How to Catch an Invisible Bad Guy

by Alice Walstead, Andy Elkerton (Illustrator)

The next exhilarating adventure in the NYT and USA Today bestselling How to Catch series is all about catching a Bad Guy who escaped his villain show!

The How to Catch kids are having fun at a carnival when all of a sudden a Bad Guy falls out of the movie they are watching. When the Bad Guy is convinced that the kids' catching net is the ultimate world-domination device, he does everything he can to steal it! But even a Bad Guy at a carnival deserves to have some fun, right?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2025

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

We are huge "How to catch a…" book fans in this home!! I know there are a lot, and we own several of them. I was excited when they approved my request for this one.

How to Catch an Invisible Bad Guy made me pause for a moment. I hoped it wouldn't give my kid nightmares because he has a fear of bad guys. This story was not that at all. It was cute, and they were looking for him throughout a carnival. I was scared when we got to the clown (can't stand them) page. We enjoyed the rhyming, and the story flowed well. I like other books in the series more, but we still enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Wonderland and Netgalley for an e-ARC. All thoughts an opinions are my own.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother of two here, and the How to Catch books, by Alice Walstead, are some of our favorites! How to Catch a Leprechaun and How to Catch an Elf are definitely favorites in our household but How to Catch an Invisible Bad Guy was so fun, and a rhyming children’s book is always a major plus for our family. Our favorite scene was on the rollercoaster, as they tried to spot the Invisible Bad Guy by throwing slime on him. It was the perfect book for my 8-year-old to read to my 5-year-old! The illustrations are beautiful, and the cover is so creative! Alice Walstead is so creative with all of these, of course we would recommend this to another family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for this eARC!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebook Kids for an advanced read copy of one of the latest "How to Catch a..." book!
How to Catch a Bad Guy by Alice Walstead is a fun read for young elementary students.  My first grade daughter and elementary special education students absolutely love this series.  The book contains lots of rhyming words and is great to help students work on tone and fluency when reading.  We always love to see if the main character will finally get "caught" in the end!
I would recommend this book and others from this growing series for preschoolers and early elementary aged students!

[Ollie Skyba · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read several books from the How to Catch series, and my favorite so far has been How to Catch Santa Claus. Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite resonate with me. Maybe I missed something, or perhaps it’s part of a bigger concept that I wasn’t fully prepared for before reading. The idea of catching an invisible bad guy is intriguing, but I didn’t feel as engaged with the story as I have with others in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC—while this is my honest review, I’m sorry to say it didn’t quite spark for me the way I’d hoped.

[Fallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

After our first read, my 4.5 year old said that this book was too scary, because bad guys are scary. It was then the top requested book to read for the following four nights in a row… so I guess it wasn’t actually that scary?

We’ve read a few books from the “How To Catch A..” series, and this had the same kids in the illustrations and an easy to follow rhyming scheme.

We look forward to seeing what else this series will come up with!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC copy of this book.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “How to Catch” series is a favorite in our house. We love seeing what the kids come up with to try and trap what their prey. We also loved finding the ‘invisible bad guy’ in each scene. The story as a whole captivated our interest from start to finish. The artwork is absolutely perfect for this story - it’s eye catching and easily shows what’s happening scene by scene in the story. I’d definitely recommend picking this one up.

Advanced copy courtesy of Sourcebooks Kids

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Sourcebooks Wonderland through Edelweiss+.
The latest in this series is a lot of fun. Do study the artwork and see the various details included as they group tries to catch the invisible bad guy. Some of the text does not flow as well as other volumes but the overall concept remains true.

[Little Batties · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is deceiving. While you expect a story about kids trying to catch the "Invisible Bad Guy" it didn't contain as much action as I thought it would. However, the rhymes and illustrations are engaging, and I am sure younger students will enjoy it for that alone, it still felt like there was something missing but I guess it is too invisible for me to see.

[Jakki (BizzyBookNook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this one is one of my favorites to date! This story was very clever and fun. There was so much to see, even outside of the main story line. My kids had a blast looking through all the pictures and seeing what they could discover. I can't wait to add this to our "How To Catch" shelf!

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast read within the series of books.

[Bookish Venturess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute story. My daughter loved it. There are some big words that had to be explained but we both enjoyed it. It's silly and goes well with the rest of the How To Catch Series.

[Nicole Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was odd.

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young children will enjoy the capers of the bad guy as he uses the special catcher to make himself disappear and evade all attempts to catch him.