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Cat Kid Comic Club #3
On Purpose
The Cat Kid Comic Club is deep in discovery in the newest graphic novel in the hilarious and heartwarming worldwide bestselling series by Dav Pilkey, the author and illustrator of Dog Man.
The comic club is going in all different directions! Naomi, Melvin, and siblings are each trying to find their purpose. Naomi has an idea to get rich quick that causes a lot of commotion and emotion. And when faced with rejections, the friends try and try again to stay true to their vision. To top it off, a surprise visitor comes to class to stir things up. Will a desire for money and power cloud Naomi's purpose? Is it quitting time? Will the club ever be the same?
The hilarity is nonstop as the baby frogs navigate sibling relationships, follow their path, and create art -- with purpose! Featured as stories-within-the-story, the mini comics showcase each baby frog's perspective and individual art style.
In this groundbreaking graphic novel series, award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey uses a variety of techniques -- including acrylic paints, colored pencils, photography, collage, gouache, watercolors, and much more -- to illustrate each frog's creative purpose and encourage teamwork. The kaleidoscope of art styles, paired with Pilkey's trademark storytelling and humor, fosters creativity, collaboration, independence, and empathy. Readers of all ages will enjoy this fun, exciting, and purposeful graphic novel adventure.
The comic club is going in all different directions! Naomi, Melvin, and siblings are each trying to find their purpose. Naomi has an idea to get rich quick that causes a lot of commotion and emotion. And when faced with rejections, the friends try and try again to stay true to their vision. To top it off, a surprise visitor comes to class to stir things up. Will a desire for money and power cloud Naomi's purpose? Is it quitting time? Will the club ever be the same?
The hilarity is nonstop as the baby frogs navigate sibling relationships, follow their path, and create art -- with purpose! Featured as stories-within-the-story, the mini comics showcase each baby frog's perspective and individual art style.
In this groundbreaking graphic novel series, award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey uses a variety of techniques -- including acrylic paints, colored pencils, photography, collage, gouache, watercolors, and much more -- to illustrate each frog's creative purpose and encourage teamwork. The kaleidoscope of art styles, paired with Pilkey's trademark storytelling and humor, fosters creativity, collaboration, independence, and empathy. Readers of all ages will enjoy this fun, exciting, and purposeful graphic novel adventure.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2022
628 people are currently reading
1172 people want to read
About the author
Dav Pilkey
443books3,130followersDavid "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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
May 11, 2022
A step up from book 2! I thought it was going to go somewhere profound again when one of the characters receives a rejection from a publisher, but instead... Well. The book gets a good point across about perseverance and not giving up (and there's a VERY brief moment about sticking with your work and being yourself instead of grinding your uniqueness down with norms), but for me it missed a real opportunity.
At this point in the series, I'm ready for some new material. The same comics are cycling through, and while I still like them, their premises were what made them funny the first time around. Three books in, I'm feeling diminishing returns.
Anyway, that's my adult perspective. My kid was still excited and absorbed by the book (especially by the rejection drama! Again, a bit of a missed opportunity there) but wasn't quiiiite as into it as the first book.
At this point in the series, I'm ready for some new material. The same comics are cycling through, and while I still like them, their premises were what made them funny the first time around. Three books in, I'm feeling diminishing returns.
Anyway, that's my adult perspective. My kid was still excited and absorbed by the book (especially by the rejection drama! Again, a bit of a missed opportunity there) but wasn't quiiiite as into it as the first book.
April 15, 2022
As a series, Cat Kid Comic Club is brilliant. And, I know, it's a Dog Man spinoff, so of course it's brilliant, but seriously this series is brilliant. And I'm saying that as a librarian, not as a total Dog Man fangirl! So, it is officially my professional opinion that Dav Pilkey is accomplishing some impressive stuff with these books:
1. There's an overarching narrative connecting the books that functions as a frame story, which gives this series a boost in the reading comprehension skills department!
2. Most of the individual mini-comics the baby frogs create as part of this club are themselves serialized narratives, which both gives kids an incentive to reread the previous books and encourages them to remember several disparate plotlines!
3. The titular club is all about Cat Kid teaching the baby frogs how to make their own comic books, with the main point being that everyone can make a comic; this empowers kids to make their own comics and stories, too!
4. Because the baby frogs share and discuss their comics, readers learn about different story elements and artistic mediums!
5. The mixed media sections encourage sustainability by using recyclable materials and broken toys to create artwork!
6. Much like Dog Man, these books teach kids about empathy and kindness and love and other positive personal values in a way that doesn't feel preachy or didactic!
7. This series also has accessible lessons about privilege and discrimination and tolerance!
8. Two of the baby frogs are trans/nonbinary!
Pure brilliance.
