Over the course of four books now, Dav Pilkey has achieved the thankless task of making the arts fun for children. While many have taken to more droll approaches to lesson plans, Pilkey understands that the easiest way to a young creative's mind is to make something that is in itself flourishes with visual wonderment. In the case of his latest entry of Cat Kid Comics Club, he takes on the subject of "Collaborations" and moves the student onto the next stage of the process. While it's difficult to come up with ideas by oneself, having to bring that to a group environment is even more difficult. What this book explores is the difficulties and benefits of trying this approach out. Who knows. It might even produce some of your best work.
At this point, it's easy to predict how a Cat Kid Comics Club book will go. Narratively, they aren't the most revolutionary texts imaginable. They feature a bunch of kids coming together to create comics that they hope will entertain their friends. With a diverse portfolio of styles, Pilkey makes the creative process appealing by showing that anything can be used to create art. Even the concept of haikus is explored, suggesting that there's more lyric-based ways to entertain the reader. This is also seen in how each book has a continuation of various juvenile characters taking on slightly more complicated forms with each passing issue.
With collaborations, this goes in the familiar direction of introducing the premise and watching students unravel their own processes. Pilkey knows how to stick in humor that is very childish without talking down to them. Instead, it paints the potential frustration of being young and unsure of how to properly navigate an assignment. He has a way of making the reader feel comfortable dealing with these initially tough experiences. The results more than speak for themselves as confidence is boosted and suddenly they're producing thoughtful stories that are as creative as they are silly and offbeat.
"Collaborations" continues the trend of Pilkey challenging how a lesson plan can be presented. For those wanting to teach a young child or student how to be creative, they can do a lot worse than this. If anything, the approach through comics allows for everything to be formed in a more palpable and accessible manner. It's a wonderful read that never takes itself too seriously and allows for Pilkey's spin-off of a spin-off to continue to be just as essential as the main text. If anything, it shows the directions that this world can travel in and still produce quality work for its audience. It may be difficult to appreciate as a conventional narrative, but it may help to springboard one of your own.
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