The Amazing Mini-Mutts

DC Super-Pets

by Donald Lemke

On planet Earth, KRYPTO, ACE, SWIFTY, and other SUPER-PET pooches visit the Bowwow Boot Camp, a school for up-and-coming pups with powers. They're ready to show this new breed of heroes a few old tricks. Unfortunately, Brainicat, an evil cyborg kitty from the planet Colu, wants to teach these canine cadets a lesson as well. Using his hyper-forces, the villain shrinks the Bowwow Boot Camp to microscopic size and traps the mini mutts inside a glass bottle. To escape, these prep-school pups must step up and discover their own super hero identities.

Genres: Juvenile, Superheroes, Chapter Books, Animals, Fiction, Adventure

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Donald Lemke works as a children's book editor. He has written dozens of all-age comics and children's books for Capstone, HarperCollins, Running Press, and more. Donald lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his beautiful wife, Amy, toddling toddler, Cleo, and a not-so-golden retriever named Paulie.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was never into super heroes, but would have liked to read about super hero pets. So props to DC for that.

That being said, it’s not very good, and has weird vocabulary choices. There’s some different fonts, ala Geronimo Stilton, but less overwhelming.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend these, but I think kids will find them anyway. And if it keeps kids engaged with reading I’m not mad about it.

The weirdest part was that the two heroes of the story were supposed to be teeny tiny, but in all the pictures they looked close to the same size as the other cadets. I guess they didn’t get resized though, so they’ll stay smaller? Shrug.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good recommendation for superhero loving kids and a lot of fun. Like a cross between a beginning chapter and a superhero comic. There could be a bit more substance there but if they love it and are reading and learning new words then that’s good for me. Also I didn’t realize the artist also did tiny titans and lives in Chicago. That’s pretty cool.

[Jessica Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for children who like Adventures

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with lots of characters! Vibrant illustrations and a good story.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Ds read aloud to me for his reader.

Ds loves this series and we have three new books from this year's releases. This book lived up to our expectations and ds particularly enjoyed the book being populated with several super-pets that we have met in past books. A fun story with lots of action even though the "bad guy" Brainicat doesn't do much except kidnap the super dogs. We did find this book at just a slightly higher reading level than usual causing ds some problems and we employed shared reading where I would take a turn reading every now and then when he needed a breather. However he once again loved the story and the over visuals and graphic design of this book (and whole series) and has chosen another Super-Pets book for his next reader. This series is a great incentive for reluctant readers.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krypto and several of the Super Dogs are ready to train their newest batch of mutts. However, their training is interrupted by the evil Brainicat who shrinks and captures them all. Will the old dogs teach the pups new tricks, or will they "bow wowt" on their training?

Thank you Capstone for allowing me to read this egally. I can't believe I hadn't discovered this series before! I am definitely stocking up my library with many of the titles in this series!

[Kim Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex (and Troy) love these books about the "DC Superpets". They are not graphic novels. There have chapters and some pictures. Alex will voluntarily grab one of these Superpets books to read. He will even read them aloud to Troy, who loves them as well. This is the only title in the series that I have read because my boys take care of most of the reading themselves. All I have to do is make sure they have the books available!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super heroics can't get any cuter than this! The adorable Krypto and his crew do their best to battle the pets of evil villains in the DC universe. A great beginning chapter book for 1st -3rd graders.

Geddy read it June 2013 by himself.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly little story about two little tiny mutts that use their own strengths to be superheroes. There are not many pictures, but the writing and story are very simple to read and understand. All the dogs are pets of famous superheroes which children would probably find fun.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun chapter book that is maybe the next step after easy readers. The illustrated format is fin, and engaging.

Copy courtesy netgalley

[Jean-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

7-year-old son loves reading this series to me. Unfortunately (read: fortunately;-)), he only has 6 more books in this series to read. So if you have a super-pet question, he's the guy to ask. :-)

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

People who like cute little adorable poochies should read this book because the puppies were so cute!
--Hailey