The Bad Guys Episode 1 product reviews

From the cover alone I had no interest in reading this book. To be honest I had no idea what the creatures were and from the title alone I figured it was some animal mafia book. I won this with two other books and after reading the back put it to one side. Last night I needed a new book to read so decided to read the reviews from other KIWIreview members, when I saw two people scored it ten out of ten and saw it was a fast read I became intrigued.

I will put it out there I hate snakes, terrified of them so could understand them as being part of the yucky bad guys. However, I really love Sharks and Wolves and don't really have an opinion on Piranahas. So I decided to just read it and see what would happen. To be honest I was not prepared for the reaction I had I was laughing out loud and really enjoyed it. The rap sheets were hilarious and don't get me started on them trying to save the cat up the tree.

I got my husband just to read the rap sheets and he was 'slightly amused' and then read the story to my girls today and they were both laughing away especially with the cat up the tree. Our big fluffy boy was on my knee during this and as I was getting louder and louder with my meows he freaked out and ran away which really set the girls off.

The book is more like a cartoon with pictures and funky styled all over the place writing. Its fast and funny and you can finish in about fifteen minutes. Both girls are wanting to read the second book and they both wanted to read it again straight after I finished. I think its well suited to any age group as is just funny and silly. A real enjoyable story and a valuable lesson about not judging a book by its cover.

I was instantly drawn to this book by the title and it was enough to prompt further research to see if it would be something that my son would like - every game he plays seems to involve some sort of bad guy. I needn't have worried, this book exceeded all of my expectations.

This is the first book in the series and it's about a group of bad guys (Mr Wolf, Mr Shark, Mr Snake and Mr Piranha) who want to become good guys - in this book Mr Wolf is the instigator and the rest of the gang are dragged along for the ride. As each character is introduced we're also given their suspect rap sheet which provides some humorous insights into their characters.

It's a fairly quick read with lots of black and white illustrations on each page and follows an easy to read graphic/comic strip format. With a few simple sentences on each page this is the perfect book for encouraging independent reading and my son (almost 8) couldn't wait to dive in and he giggled his way through it with no problems.

The story is fast paced, humorous and action packed. It not only provides laughs for young readers but I found it to be rather witty and loved the references to a well known fairy tale.

This is one series that we'll definitely be following and I can't wait to see what crazy antics this group of bad/good guys gets up to in the next book.

If I was to guess at the target audience for The Bad Guys I would say boys 8 or 9 years old. The appeal is so much wider. I found myself enjoying it as an adult as I read it to my 5 and 7 year old daughters who were laughing out loud. We read the book in one sitting. I have a feeling if I had had the sequel they would have begged me to read that to them the same night too.

The bad guys is lead by The Big Bad Wolf who wants to change his reputation and become a hero by doing good deeds. His reluctant gang members include a snake, a shark and a piranha. As you can imagine their good deeds go wrong as everyone is scared of them. As an adult this entertaining book got me pondering: Can a criminal ever truly be reformed? Do we unfairly judge people on the actions of their family? This is pretty heavy stuff which my girls didn't pick up on but an older child might.

This book is great for a reluctant reader. The size and thickness of the book means it doesn't look like a simple book yet most pages only have a few sentences each. It is divided into chapters (something older kids books have) so can easily be put down if they don't wish to read it in one sitting. Just as importantly the book appeals to kids with its humour.

I will be putting this on the bookshelf for my girls to read to themselves when they are more capable. I will also be getting books in the series as I'm certain they will be just as popular.