My Real Take: Dog Man

When I was in lower primary, I saw some of my friends carrying this book series around. The books always had colourful covers, and the main character was a dog (one of my favourite pet animals in the world!) so I decided to try reading the book. My parents even bought 3 of the books for me to see if I would like it. Turned out I didn't. Here is my honest review of the Dog Man series.

When I read it: Lower Primary

Story: Dog man is exactly like his name, a dog and a man combined. He is a police officer and he helps his friends in the city fight crime.

Illustration: Colourful comic with every page full of action.

Overall (parents' view): We didn't want to continue this series. The book uses language and tones that may not be suitable for young kids. We felt it didn't bring out the story through the words and it was like watching a stop motion cartoon.

Police Dog

Dog Man is a crime fighting half-animal half-man creature that ends up mysteries with his friends. He is smart, funny and always stuck in silly situations. The story centres around him and his adventures. The funny-ness (if that is such a word) are the silly kinds similar to what you see on some cartoons, where Dog Man ends up in trouble or does something funny. Some of my friends say that the first few books are extremely interesting, but the story slowly becomes a little repetitive and boring as they progress.

What I didn't like about it

The comic is colourful and most of the words are the characters talking or their thoughts. I didn't like that it lacks the description in words, that other books had to bring out the story. The book seems to be written to make you laugh rather than an actual story of adventure. My parents also didn't like the use of words such as 'idiot' or 'dumb'. There are some misspellings in the books that may confuse you.

Parent's take

While it may be appealing to your kids as their first "thick" book, we feel there are many better non-comic alternatives. We liked the colourful and vivid illustration, but it wasn't one where we could read it to the kids to get into the story together. That being said, it might be a good one if your little one hasn't yet picked up a book on their own, just to get started.