Member Reviews

'The Knights of Boo'Gar' with story and art by Art Roche is a heroic tale of questing for lost items. Also, there are lots of puns about snot.

King Mewkus in the kingdom of Boo'Gar has a problem. Princess Phlegm's pet goat has been kidnapped and the king must call on the Knights of Boo'Gar. The only problem is that most of them have retired and only young Sir Rowland is left. Can Rowland and his pet turtle save the kingdom.

This was a fun read with some nice surprises along the way. The illustrations are lots of fun too, and I think young readers would have lots of laughs reading this.

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I actually enjoyed the story and illustrations so much I bought a physical copy of the book!

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The Knights of Boo'Gar by Art Roche is an illustrated novel perfect for reluctant readers. Storm clouds hang over the kingdom of Boo’Gar. The cantaloupe crop has failed. There is no money in the treasury. Even kind old King Mewkus has started to doubt himself. Can things get any worse? Of COURSE they can! When Princess Phlema’s beloved goat is kidnapped, King Mewkus and his trusted wizard must assemble those fearsome warriors for justice—The Knights of Boo’Gar! There are just a few small problems. Sir Justin ditched the knights to start a boy band. Sir Daphne traded in her sword for a real estate license. Sir John shed his armor to become a tax attorney. That just leaves young (and short) Sir Rowland and his trusty pet turtle, Angelina. Okay … so maybe there’s a LOT of problems.

The Knights of Boo’Gar is a graphic novel that will appeal to many reluctant readers and fan of silly or gross comedy. The puns of grossnes got to be a bit obvious and overwhelming to me- Boo'Gar, Phlema, Mewkus, and so on. This will entertain and keep some turning the pages to see what snort worthy thing will happen next. However, I think more mature (not in regards to age) readers might grow tired of it, as this parent did. I think the combination of humor, adventure, font size and artwork will appeal to a number of young readers. I already can think of several students in my elementary school library that will gravitate toward the book and share it with their friends. I think that my favorite part of the book is Princess Phlema's character. Rather than needing saving, she is the one that saves the day in the end. This made me happier than any of the gross out humor in the book.

The Knights of Boo’Gar is a fast-paced adventure filled with plenty of illustrations and gross humor to amuse readers. I think reluctant readers and those that just love a fast, fun, and more than a little gross read will enjoy this book.

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Did not finish this book. Although I'm sure that it was cute for children of some sort and I work with kids...I just did not find snot funny.

I was given a copy of this ARC from the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review. All of the above comments are my express opinions and no one else's.

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Let's be frank: this book is built on gross-out humor and less than subtle world play. Characters are fairly one dimensional and the plot is rather scattered. Its the sort of book that will be funny once but won't hold up to a second reading. Choose this one for simple entertainment, nothing more.

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A spoiled princess interrupts a ridiculous chess-like game between the king and his wizard—best thing that could have happened to it—to wail that the royal goat has been stolen, possibly by a cheese lover.
Example of the kind of line you can expect here: “She sobbed and sobbed, just like anyone would if they lost their goat.” The narrator’s princess-y attitude, along with the wizard’s snark. . . the king would have called it subversive, if it didn’t go over his head.
Childish puns abound. My favorite character early on, as expected, is the turtle, who likes to watch her human go crazy. (But I haven’t met the goat yet.) The princess is not just wearing a tool belt, but her favorite tool belt. (Yet she’s still majorly spoiled!) Lest you forget this is for kids, there’s plenty of boogers and farts.
“We have names and feelings just like you. We not just scary plot device.” This author really wants to get something off his chest, but then that’s no surprise when he makes religious figures the bad guys.
There’s a chapter at the end on medieval devices, which doesn’t seem to fit the story.
With only a few cartoony drawings, mostly of the king, amongst the large-print prose, it’s not enough to call this a picture book. What it is is a silly and occasionally funny story for pre-teens.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

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