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Dog Man #12
Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder
Our canine superhero returns in DOG MAN: THE SCARLET SHEDDER, the suspenseful and hilarious twelfth graphic novel in the #1 worldwide bestselling series by award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey!
P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red color remains. Now exiled, this spunky superhero must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him! Will the ends justify the means for Petey, who's reluctantly pulled back into a life of crime in order to help Dog Man? And who will step forward when an all-new, never-before-seen villain unleashes an army of A.I. robots?
P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red color remains. Now exiled, this spunky superhero must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him! Will the ends justify the means for Petey, who's reluctantly pulled back into a life of crime in order to help Dog Man? And who will step forward when an all-new, never-before-seen villain unleashes an army of A.I. robots?
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2024
About the author
Dav Pilkey
588 books2,899 followersDavid "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 154 reviews
March 20, 2024
truly the best piece of literature i’ve ever picked up. touching on subjects like social media and the increase in artificial intelligence, as well as the modern justice system. the art in this is just phenomenal. a book i think everyone should read.
April 9, 2024
Supa epic!!
May 25, 2024
Dog Man is soooo popular with my students - impossible to have enough in the library for all the students who want to read one. Our school was very lucky to be the recipient of a grant from the Dav Pilkey foundation made possible by Ruby's Books, a local book store. All students in 1st through 5th grade received a copy of the book. I decided it was about time to read one - I will say it is more clever than I imagined and there is an underlying life-lesson, beyond the silliness and humor that probably stands out for most readers. I'm giving it a 5 because it brought such joy to the students, and to see them excited to read is the most valuable thing.
March 23, 2024
This book was an absolute blast to read! It was a great story, hilarious from cover to cover, packed full of action, and ended with a very wholesome moral.
Check out my review on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/sZmlBnxe5z0?si=fTpt8...
Check out my review on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/sZmlBnxe5z0?si=fTpt8...
Read
October 28, 2024I will always love Dogman because it was the first series I willingly read in my I-do-not-like-to-read era. I always get excited when a new book comes out, and this one did not disappoint.
I read it all in one sitting. As usual, in this 12th novel of the series, Dogman brought all of the humor and goofiness it always does. I loved the theme of this book being about AI taking over, as now, with the ever-expanding knowledge and improving computers, robots taking over is becoming a more popular topic irl.
I just thought I would add this because it's funny. But I didn't realize (after the character literally being in 10 of the books) that 80-HD is a pun on ADHD, a disorder that I (as well as the author) have. The irony is that that is probably the reason I didn't notice the pun for so long.
-Zoey :)
I read it all in one sitting. As usual, in this 12th novel of the series, Dogman brought all of the humor and goofiness it always does. I loved the theme of this book being about AI taking over, as now, with the ever-expanding knowledge and improving computers, robots taking over is becoming a more popular topic irl.
I just thought I would add this because it's funny. But I didn't realize (after the character literally being in 10 of the books) that 80-HD is a pun on ADHD, a disorder that I (as well as the author) have. The irony is that that is probably the reason I didn't notice the pun for so long.
-Zoey :)
March 20, 2024
Doi
I LOVED IT THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST DOG MAN BOOKS EVER -OWNER OF TONS OF DOG MAN BOOKS! :)
I LOVED IT THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST DOG MAN BOOKS EVER -OWNER OF TONS OF DOG MAN BOOKS! :)
March 27, 2024
Funny and heartwarming
October 7, 2024
My son came home from school RAVING about this book. He got it from me for his 11th birthday and brought it to school- read it during his free time and could not stop talking about it all the way home. He said “it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, you HAVE to read it momma!” So of course I had to read it! And it was great! Obviously not my normal type of book and I don’t usually count children’s books in my book logs unless it’s a long one like Harry Potter OR unless I read it separately from my son (like this one).
I especially enjoyed the touching and inspirational scene toward the end. I shook my fist and said YES! On one part.
Thank you Dav Pilkey for writing books that give us moments like this- where my son experiences a love for books that he will never forget. Not to be dramatic but your stories will always be a part of my son’s childhood memories and I can’t thank you enough for that.
I especially enjoyed the touching and inspirational scene toward the end. I shook my fist and said YES! On one part.
