  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 09/15/2010 Caveboys Ook and Gluk live in Caveland, Ohio, during the Stone Age, 500,001 BC, and they spend a lot of time annoying Chief Goppernopper, the ruler of Caveland, and fighting with Mog-Mog the Tyrannosaurus rex. One day, Goppernopper and the boys come across people from the future stealing natural resources. Ook and Gluk, along with baby Tyrannosaurus Lily, pass through the time machine into 2222 AD—a future in which Goppernopper Enterprises is reaping huge profits by despoiling the past—and learn kung fu to take on the evil corporation and save their own time. Pilkey uses the same style of art and irreverent humor as in his Captain Underpants books (in fact, this book is ostensibly created by the fourth-grade heroes of those books, George Beard and Harold Hutchins). Ook and Gluk—and all the inhabitants of Caveland for that matter—speak in poor, misspelled grammar (“Me shure hope this works”). This wild graphic novel will appeal to those who like silly adventures, puke-based humor, and kung-fu fighting. - Copyright 2010 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2010 Ook and Gluk have it pretty good as cavemen-sure, life is harsh and short and dinosaurs and evil chiefs are bummers, but they are best friends who eagerly welcome adventure. When an eons-distant relative of the chief pops back in time to steal resources (in 2222, where he’s from, there is nothing but pollution and buildings left), Ook and Gluk have two slightly oafish but rather dangerous bad guys with which to contend, and they transport into the future to get proper training about how to free their enslaved cave peers, and stop the evil Goppernoppers. There is, of course, plenty of potty humor and dumb puns, but there’s also a bit of romance and some philosophical debate as Ook and Gluk mature over the course of several years of training. Like the Captain Underpants tales, this narrative is ostensibly authored by schoolboys Harold and George, complete with kid misspellings; as with that series, this title offers bonus features throughout, including flip-o-rama sections, humorous asides, and a section on how to turn boring English into awesome caveman speech. The casual, messy illustrations and oversize, clear font will be familiar elements to Pilkey fans, and the new characters, even with caveman details, are very much the same two (mostly harmless) bad boys as Harold and George. With the next graphic novel adventure promising caveman space exploration, it is clear that Pilkey has another series in mind, and he continues to offer the exact goofy, quirky details that his kind of reader will find perfect. AS - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. School Library Journal - 11/01/2010 Gr 3–6—The year is 500,001 BC. The town is Caveland, OH. Ook Schadowski and Gluk Jones have a knack for getting under the skin of no-good Chief Goppernopper, the ruler of Caveland. When one of his distant descendants uses a portal to travel back in time from AD 2222 and steal natural resources, our heroes jump into action, traveling to the future, where they learn kung fu and eventually put a stop to the evildoers. The humor is completely immature, and for the target audience, completely hilarious. Billed as The Second Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins—The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (Scholastic, 2002) was the first—the book is crafted to look like it was written and illustrated by kids, employing rough black-and-white pencil and watercolor artwork. Also in keeping with the ruse, words are often misspelled—a fact that will drive many teachers and parents bonkers, but will likely have little effect on the spelling skills of youngsters. Few books can inspire the level of devotion seen by the "Captain Underpants" series, but Pilkey has likely re-created that feat with the joyous Ook and Gluk, a book destined to fly off the shelves and circulate until the cover falls off.—Travis Jonker, Dorr Elementary School, MI - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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