Am I the only one who found Dog Man to actually contain some deeper positive content, underneath all the other stuff? True, I haven’t looked at them in a while, but I feel like there were storylines that touched on the concept of kids dealing with divorce, or having a loved one in prison, and even the whole complicated adult’s-parent relationship (as in, you weren’t parented well, and now you’re trying to navigate dealing with your parent while figuring out how to raise your kid at the same time, and essentially fix what was modeled for you…) Was I putting way more into Dog Man than was there? 😆
I totally agree! I was not thrilled with Dog Man at first for all the reasons named in the article, but I think it’s actually gotten quite deep with the Petey family stuff. And I also like that Lil Petey is essentially a foster kid whose parent goes in and out of prison - it’s not an experience that is often depicted in children’s lit, and it’s treated seriously here while in the context of a silly story. I think Dog Man has become pretty brilliant.
No, you're not putting more into it than what was there. I think Pilkey hit his stride shortly after introducing Lil' Petey as a moral foil for Petey. The Petey & Lil' Petey storylines have been a place for these books to surface stories about empathy, forgiveness, complicated families, letting go of toxic familial relationships and the baggage they bring, making thoughtful choices about who we want to be, and a lot more.
I think those stories on their own wouldn't draw my child's attention as much, but in Dog Man they live alongside other content that he wants to return to, and so we read these stories about redemption and reconciliation over and over.
Also, the latest book features a corrupt cop and judge who blatantly abuse their power for personal vendettas. I can't recall anything that taught me that this was even a possibility when I was a child.
I grabbed our Dog Man books over the weekend and did a quick reread. We own four of them, from the middle of the series. And before I get into it, yes, I completely agree about the no-paperbacks issue. And why-oh-why are there no NUMBERS on the books, indicating the order of the series?? 🤪 But moving on.
For Whom The Ball Rolls: I think this was the one that originally made me weep at the ending. You’ve got a parent returning from prison, a family figuring out custody (with longing and sadness, but without animosity), a toxic adult kid-parent relationship that can barely be repaired, and the wisdom of a child, who sees love and hope as the way forward, and teaches it to everyone he meets, most especially his father.
The ending is Bluey-level, in my opinion ❤️ I mean, Bluey has the benefit of music, and pacing, and those voices that tear at your heart lol - and yes, less poop jokes (but some poop jokes!) but I really think Dog Man doesn’t get enough credit for its heartfelt wisdom and genius.
Love this deep dive :) It's something I've thought about too as a mom of elementary readers who enjoy the books and a librarian at a public library who sees kids gravitate to the Dog Man shelf of the graphic novel section. I'm all for kids enjoying books they love! Sometimes, especially if kids mention they're on repeated readings, I'll also show them other graphic novels that are similarly fun like the Sparks! series by Ian Boothby or Bird & Squirrel by James Burks. (Here is a blog post I wrote with other favorite graphic novels https://maybeillbecomeafarmer.wordpress.com/2021/12/02/giant-list-of-graphic-novels/)
One other thing on this I only thought about recently is the fact that Dav Pilkey is dyslexic. I don't really like that some of the words are misspelled in the book, but a parent of a dyslexic child mentioned to me about how that aspect of the book is appealing to her child because the phonetic spelling is how he would expect it to be spelled. It was a take on it I hadn't thought of before.
This was a great read! Oh man, I also love to hate Dog Man, but I cannot deny my kid eats them up, and it was definitely a gateway to solo reading. FWIW, there are some amazing literary references scattered throughout. My husband and I just read East of Eden and one of the Dog Man books referenced a very key scene, so clearly Dav knows parents are paying attention.