Thank you Dav Pilkey for writing books that give us moments like this- where my son experiences a love for books that he will never forget. Not to be dramatic but your stories will always be a part of my son’s childhood memories and I can’t thank you enough for that.
June 21, 2024
Amazing how much of a good person with adhd can do love you Dave
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2024
Pretty funny
March 29, 2024
The first half of the this book is ridiculously funny and rife with wonderful flip-o-ramas. I read this one on an airplane so many people were able to witness (judge?) the glee of an adult reading Dog Man. The AI bad guy stuff was culturally on point (and I loved Pilkey’s explanation of source material at the end) but it wasn’t as poignant or funny as some of Dog Man’s previous plot lines. (The literature parodies are my favorites.) Since the lessons of AI are TBD, the ambiguity and lack of closure may have been Pilkey’s point. I have to add that my kids loved the superhero glow-up the Supa Buddies got in this book.
March 28, 2024
We’re team Wally!
Another lovely story about friends , families of all kinds and new unknown enemies.
The arc of Petey is charming and inspiring for kids and adults.
Another lovely story about friends , families of all kinds and new unknown enemies.
The arc of Petey is charming and inspiring for kids and adults.
March 19, 2024
This book was great it was a good book in the series, but im hoping the next one dog man will not be red.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2024
for 2 hole chapters I thought that the bad guys were going to win because of the giant dog man robot...!
4.5 stars... bruh!
afkmlg!!!
4.5 stars... bruh!
afkmlg!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2024
funny as always
March 24, 2024
Dog Man does it again! “We can’t control the wind, but we can adjust our sails.”
August 17, 2024
Teaches bad words and bad behavior to young kids. Words from the series: dumb jerk, filthy animal, glorified crossing guards. My six year old started using some of these words and I didn’t make the connection to this set until one day I saw these words in the book. My child won’t be reading this series anymore as it’s not behavior I want to model for him.
April 5, 2024
Another late-period Dog Man book. It's up to #12 now, as long as the Captain Underpants series! I doubt Pilkey going to wind it down as long as people like me keep buying them - he dominates the children's best-seller lists more decisively than Taylor Swift dominates the music rankings - but it does feel like it's spinning its wheels.
I mean, it's mostly enjoyable! My son continues to love it, and he finds lots of parts to laugh out loud at or to ask me to re-read the next day. The mix of literary references, toilet humor, and absurdist kid stuff is fun for me, too. And while most of the art is intentionally simplistic, there are a few times when Pilkey breaks from the conceit that a fictional 5th grader drew it and really turns out solid superhero action.
But the character development isn't what it used to be. There was a time (maybe books 2-6?) when it was about people truly facing what it means to be a good person in a world where bad stuff happens, and their decision to find joy and do good felt hard-won. Now, every book follows the same formula: Petey has a crisis, then he hears a one-sentence platitude, and he spends a chapter applying that to his life. Then it ends with everyone smiling.
And beyond that... I'm not sure what's going on with Pilkey's social commentary. This one was probably supposed to be about how people retreat to their phones and ignore the world around them, which is a fair worry! But it was presented as AI robots taking over the world and doing our jobs for us. What it actually said was that people are so lazy that they would take more recreation time if technology took care of our chores. But... wouldn't that be a good thing? In reality, the worry we're facing now is that our positions are more precarious, AI could take our livelihoods, and we're more stressed out. People deserve time to relax and not be shamed for it, and a society that let everyone share the rewards of our increased productivity would be a better one than we have. If someone enjoys taking selfies, then let them!
I mean, it's mostly enjoyable! My son continues to love it, and he finds lots of parts to laugh out loud at or to ask me to re-read the next day. The mix of literary references, toilet humor, and absurdist kid stuff is fun for me, too. And while most of the art is intentionally simplistic, there are a few times when Pilkey breaks from the conceit that a fictional 5th grader drew it and really turns out solid superhero action.
But the character development isn't what it used to be. There was a time (maybe books 2-6?) when it was about people truly facing what it means to be a good person in a world where bad stuff happens, and their decision to find joy and do good felt hard-won. Now, every book follows the same formula: Petey has a crisis, then he hears a one-sentence platitude, and he spends a chapter applying that to his life. Then it ends with everyone smiling.
