A review by maireador20
Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey

4.0

One of the kids I teach insisted he lend this to me when he heard I had never read a DogMan book and I now understand why they are so incredibly popular among 6-12 year olds (and beyond, I hope!). These graphic novels really are an excellent way to hook emerging readers and encourage them to read for pleasure. Cleverly written with a clear eye on the target audience from start to finish, the basic story is sure to appeal to a wide audience of children and I love that there are some more challenging ideas and vocabulary dotted among the sillier moments to ensure older readers enjoy revisiting these books time and time again. I love the concept that the Dog Man comics are written by 5th graders because it shows kids they are capable of creating stories like this themselves, I thought the fliporama elements were an excellent interactive feature that could spark some creative projects for my pupils, and the 'how to draw' section at the end is brilliant for encouraging children to give cartooning and drawing a try for themselves.
I can't wait to buy a couple of books from the series to include in my class library, they're sure to be a hit, and maybe they'll even get read aloud to a cat or two which would make Petey very happy too!