Dog Man a Tale of Two Kitties

The third Dog Man book is also, unexpectedly, one of the most emotionally rich — because it asks whether villain Petey the Cat can change when his cloning experiment produces Li'l Petey, a miniature version of himself who simply refuses to be evil and loves unconditionally instead. Beneath the slapstick and the toilet humor, that is a genuine nature-versus-nurture story about redemption and what a good child can do to a bad father. Dav Pilkey has earned the starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, and the series' ability to turn reluctant readers into eager ones is well documented. Parents should know upfront what they are getting: pervasive potty humor, cartoon violence including the surgical origin story of Dog Man himself, and a series that is among the most frequently challenged children's books for those exact reasons. For families comfortable with that, the moral heart here is surprisingly strong.