Hot Dog and Bob: Adventure 1

July 31, 2006
Copiously illustrated with wacky cartoons, the debut Hot Dog and Bob caper introduces a normal kid named Bob, who discovers a talking hot dog in his lunchbox. The wiener explains that he is from the planet Dogzalot, where Big Bun commands superhero hot dogs, dispatching them on missions "whenever there's big alien trouble on another planet." Because his memory is murky, Hot Dog needs a partner and tells Bob he's the boy for the job. Before Hot Dog can explain his mission on earth, Bob's teacher morphs into Cheese Face, an "evil mutant alien pizza person" (oozing melted mozzarella from every pore). After she turns most of the students into walking, talking pizza slices, Hot Dog flies out of Bob's lunchbox to save the day but can't remember "the plan" and has forgotten that he neglected to relay it to Bob. Pushing buttons on his bun, Hot Dog emits streams of mustard and other condiments, drowning Cheese Face in a "sick sea of slime." But—gasp!—she resurfaces, only to be defeated in a fittingly kooky finale. Those who relish the zaniest sort of slapstick will eat this up and dig into the second helping—Hot Dog and Bob and the Particularly Pesky Attack of the Pencil People
(ISBN 0-8118-4464-1)—due the same month. Ages 6-10.

September 1, 2006
Gr 2-4 -One day, a talking hot dog appears in Bob -s lunch box. He has been sent from the planet Dogzalot to help ward off trouble -and trouble (or chaos) does arise in this off-the-wall, zany early chapter book. The fifth grader -s usually sweet teacher, Miss Lamphead, gets tummy trouble, turns into a giant evil-alien pizza named -Cheese Face, - and tries to take over the classroom by turning her students into pizza soldiers. Thanks to Hot Dog -s array of condiment weapons: ketchup, mustard, relish, as well as a take-out meal from a Chinese restaurant, Miss Lamphead returns to her normal self and literally -hurls - (yes, vomits) out the students whom she has eaten. A superhero in the form of a hot dog, a teacher who transforms into a pizza, and bullies by the name of Barfalot, Slugburt, and Pigburt all make for an outlandish and ridiculous cast of characters and events. Wacky black-and-white cartoons appear on every page. Boys looking for something -gross - and fans of Dav Pilkey -s -Captain Underpants - books (Scholastic) are the most likely audience for this title, but it is a bit over-the-top even for them." -Jennifer Cogan, Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown, PA"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.