The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future

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