Dog Man: Big Jim Begins

Dog Man #13

by Dav Pilkey

In DOG BIG JIM BEGINS, discover the origin of our beloved characters from the Dog Man series as they join forces to stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. Will the past predict the future for Dog Man and his friends? Will goodness and bravery prevail? Can anything happen if you truly believe?

Get ready for another unforgettable book in the #1 worldwide bestselling series from acclaimed graphic novelist and award-winning illustrator Dav Pilkey. AND coming soon, the Dog Man movie from DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures!

For more heartfelt and humorous adventures, join Flippy and Li'l Petey in the Cat Kid Comic Club series. Have fun with creativity with the official coloring book, Dog Man with Love. And don't forget about the series that started it Captain Underpants!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Comics, Humor, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fiction

Kindle Edition

Published December 3, 2024

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Michael Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seven-year-old Nolan gave it only a three "It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be." He's still a fan of the Dog Man series, though. Our last read for the summer.

[Shadyside Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these graphic novels, they’re always so wholesome, sweet, and of course funny! 😋 This was another amazing entry in the series! If you’d like to see/hear more, feel free to check out my YouTube video! 🎥 #DogMan #davpilkey

https://youtu.be/jgNakuuDyFE?si=uJXY0...

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be my favorite Dav Pilkey book yet! Loved the message, very pleasantly surprised by this new series!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite moments of Dav Pilkey's Hero Party tour presentation is when he confesses that his characters—even the jerks like Petey—are based on himself. That we're all some good and some bad. That we need to work to be more good and less bad.

Big Jim is pathologically positive. He's effusively happy. He's as cloying as an overfrosted cupcake. He's too much for some and just right for others. What're ya looking for? What're ya willing to accept? I found Jim pleasantly, refreshingly silly. I smiled as he tried to crack Grampaw's tough exterior. I chuckled throughout his song and dance numbers. I cheered for him. I wished he could succeed nonviolently. Maybe frosting can stop the bad guys. Maybe hugs can save the Earth.

Reading Big Jim Begins felt like rooting for Dav Pilkey: Please just be naïve; be kind-hearted; be an honest-to-goodness hero; stay that way for all the kids worshipping you.

[Esther Nevener · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my son. It’s his favorite series so I wanted to see what it was like. I have to say, I was so impressed by this book!

I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. The book referenced about a dozen quotes from great thinkers like Loa Tzu, Fred Roger’s, and even some of Jesus’ words in the Bible. He also tied in culturally significant references to Star Wars, Monty Python, and Stan Lee. All of these deep thoughts were geniusly weaved into a silly entertaining comic strip. Loved it!

[haley ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one was just meh to me I'm sorry y'all are not gonna make me care abt petey's dad in any way whatsoever 😭

[Kelsie Stelting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one with my son and I decided it totally counts toward my reading goal too! These books are so fun. We all love them in my family!

[Villain E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who is Big Jim? Oh, that guy. The roommate of Grampa in cat jail. That's a character I never paid attention to. And he's getting his own comic?

I mean, Dog Man hasn't been the main character of this series since volume 3, but still.

Anyway, Grampa's cell mate resumes his Captain Cupcake persona and convinces Grampa to be his sidekick, Sprinkles. They easily get out of cat jail to go on a quest. At the same time aliens invade the city.

I'm not sold on these as focal characters. But the ending indicates there will be more of these two.

[Jackson Pritchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. This is not the first time I have read the book. I think the book is very funny and I think dogman and big Jim make a good team. This book always makes me laugh and happy.

[Mr.B · Rating 2 out of 5]

So um big Jim begins its tbh not good I really hate it.its gotta be my 2nd least favorite dog man book in a while since mothering Heights if your trying to read all the dog man books then ofc buy this you could like it and also at the end of the book they announced another book which I guess iOS taking over the dog man series and I just don’t like that idea but hey atleast it’s not cat kid comic club no good

[Suhasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supa cute, supa fun!!

This one has Big Jim and Grumpy Grampa (Petey's dad) as the two main characters. We see a bit of Dog Man and Lil' Petey as well but not central to the story (which was a bit disappointing), but I enjoyed the story and the funny stuff that happens. Loved the morals and the backstory of Big Jim. Flip-o-ramas were better with the online versions, but I did enjoy reading a hardcover for the first time in Dog Man series.

Excited for "Big Jim Believes" (no idea when it releases, hopefully sometime in 2025).

[Bethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t know what happened to my review/notes? Here is what I recovered from my #bookaday post.
Love the messages, ode to the power of imagination. How can I turn something bad into something good? Look for the helpers. Hug is a little squish of love.
Interesting end notes and a promise of a sequel - is Big Jim going to take over for Dog Man?

[Mikhail · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVEABLE

Very funny and great for kids and adults. I am an 8 3/4 year old girl who loves Dog Man and can’t miss a book.I enjoy reading and I recommend reading it for every one of you.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dog Man makes me weepy. The power of one's imagination to overcome tragic circumstances is a powerful thing. This focused on a relatively minor set of characters and Dog Man was just an extra, but it works well.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun read, with a decent bit of depth to it. The back matter and notes were great! I look forward to the next adventure.

[Isa Pineda]

I read this to my pinwheel kid, Ramiro because he absolutely loves Dog Man books. This was a fun read and Ramiro was locked in the whole time.

[Ricky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mom picked this up for me at target. First book I’ve read in months and read it in 30 minutes. I love literature

[Nevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, back when I chose the voices I used for Grampa and Big Jim, I wish I had known that they would become major characters.
Anyway, good news! This volume focuses on the characters of Grampa and Big Jim. The rehabilitation of Petey stretched from volumes 2 - 12, and felt like it was repeating itself for the last half of that. Hopefully this new direction (the rehabilitation of Petey's dad?) doesn't outstay its welcome.
But also bad news. Less focus on Dog Man and the kid characters also means less scatalogical humor (Pilkey is the one character who can make that funny - and even meaningful), and Big Jim's life lessons seem to be an exercise in toxic positivity. Finding the positive can be a good thing, but you still need to acknowledge the bad. This is literally "it's ok that my parents died when I was a baby, because I went to a home with a nice director. Every ending is actually a new beginning!" Ugh.
There's clever stuff. Dog Man gets a 5-page sequence showing his thoughts, Big Jim's stories teach the young audience about unreliable narrators, and Pilkey is still a deft hand with silly sequences. But this change in focus was not the improvement I hoped for.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Dog Man

A really good edition to the Dog Man series. I laughed out loud at the flip-o-ramas and I’m adult. This is a great book for all ages and kids learning to read will have even more fun.

[Alexander Cotignola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic addition

I have loved Big Jim since his first introduction and I loved this spotlight book! The Dog Man comics are surprisingly emotionally impactful, along with the jokes

[Bronwyn]

Galen read on December 6, 2024.

Galen finished again on January 30, 2025.

[Jaxon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book it’s

So hart warming dog man is such a great graphic-novel series The dog man fans out there we love ur books Dav Pilkely !!!!!

[Bob Habiscus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

another brilliant kids comic by Dav Pilkey. my son loves these and I find them good as well. I love the little tributes they have to Monty Python etc. loads of references and quotes from things only adults would get. and alot that would pass you by so its great that they have a page telling you about all these things. makes in interesting for a adult to read whilst also being colourful, fun and silly for the child to enjoy.
I've said this before, I highly recommend anything by Dav Pikey for ages 5-8

[Kallen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the take away here: use your imagination, don’t let your mind trap you into thinking things that aren’t true and be a helper whenever you can! Also, the About The Author page in the back of the book was really good. I don’t think I’ve seen it before in the other Dog Man books. It’s so great that he over came obstacles that I think so many children face today with ADHD and dyslexia and he proved his teacher wrong. I hope she reads all of your books!! 👏🏼

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I enjoy the Dog Man series. This is a very cute story involving a character called Big Jim. I love Big Jim’s positive outlook on life, it’s a great message for kids. My son enjoyed this book!

[Adhidev Syamlal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Isaac Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fine

[Kyle Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute but deadly

[Acnegoddess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Jim’s backstory made me so emotional! He’s been through so much and yet he remains wonderful and kind and ridiculous.

There was an upsetting lack of Petey here….

Finally caught up with the series! It feels weird, but also fulfilling.