A New Dog Man Series! Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Book Review

Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Book Review by the Hobbit. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog. 

Know Before you Read

Book: Dog Man: Big Jim Begins
Author and Illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Categories/Genres: Graphic Novel; humor; adventure
Length: 224 pages
Date Released: December 3, 2024
Suggested Age Range: 8-11; adult
Warnings: None

Big Jim Begins Short Summary

Big Jim (AKA Commander Cupcake) begins (happily) another day in cat jail with Grampa. Grampa wants out, and Big Jim grants him this…if Grampa will become his sidekick – Sprinkles. As we move through the story Big Jim and Grampa both recount origin stories involving UFOs – and soon one does appear, threatening to make all of the earth cute. Will they be able to save the day?

Big Jim Begins Book Review

Big Jim Begins is the first book in what appears to be a new Dog Man series, using the familiar Dog Man characters but with some of the previous supporting cast taking the lead. This book ends somewhat unresolved and tells us that “Big Jim Believes” will be the next in the series (the first Dog Man book to end on somewhat of a cliffhanger). It also looks like the series may explore more origins (is Greg the Puppy a young Dog Man?). Other than Dog Man, the supporting cast is there but does not play a major role – this is Big Jim and Grampa’s story.

Similar to the last book, Scarlet Shedder, Pilkey does not somewhat loosely adapt or use a novel as the basis for his story – although he does list a number of inspirations at the back, as always. And as in the last book, we have one continuous thread. We do have flashbacks, but the style is a little different than most of the earlier books.

Pilkey frequently returns to imagination. Using your imagination is crucial. As usual, he mixes in a number of moral lessons using adventure and humor. The new direction is intriguing, as the book has retained all of the humor and fun of the prior books. I am looking forward to seeing where these go.

Big Jim Begins Book Discussion Questions

1. Imagination, and the use of imagination, is a constant theme in this book. How good are you with imagination? Why is imagination important?
2. Big Jim always tries to be positive, even when things are not going well. Do you know any people like Big Jim? Are they fun to be around?
3. How can people like Big Jim help us when things are not going well?
4. Big Jim tells us that we all make jails based on the lies that we tell ourselves. What are some of the ones he mentions?
5. How can helping other people when we are feeling down help us to feel better?

Favorite Big Jim Begins Quotes

• Big Jim: For we are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams
• Momma and Daddy: just remember, when something bad happens all you need to do is ask yourself one question… how can I turn this bad thing into something good?
• Big Jim: we are all in jails of some kind, imprisoned by the stories we tell ourselves
• Big Jim: Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.
• Big Jim: new beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.
• Big Jim: Sometimes, the thing we need the most is the thing we must give.
• Gramdpa: This story has more loose ends than a spaghetti dinner!

For further reading, you can check out some other Dog Man Reviews here

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