I will say, the potty humor doesn't bother me as much as all the stuff about cops. And if the kids didn't get it from Dog Man, they'd discover it somewhere else. I frequently tell my kid that I don't care if he and his friends talk about poop as long as 1) it isn't disruptive at school & 2) I don't have to hear it. I really think kids should be allowed to have their own private lives and jokes that aren't necessarily grown-up approved (of course not at the expense of hurting anyone). Adults have plenty of inside jokes that aren't kid appropriate so it goes both ways. :)
I will say one of my biggest complaint is these damn books are all hardcover and HUGE and expensive! Give me Dogman in paperback and maybe I wouldn't be so mad! LOL
I think people attribute more to the potty humor than it deserves (maybe in both directions). I don't think we need to panic about kids being kids, but I also don't think that's the main thing that draws them in. I got into reading as a kid through Dr. Seuss. I've seen kids learn to read through an obsession with the Rainbow Fish or Winnie the Pooh books. What we need for kids is good quality reading material at their level—a lot of people forget that "kid level" does not mean "low quality writing". I think what makes Dogman effective is that it treats kids like they can actually understand more complex story elements, and they crave being taken seriously that way.
All of this! Right now I’m all for my child erupting in laughter from his room and being immersed in a world that he does not share with his mom and dad. I would love to hear from parents that are ‘past’ this phase / development - it passes, right??
I have one kid OBSESSED with Harry Potter and one with Percy Jackson. I would love some more books about kids just being kids and hanging out and fewer about them saving the world!
We had the same Barnes & Noble childhood, except we went to Borders! Loves those raspberry italian sodas. This is a great essay and I could swap out Dog Man for Big Nate. I cannot stand Big Nate and my child is absolutely obsessed.
My son’s 6 - he reads these, along with Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Investi-Gators, Big Nate comic collections, etc. We read them at bedtime and assign roles and voices. I find them harmless, but maybe I’m living in blind hope that he’ll move on to middle grade fiction rather than sticking here for too long. Or maybe he’ll just get into Manga.
Also: THANK YOU for that perfect encapsulation of the popularity of these books - my son understands more than he can read, so they fill a niche.
Yesterday I read the entirety of Dog Man and the Scarlet Shedder to my two kids, who could not stop laughing. They begged me to order it on Amazon so they could have it sooner than their Scholastic order would arrive. I have to say that its depiction of a world of people staring at their phones to the detriment of their own survival was truly the first time I appreciated the series.
One thing not mentioned, and I hate to bring it up, but... boys tend to like this kind of book, and if it keeps them reading, so be it (IMO).
My son taught himself to read before kindergarten, to keep up with his older sister. When I realized he was serious, we started in with the phonics-books-with-a-wheel that we had used with her, but it was genuinely his idea. But because he started so early, he began losing interest earlier. So I bit my tongue and said here's Diary of a Wimpy Kid, here's Captain Underpants, here's whatever Pokemon book I can find. And it worked for a while.
My only suggestion is to try to alternate with 'real' chapter books, or if there are still Summer Reading Challenges at your library that you participate in, maybe half the books can be on a topic of interest like weather, sports bios, etc.
My mom friend and I were JUST texting about love hate of Dog Man. My kids haven’t discovered it yet because they haven’t started school but I know it’s only a matter of time and I am not looking forward to the day. We don’t censor much for our kids, but we also don’t have a lot of things for them to get into outside of books, mud, and whatever friends bring to the table. Maybe I’ll look at Dog Man like I hope to look at their equivalent of my punk rock music phase—I don’t have to love it but I’ll let them enjoy it and hope the overall butt nonsense doesn’t stick. Fascinating read and murky in-between feels like such an accurate place to land in parenting!
My son went through a big Dog Man and Big Nate phase. Same as others, it got him interested in reading and being excited for books. I didn’t mind the humor and simplicity because it was appropriate for him at the time. Granted we did have to start pushing him away from graphic novels as his reading improved. Either way I think they’re great gateway books!
This is so interesting. I’ve been amassing these, Capt Underpants, and the Stick Kid Diaries or whatever they are called from little free libraries.
My 7 yo son hasn’t taken interest in them yet; he currently reads the Henry and Mudge books on repeat. They are truly wonderful for anyone looking for easy readers about a kid just being a kid.
