Dungzilla by James Foley

Fremantle Press, 2017. ISBN 9781925164831
(Age: 8+) Recommended. Themes: Humour, Dung, Adventure, Monsters. Charli Stevenson, the world's foremost biologist even though he is shy of eleven years of age, comes along to see Sally Tinker, a similarly foremost inventor, being under twelve, along with her baby brother Joe. Charli brings along Douglas, an Egyptian dung beetle. Douglas' habit of eating dung leaves Sally rather cold,
but Douglas becomes a real monster when he is zapped by Sally's invention, the atomic inflation/deflation engine, the Resizenator.
Being enormous Douglas must fliy off in search of lots of dung to satisfy his now enormous appetite. Joe and Charli follow hoping to reduce his size but find he has had time to gather a huge ball of dung. But Joe is there to save the day.
This is an engaging graphic novel with lively drawings honing in on the faces of the characters, and includes jokes about the act of reading and writing, which will have appeal to the readers as will the highly detailed diagrams. This is an entertaining family adventure with monsters, and lots of nasty things associated with dung, like dirty nappies and poo.
Fran Knight