Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Family movie night? There's an app for that

Download our new mobile app on iOS and Android.

Parents' Guide to

Cat Kid Comic Club, Book 1

By Carrie Kingsley, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Fun, irreverent characters share poop jokes, life lessons.

Cat Kid Comic Club, Book 1 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 13+

This book is trash for the sake of trash. Stay away! No substance!

I was APPALLED at the content of this book. Murder, violence, name calling, incessant potty humor (that becomes plain annoying, honestly). There are several attempts to turn junk into a positive message, but it isn’t fooling anyone- this is trash for the sake of trash. Some examples include: “It’s fun to be dead.” “‘But what about the violence? What about the potty jokes? What about the reckless disregard for the sanctity of life and stuff?’ ‘Dude, that’s normal’.” “Hey ya, stupes” and “Hey, losers!” Honestly, the book summed itself up nicely in one quote: “It’s all death and violence and fart jokes!” My MIL bought our 7-year-old the series and they’re ALL going in the TRASH where they belong.
age 12+

nuclear bombs and earth's destruction

oh boy. I already had gotten my 6 year old son the 2nd book after leafing through. my husband got him Book 1. my son asked me to read one of the stories. the character Supa Fail, causes injuries and then sets off a nuclear bomb that destroys the earth. I showed it to my husband and he said, well it was done in a silly way. so, it desensitizes them to nuclear bombs? I don't like it. I had to pick an age. 12? I don't know.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (6 ):

Author Dav Pilkey knows that kids can giggle about poop jokes while asking big, philosophical questions; he's created a funny, deep, wonderfully irreverent graphic novel to match that spirit. Cat Kid Comic Club is a quick read with enough advanced vocabulary words sprinkled in to offer a challenge, and the illustrations are fast, colorful, and fun. There's also real depth here, but never so much that the story takes too serious a turn. On one page, characters are coming to terms with the hypocrisy of judging kids' artistic content differently than adults' work while only a few pages earlier there was a barrage of fart jokes. The message of persistence is strong here, and applies to more than developing artistic talent.

Book Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate