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Pow Pow Pig #1

An Unexpected Hero: Pow Pow Pig 1

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A hilarious new adventure from the mega-bestselling author of Wolf Girl and Ninja Kid.

Hi there! I'm Pow Pow Pig!

Me and my friends didn't make the A team ... or the B team ... or the C, D or E teams ....

We made the Z team!

How are we going to save the world when we were the last ones picked?!

Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2021

12 people are currently reading
47 people want to read

About the author

Anh Do

183 books450 followers
Anh Do is a comedian, artist and also one of the highest selling Australian authors of all time, with total book sales approaching 3 million.

Anh’s first book, The Happiest Refugee, is his enormously popular memoir recounting his perilous childhood journey in a tiny boat from war-torn Vietnam to Australia. The book became an instant hit and has won numerous awards including Australian Book of the Year.

Anh has since turned his attention to children’s book writing.

Weird Do is an illustrated series starring Weir (1st name), Do (2nd name), a kid with a very unfortunate name. Aimed at the 8+ market, these books have gone off the charts as national best-sellers, resulting in 14 books total and more on the way. The first Weir Do won the Australian Book Industry Award for Older Children (2014).

Other children's book series include Hotdog, the adventures of a sausage dog and also Ninja Kid, the escapades of a 10 year old Nerd who discovers he’s the world’s last ninja.

In 2019, Anh released Wolf Girl, a series about a little girl who gets lost in forest and befriends a group of dogs and an enormous Wolf who become her family. Then came Rise of the Mythix, which marks the first of a number of sagas described by Anh as ‘A superhero movie in a book’.

All of Anh Do’s books are mega bestsellers and all rate between 4-5 star averages on websites such as Goodreads and Amazon.

It’s clear that Anh is an exciting voice in literature, able to delight across age ranges and different genres with great success, and he isn’t planning to slow down any time soon.

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5 stars
104 (59%)
4 stars
36 (20%)
3 stars
27 (15%)
2 stars
6 (3%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Brenda.
5,005 reviews2,986 followers
August 1, 2021
Pow Pow Pig and his friends finished their training for CHOC (Creatures Helping Other Creatures) in the year 2050, along with all the other animals, and waited to be allocated into teams. They were all going to help those less fortunate than themselves. But when the four friends landed in Team Z they were despondent. Until the massive explosions began to obliterate the world. Could they go back to 2030 and save the world? But Pow Pow Pig pressed the wrong buttons in the time machine and they ended up in….. 1030. What would they do in medieval times?

An Unexpected Hero is the 1st in a new series – Pow Pow Pig #1 – by Aussie author Anh Do, the versatile and talented author of many children’s books, including the Wolf Girl series and this one will be a hit with the youngsters (age 6-10) in your life. The four animal friends – Pow Pow Pig, Danielle Duck, Chelsea Chicken and Barry the Goat – are sure to have many adventures through the course of this series, and An Unexpected Hero is a great start! Recommended.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Schizanthus Nerd.
1,317 reviews298 followers
August 2, 2021
‘Every good deed makes the future a little brighter.’

Anh Do has another winner on his hands with this first book in a new series. It’s dystopian. It’s time travel. It’s a bunch of animals who didn’t cut the mustard working together to save the world!

Pow Pow Pig, Kung Fu Duck, Cha Cha Chicken and Barry the Goat are my new favourite team up. They’ve all completed their CHOC (Creatures Helping Other Creatures) training and are keen to begin making a difference.

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While Pow Pow Pig wants more than anything else to join A team, he knows that’s not likely because, while the rest of the trainees have been busily learning the skills needed to help other creatures, Pow Pow and his friends have been stuck on cleaning duty. But they never thought that they would be assigned to … Z team.

A series of events promotes this rag tag team from zeroes to potential heroes. The fate of the world is in their trotters, wings and hooves. Now they must travel back in time to prevent the world from ending. If only it was that easy.

There’s something about Anh Do books. It only takes me about two pages to get sucked into the story and I fall in love at first sight with the new friends I meet.

The story is imaginative but it was the details that captured my attention. In particular, Kung Fu Chicken’s skills with a tea towel delighted me.

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I also loved how the team work together to solve problems, persevering despite the odds that are stacked against them.

I wasn’t previously familiar with Peter Cheong’s work but his illustrations bring this team and the rest of the creatures to life. In keeping with the humour that’s pretty much a given with Anh Do’s books, Peter majors on expressions and action, complimenting the text well. Be on the lookout for a cow who’s been cured of mad cow disease.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series. This one ends on a cliffhanger and my mind is frantically trying to predict where (or should I say, when) this team will end up next. While I already have a pretty good idea how this series is going to end, I hope it’s a long ride because everything I love about Anh Do books is already evident here: underdogs, friendship, teamwork, making the right (but not always the easiest) choices and humour.

And if I haven’t already sold you on this book, you need to know one more important thing: there’s a page of stickers at the end of the book! I’m one very happy book nerd.

Thank you so much to Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this book.

Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
Profile Image for Suzie B.
421 reviews26 followers
April 12, 2021
Really enjoyed the start of it, and built up hope it would have strong environmental and equity themes. However it then lost the social issue element and went into almost slapdash fun and mayhem. Almost felt like 2 different books.
Profile Image for whatbooknext.
1,261 reviews48 followers
August 17, 2021
Our world in 2050 is a very different place. Over the years the rich have got richer, and greedier, and meaner. The poor have less and less and now fight amongst each other for everything.

