Published by Scholastic

Summary:  A group of inflatable toy friends (flamingo, donut, cactus, watermelon, and raft) live in a water park and help each other out in all kinds of situations, like when they hear there’s a new wave pool opening on the other side of the park.  Seems like inflatables wouldn’t be able to travel, but where there’s a will there’s a way for this crowd.  When they get to the pool, though, Flamingo discovers that his worst nightmare is living there, and they all have to quickly find a way back home again (spoiler alert: this involves a helium tank).  There’s a happy ending for all, and I’m not full of hot air when I tell you book 2 is available now, and book 3 will arrive in October.  128 pages; grades 2-5.

Pros:  Summer may be coming to an end, but you can pretend you’re still at a pool party with this funny group of inflatable friends.  This is sure to be a hit with fans of Dog Man and other graphic novels.

Cons:  This has the look of a Branches book, but it’s more of a graphic novel than those are.  I think a larger format with color would have worked better.

September 1, 2022 at 03:59PM Janet Dawson