My Dog Man is the Junie B Jones series. I have such a visceral reaction to them. The grammar and spelling is so atrocious that I actually wondered if it was doing more harm than good.
I don't mind Dog Man for elementary school, but by middle school, I am looking for students to branch out! I especially enjoy the graphic novel adaptations of older, more canonical works. If I can get funding to purchase a set, I'd love to teach the graphic novel of Anne Frank's diary so that kids can read them through a more analytical lens with guidance.
I think Dog Man is pretty mild in comparison to the Ren and Stimpy show my sister and I LOVED as kids. (What the hell was that??? And how did that get by as a kids show? Still, I remember it fondly, spending that time with my sister laughing.) We also had Ren and Stimpy dolls that farted that we adored. Those dolls mysteriously disappeared when we moved… My mom hated it all, but permitted our silliness and farting dolls in the basement playroom.
I read Dog Man with my son, and I honestly feel that fighting poop humor is a losing battle. 🤷♀️Obviously, times/ places are important to teach, otherwise I ignore when necessary. Honestly, one of the most relatable part of the books is where Lil Petey interrupts to tell Petey the most nonsensical jokes, which always end with the punchline “poop!” Petey is frustrated while Lil Petey rolls on the floor laughing at his own joke. It really captures something about parenting but also kids having their own humor and perspective.
You’ve also inspired me to remember my childhood bookstore, the dearly departed Book Star (RIP) in Nashville, TN, an independent bookstore built into what used to be an old movie theater. The kids section was in the balcony and you could look down into the rest of the bookstore (now covered with a glass window.) Am now realizing how frequently that bookstore still lives in my mind as my “happy place.”
Am I the only one who found Dog Man to actually contain some deeper positive content, underneath all the other stuff? True, I haven’t looked at them in a while, but I feel like there were storylines that touched on the concept of kids dealing with divorce, or having a loved one in prison, and even the whole complicated adult’s-parent relationship (as in, you weren’t parented well, and now you’re trying to navigate dealing with your parent while figuring out how to raise your kid at the same time, and essentially fix what was modeled for you…) Was I putting way more into Dog Man than was there? 😆
I totally agree! I was not thrilled with Dog Man at first for all the reasons named in the article, but I think it’s actually gotten quite deep with the Petey family stuff. And I also like that Lil Petey is essentially a foster kid whose parent goes in and out of prison - it’s not an experience that is often depicted in children’s lit, and it’s treated seriously here while in the context of a silly story. I think Dog Man has become pretty brilliant.
No, you're not putting more into it than what was there. I think Pilkey hit his stride shortly after introducing Lil' Petey as a moral foil for Petey. The Petey & Lil' Petey storylines have been a place for these books to surface stories about empathy, forgiveness, complicated families, letting go of toxic familial relationships and the baggage they bring, making thoughtful choices about who we want to be, and a lot more.
I think those stories on their own wouldn't draw my child's attention as much, but in Dog Man they live alongside other content that he wants to return to, and so we read these stories about redemption and reconciliation over and over.
Also, the latest book features a corrupt cop and judge who blatantly abuse their power for personal vendettas. I can't recall anything that taught me that this was even a possibility when I was a child.
I grabbed our Dog Man books over the weekend and did a quick reread. We own four of them, from the middle of the series. And before I get into it, yes, I completely agree about the no-paperbacks issue. And why-oh-why are there no NUMBERS on the books, indicating the order of the series?? 🤪 But moving on.
For Whom The Ball Rolls: I think this was the one that originally made me weep at the ending. You’ve got a parent returning from prison, a family figuring out custody (with longing and sadness, but without animosity), a toxic adult kid-parent relationship that can barely be repaired, and the wisdom of a child, who sees love and hope as the way forward, and teaches it to everyone he meets, most especially his father.
