliberate spelling and grammar mistakes (supa, worser etc.). I expect this is meant to be part of the fun, but I am not sure it is fun for a reader who doesn't yet know which version is correct. This must just be confusing for readers still learning correct spelling and syntax. Am I taking this too seriously? No, I don't think so, because readers of these books are at such a very important developmental stage. Reading books full of deliberate mistakes is bound to undermine both their learning and their understanding that things like grammar and spelling actually matter and are worth getting right. Such a shame! English I ordered this book because two kids I read with (ages 10) wanted it. They like it and I hate it. There is virtually no plot, character development, or narrative arch. What little plot there is is actually stupid. The author also purposefully uses incorrect grammar for no reason. Stupid books like this make stupid people. English Very disappointed with this book.
Book says things like
“I poo pooed in my panties “
“Hey do you want a cigar?”
And lots of talk about bombs , explosives , things being “dumb”

This book is creepy and perverted. Not to mention the women characters are referred to degradingly with titles such as “nurse lady”

Not to mention the entire book uses incorrect grammar. English My son read this in about two hours he couldn't put it down so nice to see him stuck in a book. Looking forward to in the series! English I bought this along with Ook and Gluk which my 6 year old loved reading together. So he was excited to start reading Dogman. Hes actually enjoying reading this (reluctant reader) and has been laughing so much that my 5 year old wanted to know what was going on. So now we are all reading dogman before bed and my boys are laughing together instead of wrestling.

Anything that gets my children excited about reading gets a thumbs up for me, even if it’s not always grammatically correct. Who cares? They are reading!!

Next dogman book is on their lists to Santa! English