by Ian Boothby and Nina Matsumoto. New York, NY: Scholastic 2018)
This book is all about breaking expectations while having a blast and saving the day. Charlie and August are friends. One is a brilliant inventor, the other a crack pilot. They also happen to be cats who have escaped a laboratory and invented a mechanical dog (Sparks) who saves people from harm. Things get a bit hairy though when Charlie and August find they have different goals. There’s also a determined reporter who will stop at nothing to figure out what’s behind the “dog” Sparks. Starred review from Booklist.
See how to use this book to teach onomatopoeia in Worth A Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal Literacy (pp. 83-84; 101-102).
Grades 2-5