Pablo and Splash: the hilarious kids' graphic novel

by Sheena Dempsey

Join time-travelling penguins Pablo and Splash on an unexpected adventure to the time of the dinosaurs in this hilarious full-color graphic novel, perfect for fans of Dog Man and Investigators.

Antarctic penguins Pablo and Splash are polar opposites and besties for life. Pablo is a home-bird and a careful planner. Splash is easily bored and hungry for adventure. Sick to her flippers of the harsh, freezing weather, Splash persuades Pablo to go on a beach vacation with her. When they accidentally find themselves in a scientist's time machine, they end up on the beach….back in the age of dinosaurs! Can Pablo and Splash make their way home before they become dino snacks?

This full color graphic novel is perfect for animal lovers, reluctant readers, and graphic novel fans!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Animals, Dinosaurs, Friendship, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Sheena Dempsey was born in Cork, Ireland, and studied fine art at the Ireland’s National College of Art and Design. She graduated from London’s Kingston University with a BA in illustration in 2011. Bye-Bye Baby Brother! is her first picture book. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Méabh McDonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like penguins?? Do you like time travel? Do you like holidays?!!! Then you’ll love Pablo and Splash! Penguin best friends who are the perfect reading and holiday companions for kids who love Dog Man and Investigators. You’ll be laughing for every page!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other authors should take note because this book had the perfect amount of penguins!!!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a good vacay? Though those krill pops and krillwiches back home in Antarctica can be pretty tasty, too!

What a fun penguiny graphic novel… full of surprises for both the characters and the reader!

[Ека Удальцова · Rating 5 out of 5]

My child is 5 years old, so I read a lot of children’s books. Usually, I don’t mark them here because, well, they don’t really “count.” But this one—I had to mark it.

It’s such a funny, beautifully illustrated, and vibrant story!
My daughter and I both loved it. It’s been a while since she kept asking me, “Can we read more?” again and again until we finished the whole thing in one go.
I’m definitely buying the sequel.

By the way, comics are a fantastic entry point into literature for little ones!

[Megyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a children’s graphic novel about two penguins who want a vacation but somehow end up with dinosaurs instead.

This was a great story! I thought it was very funny and I laughed a lot while reading it. I bet kids will really like the humor in this one. I loved the illustrations as well. They were very cute and colorful.

There was also some facts in here that will help kids learn. They will learn about dinosaurs and penguins in this one.

Overall, a great graphic novel that I would recommend!

Thanks so much to netgalley and Bloomsbury for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

[iamjacsmusings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A krilly great read for all ages.

It's fun and action-packed with more puns than penguins in a huddle.

The best bit for five-year-olds: "the time travel and the penguins and the dinosaurs."

So, all of it..!

[Kirsten Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant graphic novel!
Two penguin friends, Splash desperately wants to go on a holiday.

How will they get there? Why is there a dinosaur on the cover?

It's funny and engaging and will be a well loved novel, get it for the book shelves!!

[Hwee Goh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful graphic novel does such a wonderful mesh of penguins with fear, courage, wits and a can-do spirit: I do believe I have found you a new favourite for your young readers!

Splash is really not liking the Antarctica cold, and begs Pablo to take him somewhere warm. They list their options down with a stick in the snow and decide to go for it!

The only problem is…How to Get There?🤔

When you think Antarctica, besides Pablo, Splash, and ice, what else is there? SCIENTISTS!

Pablo the overthinker and Splash the fearless do end up somewhere warm, just not where they think.

“65 million years.
No beach bar.
No water slide.

The Cretaceous period.
Dinosaurs, not lobsters!

We’ll be minced meat by teatime, obviously.

Death by dinosaur will be quick, at least.”

“Do you think we should have warned them about the asteroid that’s gonna wipe them all out? Nah! Nah!!”

(Because you, the human, would not be reading this book 🫣)

📚: @definitelybookskids

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two penguins, one short and one tall and best friends in the world, are going on a HOLIDAY (sorry, cannot do that special font here but otherwise I would have done it in a heartbeat). Or well. One of them desperately wants to leave the cold and just go somewhere warm. But a lot of things happen and instead they end almost nearly incinerated and oh yes stuck with dinosaurs. This made me laugh quite a few times and I was curious to see if the two would ever get home and what the other would think of these HOLIDAYS (again I need that pretty font).
I wasn't too charmed by the dynamics at times between the penguins. Maybe because I am tired of enthusiastic but dumb vs looking at things more reasonable and smart character traits.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINISHED: OOH I enjoyed this! Loads of fun, some lush science and history too! Pablo and Splash are great penguin pals. They go on an adventure through time and space! Who wants to go see dinosaurs?! Certainly not these penguins! Good job they’re smart! Gorgeously illustrated too!

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have two penguins living in Antarctica. Splash is a roly poly dumpling of a penguin who loves her krill but does not love being cold. She wants to go on a vacation to some place warm! Our second adorable penguin is Pablo. He is a bit more practical than Splash, who is more impulsive and a dreamer. So Splash goes to him to figure out how they will be able to go on vacation.

They decide to visit the scientists so they can build a raft. But Splash falls down into a tunnel. Pablo follows of course. And they end up in the lair of Professor O'Brain! She captures them but they escape and end up in the Timebender!