The ending is Bluey-level, in my opinion ❤️ I mean, Bluey has the benefit of music, and pacing, and those voices that tear at your heart lol - and yes, less poop jokes (but some poop jokes!) but I really think Dog Man doesn’t get enough credit for its heartfelt wisdom and genius.
(Oh, I can go on about Mothering Heights too 😂😂)
Love this deep dive :) It's something I've thought about too as a mom of elementary readers who enjoy the books and a librarian at a public library who sees kids gravitate to the Dog Man shelf of the graphic novel section. I'm all for kids enjoying books they love! Sometimes, especially if kids mention they're on repeated readings, I'll also show them other graphic novels that are similarly fun like the Sparks! series by Ian Boothby or Bird & Squirrel by James Burks. (Here is a blog post I wrote with other favorite graphic novels https://maybeillbecomeafarmer.wordpress.com/2021/12/02/giant-list-of-graphic-novels/)
One other thing on this I only thought about recently is the fact that Dav Pilkey is dyslexic. I don't really like that some of the words are misspelled in the book, but a parent of a dyslexic child mentioned to me about how that aspect of the book is appealing to her child because the phonetic spelling is how he would expect it to be spelled. It was a take on it I hadn't thought of before.
This was a great read! Oh man, I also love to hate Dog Man, but I cannot deny my kid eats them up, and it was definitely a gateway to solo reading. FWIW, there are some amazing literary references scattered throughout. My husband and I just read East of Eden and one of the Dog Man books referenced a very key scene, so clearly Dav knows parents are paying attention.
I will say, the potty humor doesn't bother me as much as all the stuff about cops. And if the kids didn't get it from Dog Man, they'd discover it somewhere else. I frequently tell my kid that I don't care if he and his friends talk about poop as long as 1) it isn't disruptive at school & 2) I don't have to hear it. I really think kids should be allowed to have their own private lives and jokes that aren't necessarily grown-up approved (of course not at the expense of hurting anyone). Adults have plenty of inside jokes that aren't kid appropriate so it goes both ways. :)
I will say one of my biggest complaint is these damn books are all hardcover and HUGE and expensive! Give me Dogman in paperback and maybe I wouldn't be so mad! LOL
I think people attribute more to the potty humor than it deserves (maybe in both directions). I don't think we need to panic about kids being kids, but I also don't think that's the main thing that draws them in. I got into reading as a kid through Dr. Seuss. I've seen kids learn to read through an obsession with the Rainbow Fish or Winnie the Pooh books. What we need for kids is good quality reading material at their level—a lot of people forget that "kid level" does not mean "low quality writing". I think what makes Dogman effective is that it treats kids like they can actually understand more complex story elements, and they crave being taken seriously that way.
All of this! Right now I’m all for my child erupting in laughter from his room and being immersed in a world that he does not share with his mom and dad. I would love to hear from parents that are ‘past’ this phase / development - it passes, right??
I have heard it passes from other parents who have survived ;)
My formerly dogan obsessed kid is now equally obsessed with Jane Austen!
I have one kid OBSESSED with Harry Potter and one with Percy Jackson. I would love some more books about kids just being kids and hanging out and fewer about them saving the world!
We had the same Barnes & Noble childhood, except we went to Borders! Loves those raspberry italian sodas. This is a great essay and I could swap out Dog Man for Big Nate. I cannot stand Big Nate and my child is absolutely obsessed.
My son’s 6 - he reads these, along with Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Investi-Gators, Big Nate comic collections, etc. We read them at bedtime and assign roles and voices. I find them harmless, but maybe I’m living in blind hope that he’ll move on to middle grade fiction rather than sticking here for too long. Or maybe he’ll just get into Manga.
Also: THANK YOU for that perfect encapsulation of the popularity of these books - my son understands more than he can read, so they fill a niche.
Yesterday I read the entirety of Dog Man and the Scarlet Shedder to my two kids, who could not stop laughing. They begged me to order it on Amazon so they could have it sooner than their Scholastic order would arrive. I have to say that its depiction of a world of people staring at their phones to the detriment of their own survival was truly the first time I appreciated the series.
