Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers Review by the Hobbit. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers
Author and Illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Publication Date: November 28, 2023
Genres: Graphic novel, humor, art
Major Themes: Kindness, Anxiety
Warnings: Kid humor.
Pages: 224
Reading Age: 6 and up (recommended grades 2-6)
Brief Summary
The Cat Kid Comic Club has been canceled! The tadpoles are overcome with anxiety trying to get their book ready and Flippy has canceled the Comic Club to try and get them on track. Will they learn to cooperate? Can Flippy get them to treat each other nicely? Will the Comic Club ever meet again? Will the tadpoles get cold in the snow? Read on….
Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers Review (contains spoilers)
The premise of all of the Cat Kid Comic Club books is that ‘Lil Petey (Cat Kid), from the Dog Man series, is teaching the tadpoles who are being parented by Flippy (also characters from Dog Man) to write comics. The first four books in the series have had an emphasis on various aspects of drawing. All of them have the tadpoles creating mini-comics, using a variety of styles. One of the charms of the series is seeing the stories told in the mini-comics unfold. Other characters from Dogman make appearances, and while it is not necessary to have read them, an acquaintance with the first few books is helpful.
In the prior books the tadpoles sold the rights to a comic to a publisher. As this story opens they are extremely anxious, with the anxiety spilling over into all of the relationships. As a result, Flippy has canceled future meetings of the Cat Kid Comic Club.
Flippy is soon breaking up the squabble among the tadpoles. He decides to try giving Naomi, one of the major tadpole characters, a copy of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. He tells her this will help her to be an influencer. By the end of the book Naomi has put this into practice, learning to be thoughtful and kind. The Cat Kid Comic Club resumes and the tadpoles’ creative juices have started flowing again.
As is usual, there is much humor – and food for thought. The mini-comics include “Frogzilla vs. Mechafrogzilla,” “I Am Dr. Fredric Wertham,” “Two Birds,” and “RoboChubbs.” Riffing on our culture’s obsession with “influencers”, Pilkey reminds us that influence is gained through acts of kindness and gentleness.
Continue reading for more of our Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers Review
My only concern is with “I Am Dr. Fredric Wertham.” This tells a very important story – Wertham is a true historical person who was largely responsible for the Comic Code. While the story is important and helps explain why comics and graphic novels still bear some stigma, it may be a little over the heads of younger readers.
If you have a kid lose interest here, you can direct them to skip the remainder of the mini-comic. For adults, it is fascinating reading (one of the hallmarks of the Dogman and Cat Kid series is that they are geared to kids and adults).
At the end we learn to draw babies. And the tadpoles inform us that cold does not bother them as they are cold-blooded…. there is an explanatory note at the end.
Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers Discussion Questions
- Which mini-comic did you like the best and why?
- What do people usually think of when they think of an influencer?
- Can we all be influencers? What do we need to do according to the book?
- There are lots of things that we can be anxious about. Tests and homework are two examples. What are some things you are anxious about?
- Can you draw a baby using the instructions in the book? Show it to some people and see what they think.
Thanks for reading our Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers Review. Before you go, check out these other posts
- Cat Kid Comic Club
- Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives
- Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose
- Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations
–All of our Dog Man posts:
–Grime and Punishment
–Brawl of the Wild
–Lord of the Fleas
–Fetch 22
–For Whom the Ball Rolls
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