Can they escape the clutches of the nefarious Professor? (Spoiler - she's not really nefarious - she just seems that way at first.) Adventures await!

This was cute! There are some real penguin and dinosaur facts at the end and also a guide to drawing Pablo and Splash. I think this would be a good fit for the Narwhal and Jelly gang as they get older.

[Bexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a krilly delightful graphic novel about two penguins, one that really wants to go on vacation and one that is very supportive friend. While heading to talk to the scientists in Antarctica Splash falls down a hole and Pablo soon follows. They end up in a scientist's secret lab where they hide in her time machine thinking she's evil. They travel to the Sun and then back to the Cretaceous Period. Dodging dinosaurs and missing krill pop Splash and Pablo are able to safely return ready for more adventures in the future. A great graphic novel for early or reluctant readers with some true facts added in for fun. Great colors and fun pictures, this will entertain readers and wish for more.

Copy provided by NetGalley.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

In PABLO AND SPLASH, two penguins in search of a vacation end up with a lot more than what they’re asking for when they accidentally stumble into a time machine and land in the Cretaceous period. Can they successfully fend off the hungry dinosaurs and make it back to their home in Antarctica? This time traveling themed graphic novel has a fun pair of protagonists—the feisty and adventurous Splash and more practical and pragmatic—and a mix of adventure combined with scientific facts that will keep young readers engaged and laughing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an eARC of the book with me.

[Ashley Urquhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book! The illustrations were bright and really eye-catching. I appreciated the author’s educational notes at the end and feel they could be a really great way to trigger interest in dinos and the Cretaceous period. Even more importantly, my 6-year-old son LOVED this book. He’s been reading for a couple years, but I love the opportunity to introduce him to graphic novels. This is the longest book he’s read and he was super proud of himself!

Note: I received a free advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pablo and Splash are two penguins who live in Antarctica. Pablo likes his life on the ice, but Splash wants to go on an adventure somewhere hot. They end up escaping to a scientist’s lab and jump in a time machine that takes them to a beach. However, they have gone back in time to the age of dinosaurs. Pablo and Splash must find their way back to their safe, comfortable home.

This was such a cute graphic novel. I liked how Pablo and Splash were best friends but they were opposites in many ways, which gives two perspectives. This story taught them to love their home.

Pablo and Splash is a cute children’s graphic novel!

Thank you Bloomsbury Children’s Books for providing a digital copy of this book!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I found this book mildly entertaining, I was put off by a couple of instances of "replacement cursing", with a pun inserted instead of an actual curse or using God's name in vain...because I'm specifically looking for a church library, I find this inappropriate and sadly unnecessary. It adds absolutely nothing to the story line and would be so easy to leave out and not alienate an entire demographic.

[Kerry Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fab comic, love the time travelling penguins and the different places they visit. They’ve got a sweet relationship and the characters are well developed and written for a kids book. The comic book style is engaging and the artwork is amazing- this is the best series right now for young kids new to reading. My 6 year old son loves it. The 10 year old enjoys reading it too. The beauty of this book is that it will be read again and again!

[Maggie Timlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Humpbacks! What a colourful, silly and fun read.

Pablo and Splash are penguins in search of a holiday so how do they end up being chased around by dinosaurs? You’ll have to read to find out.
I really enjoyed this story. I loved the illustrations. And honestly having a main character, Splash, who is always cold and dreaming of a holiday, is delightful.
The amount of text on each page makes this a perfect book for those at the start of their reading journey. This will not overwhelm them but the story will bounce them along happily.

Thank you to the publisher for a reading copy of this book.

[Linsey May · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably aimed at a younger age range than my son (9yo) but he likes most things Phoenix Comic recommends so we gave it a go. He said if they bring out a sequel he would read it, so that’s a good review in itself

[Motherbooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can see a book called "time-travelling penguins" and not immediately buy it then you're a better person than I am. This was such a fun graphic novel and something that younger readers will love.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*
It was a fun little adventure story with two penguin friends. It's something daft and light that kids will like, but I think it needed a bit more depth.

CW:
-Lang - replacement curse words: oh my Cod, for Cod's sake, holy humpbacks, what the cuttlefish
-'you just have to trust in the universe'
-illustration of burnt alive penguins

[David Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best thing to come out of the current kids comic book craze. Pablo and Splash are great characters with lots of personality, which really comes across through well timed use of silent panels.

[Manic Booksy Dreamgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is AMAZING!!! I loved every page and need fifty sequels. This is so much fun and had me chuckling out loud. Don’t hesitate to check this out, my eight year old introduced me to it and we both love Sheena Dempseys work.

[Bebhinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im 10 and i picked this out in the morning and finished it in half an hour and i liked the storyline a lot plus the catchphrases were really funny😂😂😂🧊🧊

[Ben Soupy · Rating 4 out of 5]

time traveling penguin...

[Tanninsandtales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling, funny and informative. An utter joy.

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

How adorable was this early MG graphic novel?! So cute and I can’t wait to see it in full color.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this.It is fun.I am excited for the next one.As a fan of the Dave the pigeon books I really loved this too.

[Laura Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.. my son insisted on reading it 🤣

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny and interesting I loved reading this