Dog Man

*Starred Review* A policeman and his police dog fail to defuse a bomb, and the ensuing explosion kills the officer's head and the dog's body. The solution? Graft the dog's head onto the man's body to create the world's greatest cop. Dog Man upends a plot to replace the police chief with an evil robot, saves the city when a gangster cat erases words from all the books, turning everyone hopelessly stupid, and stands up to a revolutionary army of hot dogs. If this all sounds like it springs from the mind of an unhinged first grader, that is, in fact, the central conceit. From the doodle-scratch art and jumbled panel borders to crossed-out words with simulated grammar and spelling lapses to the generous helpings of potty humor, the book feels like a frantic message of delirious imagination from one child to another. In truth, it's the work of Pilkey who, in the relentless style of his own Captain Underpants series, has again fired an arrow of joy straight at the fevered childhood psyche of millions of readers. And as with the good captain, this will prove a groaning burden for many adults and an utter, unfettered delight for kids.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2016 Booklist