And beyond that... I'm not sure what's going on with Pilkey's social commentary. This one was probably supposed to be about how people retreat to their phones and ignore the world around them, which is a fair worry! But it was presented as AI robots taking over the world and doing our jobs for us. What it actually said was that people are so lazy that they would take more recreation time if technology took care of our chores. But... wouldn't that be a good thing? In reality, the worry we're facing now is that our positions are more precarious, AI could take our livelihoods, and we're more stressed out. People deserve time to relax and not be shamed for it, and a society that let everyone share the rewards of our increased productivity would be a better one than we have. If someone enjoys taking selfies, then let them!
April 5, 2024
Children's graphic novel, book 12 in a series. I have read the whole Dog Man series with my son over the last year or so and so we eagerly put this one on hold. While the story was still enjoyable, it was a bi dark and foreboding as an adult reader. The title comes from Dog Man's unfortunate bath in tomato sauce after a run-in with a skunk he was stained red and became 'The scarlet shedder." With Chief on his honeymoon, one of the underling cops takes advantage of the opportunity to arrest Dog Man on made-up charges. Dr. Scum offers Dog Man his freedom if Petey will come work with him at the AI robot factory. So robot Dog-Man is in jail while real Dog Man hides out with Lil Petey, 80-HD, and Molly the tadpole. Petey resigns himself to his fate as a bad guy, until he has flashbacks of his mother saying "We can't control the wind, but we can adjust our sails." Of course Dr. Scum creates the AI robots anyway, a battle ensues, and most of the members of society are quite obliviously playing on their phones in the meantime.
Dav Pilkey impresses me with the multiple layers of his stories. I really feel like they could be discussed and analyzed in a book club or English class. On the surface they're a fun story about these animals, but there's so much underneath. I admit I was guilty of writing off Captain Underpants, which admittedly is not as deep as the Cat Kid or Dog Man books. But overall I feel Pilkey has a very keen eye when it comes to analyzing human behavior and truly writes for all ages.
Dav Pilkey impresses me with the multiple layers of his stories. I really feel like they could be discussed and analyzed in a book club or English class. On the surface they're a fun story about these animals, but there's so much underneath. I admit I was guilty of writing off Captain Underpants, which admittedly is not as deep as the Cat Kid or Dog Man books. But overall I feel Pilkey has a very keen eye when it comes to analyzing human behavior and truly writes for all ages.
June 19, 2024
This was fine. I'm never going to say no to a book that my 9-year-old will voluntarily read independently. Plotwise, like some of the previous books, it's a weird mashup of silly jokes, heartfelt life lessons, action sequences, and social commentary mainly aimed at adults, among other things. We'll keep reading these as long as Pilkey keeps writing them and my kiddo is still interested, but I'm not very invested myself at this point.
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August 30, 2024While the plot is up to par for Dog Man, with silliness galore, the really interesting part of this book is the flashbacks former villain Petey has to his childhood, where, while living in a shelter, he meets Big Jim; an orphan with a big heart. Big Jim, apparently, will be a major character going forward, which is probably a good thing, as the Dog Man books are getting kind of repetitive and a new story line would be refreshing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2024
Really good book
May 11, 2024
Listen, I will never not read a Dog Man book. They make me laugh every time.
May 14, 2024
Read this with my son. Fun and funny book for school age readers! We had a lot of laughs and the message was really great and relevant to today’s technical world.
July 2, 2024
All that was in the car for a ride and ended up finishing up when I got home and it followed just about every trope in the series
August 4, 2024
Another fun Dogman story with amazing illustrations and of course a childish song about underwear. But the best part of this series continues to be Peteys backstory. In this one we get more flashbacks to his childhood and the heartbreaking story of losing his childhood mom and his Dad walking out. These books are very fun for the children, but also have something there for the parents reading along!
August 21, 2024
Adults can rag on them, but this book made me laugh out loud twice and touched upon some interesting social issues and kids enjoy reading it is, so long live Dav Pilkey.
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September 11, 2024Read with Thad
September 18, 2024
Sure I’m not 7 years old anymore but I I genuinely might stop reading these books, kinda wished they grew up as I did as well. But the nostalgia’s good.
April 12, 2024
I love this book the a.I. robots were so cool!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews