Cat Kid Comic Club: A Graphic Novel

Cat Kid Comic Club #1

by Dav Pilkey

Comics & Creativity!

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 the pioneering new graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey, 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.

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

176 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2020

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

[Spencer Orey · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Cameron Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[George Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a very good book and I recommend reading it

[Engy Salim · Rating 3 out of 5]

تدور القصة حول ليتل دوغ، الذي يقرر إنشاء نادي للكوميكس مع مجموعة من الضفادع الصغيرة (21 ضفدعاً بالتحديد)، ويحاول تعليمهم كيفية صنع قصص مصورة خاصة بهم.
الكتاب يركز على عملية الإبداع، حيث يقدم كل ضفدع قصته المصورة الخاصة، وهي تتراوح بين الفكاهة السخيفة والمغامرات الخيالية وحتى القصص المؤثرة.
الفكرة الرئيسية هي تشجيع الإبداع والتعبير عن الذات، مع إظهار أن الفن لا يحتاج إلى أن يكون مثالياً ليكون ممتعاً أو ذا قيمة.

[Sharla Desy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Lucy G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so so so so so FUNNY AND I LOVED IT!!!!!

[Tricky Clown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how there's 2 characters in this book that r always mad💀💀💀

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This shit means something to me man.

[nikola_kowalska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q] Co ciekawego dzisiaj czytacie? Jak wyglądają wasze plany czytelnicze na najbliższe dni?

Dzisiaj chciałam Wam krótko opowiedzieć o serii komiksów, którą absolutnie uwielbiam!

Dogman to pies policjant, który lubi wpadać w kłopoty i innych z nich ratować. Jak każdy superbohater ma swoich przyjaciół i pomocników!

Jednym z nich jest superkot, który co prawda, w tej książce nie ratuje świata z opresji, ale kto wie, może w jakimś następnym tomie?

Uwielbiam te komiksy za świetne poczucie humoru, świetnych bohaterów.

Chyba każdy z nas ma książki, po które byśmy sięgnęli w gorszej chwili, w moim przypadku jest to właśnie ta komiksowa seria!

Ogromnie Wam polecam i jestem pewna, że ta seria spodoba się nie tylko małym czytelnikom!

We współpracy z @wydawnictwojaguar

[Yochi · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. ☺

[Podskarbnica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moje dzieciaki uwielbiają ten komiks, w dodatku zostali zainspirowani do stworzenia swoich własnych komiksów!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are great! My kids are lucky they weren’t around during my homeschool days or everyone would’ve been forced to make comics for my amusement.

[Dana-Adriana B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Presupun ca vrea sa fie o poveste amuzanta dar fiintele din poveste au avut niste idei de benzi desenate tare trasnite. Nu stiu daca voi continua seria.

[Kat Galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my 6 y/o son and I loved it. My son loved it so much that he asked me if we could get the whole collection! We are currently reading book two of this series and we are enjoying it as much as we did this one.
We love the illustrations in the book, the conversations and the comics in it are hilarious! FIVE STARS from my kid and I! 👏🏼

[Different Is Beautiful · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Hoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

took this from my brother- i miss silly stories like these 😭

[Audrey | WellReadandUndead(ish) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely For Children

I can appreciate the amount of time, energy, and effort that went into making a graphic novel made up of a variety of different comics. I can also appreciate the message to children to keep trying, experimenting, and pursuing what makes you happy with the goal to improve.

That’s about all the nice stuff. This graphic novel is definitely for children and has very little appeal outside of that demographic. If you’re wondering if there is less violence and poop humor in this compared to Dogman…no. No, there isn’t. In fact, Dav Pilkey make a point of saying we praise adults for writing with those themes but shame children for the same thing. I can assure you, it’s not the same, and when it is, adults certainly get shamed, too.

All in all, do I recommend this for a child? I guess, if they liked Dogman. Do I recommend this for an adult? No. Do I recommend it if you forget the book you wanted to read during your Discount Tire appointment and this ebook is available right now from your library? Also no.

[A.J. Kormon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Magnolia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I please do a 600 million star review? I love Cat Kid books! They're so lovely! There are little froggies, and I AM a frog and I LOVE frogs.

If you don't like frogs, then you can still read it and see how you like it!

[Brooklyn Sifuentes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it like hundreds of times and I never get bored of it it's funny and my cousins love it too we always have conversations about it and it kinda help me bond with them 3 we always are making our own comics and talking about the ones we made.

[Andre Engco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book for when you work at a bookstore and can look at comic panels whenever you’re bored at the cash register

[Lily by Misi · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Benjamin Fitzgerald Hernandez]

My 7 & 8 year old thoroughly enjoyed this. It was clever and quite funny at times.

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing short comics stories created with different forms of art.

[Suhasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supa frogtastic!

[EShay Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made the kid and I laugh out loud. I think she will be a Pilkey completist.

[Acnegoddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was great. I love how this series encourages kids to create and be unhinged, and reminds parents that it’s okay to let said kids write about diarrhea and explosions. Supa fun!

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.