Also this latest installment made me cry with the Skeleton Girl comic.
1. There's an overarching narrative connecting the books that functions as a frame story, which gives this series a boost in the reading comprehension skills department!
2. Most of the individual mini-comics the baby frogs create as part of this club are themselves serialized narratives, which both gives kids an incentive to reread the previous books and encourages them to remember several disparate plotlines!
3. The titular club is all about Cat Kid teaching the baby frogs how to make their own comic books, with the main point being that everyone can make a comic; this empowers kids to make their own comics and stories, too!
4. Because the baby frogs share and discuss their comics, readers learn about different story elements and artistic mediums!
5. The mixed media sections encourage sustainability by using recyclable materials and broken toys to create artwork!
6. Much like Dog Man, these books teach kids about empathy and kindness and love and other positive personal values in a way that doesn't feel preachy or didactic!
7. This series also has accessible lessons about privilege and discrimination and tolerance!
8. Two of the baby frogs are trans/nonbinary!
Pure brilliance.
Also this latest installment made me cry with the Skeleton Girl comic.
May 11, 2024
Cat Kid was hardly in this one, but my son and I thought the frog family were hilarious!
May 1, 2024
Supa wholesome!
July 24, 2024
I loved this book! ❤️
April 14, 2022
Cat Kid Comic Club books are my new favorite philosophy textbooks. Holy crap. They are so much fun and deftly reach out through a bunch of ridiculous butt jokes to touch your soul.
September 18, 2022
Not my jam. Worse than Dog Man. Kids love them. Great. I am glad they resonate with lots of kids, but they don't really hit with me. (For the record, I'm actually ok with Captain Underpants, but feel like Pilkey gets worse with every spinoff.) There is barely a story and some low key stuff about book banning and perseverance.
April 8, 2022
I would die for this series
December 6, 2022
Warning: it literally says the words FULL FRONTAL NUDITY and talks about looking down your pants to see that “we are all the same.� Strange things in this one�
May 8, 2025
I’ve read and own a few of the dog mans and I’m one book away from finishing the catkid comic club books, I really like and appreciate that there’s a page at the back that says what inspired him, where a quotes come from, how something was made etc ☺️ I know some people probably don’t read it but I think it’s interesting 😁
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April 24, 2022Was excited for this; I like that this series is teaching creativity and I think Pilkey’s jokes are dumb and funny. There were a couple of spots in this book that made me uncomfortable, though, and it ended with a quote by Dale Carnegie about how failure is important, with the subtext of the book being that _navigating_ failure is important. Yes, but so is acknowledging context. I like that these kids books openly acknowledge the heartaches that come with existence, but don’t like the “up by your bootstraps vibe� that I’m ultimately left with. And I think he took a dig at some critics about something he probably should have done more grappling with.
I like that these books always make me want to dig deep into convos with my kids about creativity and pain and persistence and friendships, et al…I’m just not sure Pilke and I would see eye to eye if we were to have the same talks.
I like that these books always make me want to dig deep into convos with my kids about creativity and pain and persistence and friendships, et al…I’m just not sure Pilke and I would see eye to eye if we were to have the same talks.
April 21, 2023
This was bedtime reading with my first grader for four straight nights. I get the concept: a new series to rival the kind-of-stale Dog Man series, but I just don’t think this series will have the same luster. It’s tamer, not as funny (either in a witty sense or potty talk humor) and the main storyline didn’t move very quickly at all. The clever parts were when the original comics are shared as interludes within chapters…we appreciated the artistic licenses taken to change things up a bit. I might pass on the other two books in the series.
March 6, 2024
Aaron and I loveeed this book. His favorite comic was the “Supa Fail 3� he said the Supa Fail (superhero who literally fails at everything) tried to help everyone and that he can see his intentions were good but he wasn’t doing the right things to help others. << love Aaron’s input about the book. I’ve been having a blast reading these series with Aaron, we laughed so much together and he loves asking questions and lets me know what he thinks will happen later on in the book.
January 9, 2025
I didn’t really like this book
April 16, 2022
Wacky comic book fun continues in week 3 of Cat Kid’s Comic Club in which comics are submitted to a publisher with different results. Love the Time Out Rock, the Underwerewolves, and especially Skelopup! Still don’t care much for Chubbs McSpiderbutt.
March 21, 2023
It’s a real tongue twister. And I really like how it like makes everything all crazy and stuff. When I started reading it I thought it was kind of surprising. And it’s like taking a bunch of books that they made and seeing if they can publish it.
May 11, 2022
AWESOME
December 23, 2022
Just be yourself! Love it!!
