Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder 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: Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder
Author and Illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Publication Date: March 19th, 2024
Genres: Graphic Novel; humor; adventure
Warnings: Dog Man books are pretty kid-friendly in general. Petey has some flashbacks that could be triggering for kids who have had unstable home situations (although see note).
Pages: 224
Reading Age: 7 and up (suitable to read to 4+)
Extras: Pilkey is starting a website on June 1 which will contain the items previously in bonus content.
Brief Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Summary
A major life event for two of Dog Man’s friends! But their temporary absence leads to chaos! Dog Man is sprayed by a skunk! And then he is arrested. And to top it all, a new villain is in town. The people have turned on Dog Man and are turning to the villain – will Dog Man still save them?
Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Review (Contains Spoilers)
In a change, Pilkey does not loosely adapt or use a novel as the basis for his story. And we begin with one thread – Chief and Nurse Lady are getting married! There are a few stumbles, but the wedding takes place, and they leave on their honeymoon. However, Chief leaves the Dog Man-hating Maud in charge. She immediately plots to get rid of him. Aiding in this, Dog Man chases and is sprayed by a skunk. Soon the town judge and Maud have reason to arrest Dog Man. BD-89 rescues him, and, attempting to remove the skunk odor with tomato juice, Petey tums him red.
Meanwhile a new villain emerges while Maud and the judge arrest Dog Man. They convince the people to turn against him, and he is sent to jail. However, the villain, Dr. Scum, approaches Petey with an offer: Aid him and he will see to it that Dog Man goes free. Petey is faced with an incredible dilemma – aid the villain and save Dog Man or let Dog Man go to jail for something he did not do.
Our villain, Dr. Scum, has created A.I. buddies – duplicates that work for people so they can “do important things like selfies and social media”. Seeing the danger, our heroes react. Maud and Judge had previously confiscated their costumes, so they set to work, and a new team emerges: The New Supa Buddies – Mecha Molly! The Firecracker Kid! Ninja Shark! And The Scarlet Shedder! As we come to an end, people are still on screens – showing they have not learned any lessons.
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Of note, as Petey is considering his decisions he dreams of his childhood and being abandoned by his father. One interesting note is that they go to Bedford Falls (yes, taken from the movie) to live. They meet Little Jim (whose parents are in heaven). Petey’s mother reminds them that “It’s not about what happens to us…it’s how we react to it. We can always choose…to be strong…and kind…and grateful.” This could be tough for some kids. However, it does help Petey to finally realize that his heart has changed. He is a good guy and not a bad guy.
The artwork is the usual Dog Man. The is the second Dog Man to spend time on the dangers of social media/screen time. It also specifically zeroes in on A.I. (A.I. is challenging for writers and artists as it frequently scoops up their work without any remuneration, besides other concerns).
The target audience (below 7th grade) probably does not have a lot of social media accounts. However, they may spend a lot of time on games, etc. And they are an age group that is going to grow up with the temptation to overuse A.I.
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Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Discussion Questions
Themes for Discussion: Friendship; overcoming challenges
- How does our past help determine our future?
- How much time do you spend on screens? How much time do your friends spend?
- If someone offered to make a duplicate of you to go to school, and you were able to spend all day playing games, what would you say? Why is it a bad idea?
- How many villains – bad guys – do we have? Dr. Scum is the main villain, but what about the giant A. I. Dog Man? Maud? What makes these bad?
- What is inside us is important. What makes a hero a hero?
Note: Several of these have adult dimensions…
Favorite Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Quotes
“Dog Man: His heart is always in the right place. If only his brain was, too.”
Li’l Petey: “Why did they all turn their backs on Dog Man?” Petey: “That’s what people do.”
“Infinity is a Long Time to be locked up!!! Yeah, but it’s in dog years…So it’s shorter than regular infinity!”
Dr. Scum: “I’m going to use my A.I. buddies to crush the world!”
We can’t control the wind, but we can adjust our sails” (Pilkey attributes this quote to Dolly Parton)
“I was the bad guy in Two Other Books!!!”
“The escaped A.I. Buddies beheld a new world overrun with Artificial Intelligence.”
“It’s not about what happens to us…it’s how we react to it. We can always choose…to be strong…and kind…and grateful.”
-Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Quotes
Thanks for reading our Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Review. Check out our related Pilkey content:
You can purchase your own copy of Dog Man: The Scarlett Shedder here
–All of our Dog Man posts:
–Grime and Punishment
–Brawl of the Wild
–Lord of the Fleas
–Fetch 22
–For Whom the Ball Rolls
–20,000 Fleas Under the Sea
We also have reviewed Pilkey’s Cat Kid Comic Club series:
–Cat Kid Comic Club
–Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives
–Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose
–Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations
–Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers
Down The Hobbit Hole Blog and this Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder Review use affiliate links. We only link products we think you’ll like and you are never charged extra for them. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. All images used in this post were either original designs from Canva or used from media kits We also use cookies to gather analytics and present advertisements. Find our other reviews with discussion questions here. And our posts about family stuff here.