One thing not mentioned, and I hate to bring it up, but... boys tend to like this kind of book, and if it keeps them reading, so be it (IMO).
My son taught himself to read before kindergarten, to keep up with his older sister. When I realized he was serious, we started in with the phonics-books-with-a-wheel that we had used with her, but it was genuinely his idea. But because he started so early, he began losing interest earlier. So I bit my tongue and said here's Diary of a Wimpy Kid, here's Captain Underpants, here's whatever Pokemon book I can find. And it worked for a while.
My only suggestion is to try to alternate with 'real' chapter books, or if there are still Summer Reading Challenges at your library that you participate in, maybe half the books can be on a topic of interest like weather, sports bios, etc.
My mom friend and I were JUST texting about love hate of Dog Man. My kids haven’t discovered it yet because they haven’t started school but I know it’s only a matter of time and I am not looking forward to the day. We don’t censor much for our kids, but we also don’t have a lot of things for them to get into outside of books, mud, and whatever friends bring to the table. Maybe I’ll look at Dog Man like I hope to look at their equivalent of my punk rock music phase—I don’t have to love it but I’ll let them enjoy it and hope the overall butt nonsense doesn’t stick. Fascinating read and murky in-between feels like such an accurate place to land in parenting!
My son went through a big Dog Man and Big Nate phase. Same as others, it got him interested in reading and being excited for books. I didn’t mind the humor and simplicity because it was appropriate for him at the time. Granted we did have to start pushing him away from graphic novels as his reading improved. Either way I think they’re great gateway books!
This is so interesting. I’ve been amassing these, Capt Underpants, and the Stick Kid Diaries or whatever they are called from little free libraries.
My 7 yo son hasn’t taken interest in them yet; he currently reads the Henry and Mudge books on repeat. They are truly wonderful for anyone looking for easy readers about a kid just being a kid.
My Dog Man is the Junie B Jones series. I have such a visceral reaction to them. The grammar and spelling is so atrocious that I actually wondered if it was doing more harm than good.
Have you tried DORY FANTASMAGORY for your Junie B reader?
Love Dory!
Ooo thank you! The cover of these books familiar. I’ll have to request from the library.
This goes hand in hand with this Slate article I just found: https://slate.com/culture/2024/05/kids-reading-fun-books-decline-by-nine-crisis.html
I don't mind Dog Man for elementary school, but by middle school, I am looking for students to branch out! I especially enjoy the graphic novel adaptations of older, more canonical works. If I can get funding to purchase a set, I'd love to teach the graphic novel of Anne Frank's diary so that kids can read them through a more analytical lens with guidance.
I think Dog Man is pretty mild in comparison to the Ren and Stimpy show my sister and I LOVED as kids. (What the hell was that??? And how did that get by as a kids show? Still, I remember it fondly, spending that time with my sister laughing.) We also had Ren and Stimpy dolls that farted that we adored. Those dolls mysteriously disappeared when we moved… My mom hated it all, but permitted our silliness and farting dolls in the basement playroom.
I read Dog Man with my son, and I honestly feel that fighting poop humor is a losing battle. 🤷♀️Obviously, times/ places are important to teach, otherwise I ignore when necessary. Honestly, one of the most relatable part of the books is where Lil Petey interrupts to tell Petey the most nonsensical jokes, which always end with the punchline “poop!” Petey is frustrated while Lil Petey rolls on the floor laughing at his own joke. It really captures something about parenting but also kids having their own humor and perspective.
You’ve also inspired me to remember my childhood bookstore, the dearly departed Book Star (RIP) in Nashville, TN, an independent bookstore built into what used to be an old movie theater. The kids section was in the balcony and you could look down into the rest of the bookstore (now covered with a glass window.) Am now realizing how frequently that bookstore still lives in my mind as my “happy place.”