July 20, 2024
Usually there’s a couple funny comics from the kiddos but this one lacked imo. Even Chubs McSpiderButt wasn’t great. I guess they all can’t be winners.
August 10, 2022
It was an awesome book and I enjoyed reading it and I'm excited to ready the next one!
July 5, 2022
Good book. I was surprised how in real life, somebody took 2,000 pictures for McSpidderbutt (but only ended up using 111).
Can't wait for book four!
Can't wait for book four!
April 27, 2022
Aawsome
May 23, 2022
Mind the Trolls in the Amazon Comment Section
Cat Kid Comic Club is a spinoff of the incredibly well written children's comic Dog Man, by Dav Pilky, which focus on children expressing themselves though comics in their own style. There’s the main story of Cat Kid and Molly teaching Flippy’s adopted frog children how to make comics, and then some other short stories scattered about, made by the kids. Melvin and Naomi often take the spotlight through their arguments and pursuits of getting published, but all the kids get a chance to shine by showing off their own collaborative comics, which also have ongoing stories and evolve throughout the whole series.
When ordering Volume 3 I was bombarded by a lot of angry 1 star reviews on Amazon. First thought was, “okay, what did Pilky do that pissed off all these people?� Turns out most of these people just don't like the phases "Full frontal nudity" and "gender equality."
We were still waiting for our book to arrive the next day and the kids were curious about my conversation with my partner about these reviews, so I turned to the kids and said, “Hey guys, the new Cat Kid has full frontal nudity in it!� They didn’t know what that was, “You know, naked people!� They wondered what it could be, who’s naked in the comic? My mind was going wild with ideas too. It is a book about “art� so who knows!
Turns out, the “full frontal� joke is really a one-off line about cartoon characters not wearing clothes (a joke older than Looney Tunes, though the terminology has changed with time). It was pretty funny, though I felt a little let down after all this outrage and there weren’t even any naked people. Regardless, Cat Kid Comic Club continues with the genius of the first two volumes and evolves it even more. My kids went back and read the previous individual stories again to see how they evolved, such as “Supa Fail� and “Chubbs McSpider Butt.� We all look forward to what those stories will become in the 4th volume.
Of course, each household is different and some of this content may be upsetting to some, so it's definitely important to know what's in it and pre-read any content you intend to give to your children especially if you're more stick on certain topics. People’s limits certainly vary.
Otherwise, if you’re at all interested in art and storytelling this Cat Kid series is a wonderful series to follow. This book also talks about some of the hardships pursuing art entails (specifically, in this story, is the rejection letter the one artist receives sue to what others may perceive as comments about gender� that actually became funnier after reading all those one star reviews on Amazon), but most importantly teaches you the love of self expression through art. If you’re an adult that loves art and the art of story, and don’t mind reading things for younger audiences, definitely check out any of the Cat Kid books, they’re brilliant! If you meet that criteria and also have kids, it should be a no brainer.
P.S. If you feel like it, go check some of the more appropriate reviews on Amazon as "helpful" if you can.
P.S.S. Edited my review because it was a lot of me complaining about people complaining. Hope this revision is better.
Cat Kid Comic Club is a spinoff of the incredibly well written children's comic Dog Man, by Dav Pilky, which focus on children expressing themselves though comics in their own style. There’s the main story of Cat Kid and Molly teaching Flippy’s adopted frog children how to make comics, and then some other short stories scattered about, made by the kids. Melvin and Naomi often take the spotlight through their arguments and pursuits of getting published, but all the kids get a chance to shine by showing off their own collaborative comics, which also have ongoing stories and evolve throughout the whole series.
When ordering Volume 3 I was bombarded by a lot of angry 1 star reviews on Amazon. First thought was, “okay, what did Pilky do that pissed off all these people?� Turns out most of these people just don't like the phases "Full frontal nudity" and "gender equality."
We were still waiting for our book to arrive the next day and the kids were curious about my conversation with my partner about these reviews, so I turned to the kids and said, “Hey guys, the new Cat Kid has full frontal nudity in it!� They didn’t know what that was, “You know, naked people!� They wondered what it could be, who’s naked in the comic? My mind was going wild with ideas too. It is a book about “art� so who knows!
Turns out, the “full frontal� joke is really a one-off line about cartoon characters not wearing clothes (a joke older than Looney Tunes, though the terminology has changed with time). It was pretty funny, though I felt a little let down after all this outrage and there weren’t even any naked people. Regardless, Cat Kid Comic Club continues with the genius of the first two volumes and evolves it even more. My kids went back and read the previous individual stories again to see how they evolved, such as “Supa Fail� and “Chubbs McSpider Butt.� We all look forward to what those stories will become in the 4th volume.