That’s where CHOC comes in, formed by a bunch of animals that want to make the world a better place.

CHOC stands for Creatures Helping Other Creatures. (Their old name Protection Of Others didn’t quite have the same ring to it).

From small acts of kindness to large scale rescues, CHOC are on it!

Their motto is – Every Good Deed Makes The Future A Little Brighter!

All CHOC recruits must train for three years, but Piccolo Pig, and his best friends Danielle Duck, Chelsea Chicken and Barry the Goat never got out to the training fields. Their instructors saw their skills in dishes and cleaning, and that’s all they’ve ever done. But you should see them in action with a broomstick, a tea towel and tiny tools.

Introducing Pow Pow Pig, Kung Fu Duck, Cha Cha Chicken and Barry! At least that’s what they call each other, in a grand attempt to fit in. Unfortunately these four are chosen for the Z team at their graduation – bottom of the list.

When a chance to finally prove themselves to their instructor – and the entire world – is thrown at them, they grab it with trotters, feathers and hooves! Squeezing themselves into a time machine is the only way to heal the world. They must go back in time and stop the rich voting against continuing to help the poor!

But who has ever heard of a time-machine working properly? This Z team are in for a wild ride. There’s a princess, brauny buffalo knights, and a horrible hippo called Horace.



This is the 1st in a new series by the story machine who is Anh Do!

Ninja Kid, Wolf Girl, E-Boy, Skydragon and more are all popular with young readers and Pow Pow Pig will also entertain readers 6+.

With tons happening, illustrations exploding the action out on the page, and four funny friends trying to do their best in the world, this is a simple and entertaining read. Where will the Time Machine take them next?
303 reviews
May 2, 2023
3.5
Well established sympathy for the characters (underdogs). I like the way the disappointment/sadness of the mc and his parents was portrayed after the choc graduation. Realistic characters even if they are cartoon animals- they were concerned for their families and did not just rush off to save the world unlike some other YA books out there.

The missing princess adventure story was a tad predictable and so-so. Has its funny moments (like duck, where? and had other plans- you take on two and then runs away) Duck and chicken are sometimes indistinguishable. Could be improved by defining the characters more and playing on each one’s individuality and strengths and not just their physical weapon of choice.
Profile Image for Bec.
901 reviews76 followers
August 4, 2021
Funny new series from Anh Do about Pow Pow Pig and his group of miss fit friends who just want to help people but end up being in Team Z at the CHOC Academy. But with the world about to end its up to Piccolo and his mates to try and go back to save the day - if they can get the year right.
Profile Image for Scott.
Author 25 books45 followers
March 25, 2023
This is pretty simple and doesn’t really end, rather it’s a “to be continued” situation as the team end up in the wrong year.
I felt like the plot and characters were underdone, as if it wasn’t given the time it needed for a crafter story.
The images are cool and there are some mild jokes.
1,097 reviews
August 21, 2025
Delightful Start to the series where Team Z - the cleaning team have the fate of the world on their shoulders as their unexpected mission - ending up in 1030 has a quest of its own.
Profile Image for Smitchy.
1,166 reviews17 followers
April 29, 2021
"Every good deed makes the future a little brighter"

Pow Pow Pig kicks off a new series from Anh Do and if your kiddo is a fan already I am sure this will be an instant hit. Pow Pow Pig is of a similar reading level as Ninja Kid and junior readers are sure to find it hilarious.
Pow Pow Pig and his friends, KungFu Duck, Cha Cha Chicken, and Barry the Goat all have been studying at CHOC academy. CHOC stands for Creatures Helping Other Creatures and that is just what Pow Pow Pig has wanted to do all his life. But the academy has overlooked his potential, Pig and his friends have been on cleaning duty their whole three years! So when teams are announced Pig isn't on the A team, B team, or even the D team. No, Pig and his friends are on the Z-team; destined to be cleaners and cooks forever. Then one day the unthinkable happens and the Z team is the only team left to operate the time machine and try to fix the world! How can this team save the world when all the other teams have failed? And their time machine puts them in entirely the wrong era?!

Lots of fun with themes of friendship, kindness, perseverance, and of course lots of laughs for Prep through to Grade 3 readers (6-10).
Profile Image for Lee-Ann.
103 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2021
I received a uncorrected proof from a book store distributor. Publication is due out August 2021

The future depends on four animals who believe in the motto “Every good deed makes the future a little brighter.” Meet Pow Pow Pig, Cha Cha Chicken, Kung Fu Duck and Barry the Goat who star in Anh Do’s latest time travelling junior fiction series Pow Pow Pig. A fast and funny action packed novel that will bring delight to fans of Weirdo, Ninja Kid and Hot Dog. Suitable for ages 6 to 10.
Profile Image for Francesca Pashby.
1,387 reviews20 followers
September 16, 2021
This started well, but then went a bit off the boil (I was hoping the animals were going to save the planet).

Pacey though, with some great illustrations. And obviously the start of another series ...
204 reviews
Read
September 28, 2021
Anh Do does not disappoint with another tale of adventure and comedy. Meet Pow Pow Pig and his friends who are tasked with traveling back in time to save the world.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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