Dylan the Villain

November 9, 2015
The utterly normal Snivels find themselves the parents of an exceptional child—a supervillain.
But like all loving parents, they applaud his achievements (“You... are the very best and cleverest super-villain in the whole wide world!”) and send him to the perfect school: an academy for the “villainous and vile.” But school offers young Dylan a rude awakening—as it so often does to the doted-upon child—in the form of Addison Van Malice, whose blue hair, eye patch, chic costume, and icy demeanor scream villainy. Is it possible that Dylan isn’t so special after all? Readers will easily pick up on the satiric notes in Campbell’s comedy, and his jaunty, vivid characters will remind some of them of a Pixar film (in fact, Dylan’s purple eye mask, a tip-off that he’s bad to the bone, resembles the ones worn by the stars of The Incredibles). To his credit, Campbell (The Mermaid and the Shoe) doesn’t engineer a rapprochement between his two rivals—the book ends both Addison and Dylan giving as good as they get. Ages 4–6. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words.

December 1, 2015
Dylan Snivels wants to make a name for himself. Many kids would find being called Dylan the Villain a source of distress. But Dylan Snivels considers the nickname a badge of honor. Born with a mask over his eyes and a wicked smile, he attends Astrid Rancid's Academy for the Villainous & Vile--a school with a refreshingly honest name. His parents are always assuring him that he's "the very best and cleverest super-villain in the whole wide world!" But he has competition: Addison Van Malice's evil laugh is 10 times crazier than his, and her robot might win the diabolical-robot contest. (It has a freeze ray and a shrink ray.) The battle ends on a cliffhanger, which is fitting for a superhero story but a little anticlimactic in a picture book. Campbell paints great Rube Goldberg-style devices, though, and the book is sprinkled with terrific jokes. The funniest passage will comfort a lot of parents: "super-villain babies are much like any others. They don't like bedtime. They throw their food." The story feels slight, but the details are clever enough to make it worth reading: students wear hats shaped like shark fins and land mines, for instance. Dylan and Addison are both white, but Astrid Rancid's has a few students of color (Principal Sinister is a green, warty monster). Dylan may have his flaws, but he does his name proud. (Picture book. 4-8)

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January 1, 2016

K-Gr 3-Mr. and Mrs. Snivels's baby boy is a supervillain, so the two do what any good parents would and work to convince their son that he's the cleverest and best supervillain in the whole world. Raising a supervillain is not so different from raising any other child, they discover. Bedtime protests, mealtime messes, and an allergic reaction to purple parsnip preserves make him much like all of the other children. However, when Dylan is enrolled at Astrid Rancid's Academy for the Villainous & Vile, he is upset to meet a classmate more clever and evil than he: Addison Van Malice. Her one-upping fuels Dylan's jealousy, culminating in each of their worst ploys yet at the hands of a contest to create the most diabolical robot. Campbell's watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are emotive and at the same time inviting, despite the vile nature of the characters. Children will see themselves in the faces of Dylan's classmates, a diverse cast of supervillain children all seeking to thrive in their new environment. The text is fanciful and does a lot with playing on the idea that a life of evil parallels the lives of children and isn't so different, give or take the occasional robot armed with an astro-plasm cannon. Silliness aside, the story may give readers pause. Early on, Dylan has a severe allergic reaction, breaking out in hives all over his body, and is rushed to the doctor. At story's end, Addison enacts revenge on Dylan by smearing the contest's trophy in parsnip preserves, the food to which Dylan is allergic. This act of revenge could easily be fatal to anyone in real life living with food allergies and is something adults will want to explain carefully before sharing this story with any child. VERDICT An otherwise outstanding picture book with a flaw too significant to overlook.-Matthew C. Winner, Ducketts Lane Elementary School, Elkridge, MD

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2016
Preschool-K With maniacal glee, villain-in-training Dylan grins from the cover of Campbell's latest picture book. Though not evil themselves, the Snivels couldn't be more proud of their little boy: his costume is super scary, his laugh super crazy, and his inventions extra-super villainous. Brimming with confidence, Dylan enrolls at Astrid Rancid's Academy for the Villainous and Vile, where he is knocked down a few pegs by the white-caped and blue-haired Addison Van Malice. When a competition is announced to build the most diabolical robot, he is determined to beat Addison at last: That hideous trophy, ' vows Dylan, will be mine! All MINE!' And he is not afraid to employ underhanded tactics to get it. Best known for his illustrations in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery-winning Flora and Ulysses (2013), Campbell's depictions of Dylan's antics are filled with humorous details: hand-wringing while plotting and a range of facial expressions as he revels in villainy. Soft watercolor and colored pencil illustrations counterbalance the story's nefarious undercurrents for a playful take on first experiences with competition.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)