Of course, each household is different and some of this content may be upsetting to some, so it's definitely important to know what's in it and pre-read any content you intend to give to your children especially if you're more stick on certain topics. People’s limits certainly vary.
Otherwise, if you’re at all interested in art and storytelling this Cat Kid series is a wonderful series to follow. This book also talks about some of the hardships pursuing art entails (specifically, in this story, is the rejection letter the one artist receives sue to what others may perceive as comments about gender� that actually became funnier after reading all those one star reviews on Amazon), but most importantly teaches you the love of self expression through art. If you’re an adult that loves art and the art of story, and don’t mind reading things for younger audiences, definitely check out any of the Cat Kid books, they’re brilliant! If you meet that criteria and also have kids, it should be a no brainer.
P.S. If you feel like it, go check some of the more appropriate reviews on Amazon as "helpful" if you can.
P.S.S. Edited my review because it was a lot of me complaining about people complaining. Hope this revision is better.
June 30, 2023
This is such a creative series, where the baby frogs get to share their perspectives using their medium of choice. While it is a comic club, I love the different artistic styles that get showcased here, including colored pencils, acrylic paints, photography, watercolors, and so on. Here, Naomi and Melvin are a team, but never fear, they are just as disruptive and entertaining as ever. This story didn't move me as much as the second book, but I still laughed and enjoyed the story as the baby frogs come to grips with finding their own path. The lesson for Naomi here is that money doesn't buy happiness, and you end up discovering some of the things she's good at. Unfortunately for her and her dad, I think the lesson hasn't completely sunk in. Perhaps we will find out more in book 4! I'm really having fun with this series and am looking forward to reading books 1 and 4! I highly recommend this series to kids of all ages, but especially those who are reluctant readers. For parents who disliked the deliberate misspellings of the Captain Underpants series, you don't have to worry about that with this series. I used to feel the same way about the poor spelling and other grammatical issues with Captain Underpants until I realized that kids with dyslexia live that all the time. Regardless, I don't ever hesitate to recommend Pilkey to parents of young kids. They're a great way of getting kids interested in reading!
April 26, 2022
Stevens review:I loved this book, they did literally everything "ON PURPOSE!" The part Little Petey scribbles all over the chalk board and he did it "ON PURPOSE!" The tadpoles made a comic book so inappropriate with poop and pee jokes and they even say "what the fuck?" (I couldn't believe they said that in a kids book) and they made the comic that way "ON PURPOSE!" There's a scene where the tadpoles take a shower, one of them drops the soap "ON PURPOSE!" (but then the tadpole gets raped because that's why they say "Don't drop the soap!") And "Georgie" the tadpole kills himself "ON PURPOSE!" Also the fish in this book made me sad and made me think of my old fish Philip.
Marc's review:Man, I hate reading kids books, but this one was funny as shit. I never thought I would see and read somebody "dropping the soap" in a kids book. This book was very dark and I was surprised to see that Steven gave it 5 freaking stars. Parents, if you read this book, please skip over chapter 10, because that's the part where a tadpole "drops the soap" and I don't think kids need to see what "rape" is either. So, as always, Don't drop the soap in kids books! or as the book says, "Don't do it ON PURPOSE!"
Marc's review:Man, I hate reading kids books, but this one was funny as shit. I never thought I would see and read somebody "dropping the soap" in a kids book. This book was very dark and I was surprised to see that Steven gave it 5 freaking stars. Parents, if you read this book, please skip over chapter 10, because that's the part where a tadpole "drops the soap" and I don't think kids need to see what "rape" is either. So, as always, Don't drop the soap in kids books! or as the book says, "Don't do it ON PURPOSE!"
December 24, 2024
Not my favorite Pilkey book. The plot line about Naomi wanting to be rich and famous wasn’t a super kid-friendly plot. Plus the stuff about her being comic rejected because she said something inappropriate about genders in her comic and she mentioned that she needed to apologize to El, who was a non-binary character mentioned in a previous book made me slightly uncomfortable. These Cat Kid Comic Club books seem to have an agenda and don’t seem to be as wholesome as Dog Man which is really really sad because I love Dog Man so much. I don’t think I care to read the rest of the series. Oh and there was mention of “Full Frontal Nudity????� That made me really uncomfortable. Like how did that get in a kid’s book? And also people taking off clothes to look at their underwear and say we’re all the same underneath because we wear underwear I guess? Idk what that was about??? It was just weird and a little creepy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 6, 2024It was fun to read
December 19, 2024
These are great! I love all the different styles, and somehow the filler story manages to have some weight.
December 22, 2024
AMAZING
It is an incredible book so hilarious I laughed at every single page so I recommend buying it right now
It is an incredible book so hilarious I laughed at every single page so I recommend buying it right now
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