Praise for Out in the Wild! (Bug Scouts #1):
Selected by the Chicago Public Library as one of 2022’s Best Fiction for Young Readers!
* “With swarms of goofy jokes and adorable characters, the brief chapters fly by. Readers will most certainly be willing to affirm the first line of the Official Bug Scout Oath: “All bugs are awesome and that is a fact.”” Publishers Weekly, starred review
Praise for Camp Out! (Bug Scouts #2):
Selected by the Chicago Public Library as one of 2022’s Best Fiction for Young Readers!
Praise for Everything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures:
"In the wake of Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts! (2019), Lowery spins out likewise frothy arrays of facts and observations about sharks, whales, giant squid, and smaller but no less extreme (or at least extremely interesting) sea life... An immersive dunk into a vast subject-and on course for shorter attention spans." Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts:
* "Lowery sandwiches a populous parade of very simply drawn dinos between a history of prehistory and a roundup of diverse topics, from what paleontologists do to sets of dinosaur jokes and A Few Kinda Weird (and Unlikely!) Dino Extinction Theories... though true dinosaurs hold the spotlight, flying and marine reptiles, early mammals, and other fabulous early fauna take such frequent star turns that along with infobites galore, readers will come away with a fairly sound understanding of just how dinosaurs fit into the whole history of life on this planet... A manic but solid series kickoff." Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Praise for Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1), illustrated by Mike Lowery:
A New York Times bestseller!
"Barnett's signature dry wit and snappy back-and-forths, particularly between the ingenuously sincere Mac and the standoffish Queen, keep the story steadily moving forward; a convoluted historical account of Colonel Blood's attempted robbery...Lowery's cartoony spot art, in black, green, and orange, provides additional historical and cultural information and frequently supports the narrative." Horn Book
"Barnett and Lowery team up again in this second outing of international espionage mystery with royal overtones... this is a nifty mystery for young readers and a worthy sequel to the first." Kirkus Reviews
An Amazon Best Book of 2018
* "Barnett and Lowery bring the funny to the serious art of espionage in a perfect interplay of text and illustration...Barnett interweaves tidbits of global history fit for trivia lovers, while Lowery's comic-style images play a key role in the humor...Told with a sense of nostalgia for 1980s history and pop culture, the silliness and originality of this book will hook young readers." School Library Journal, starred review
2022-03-02
A quartet of anthropomorphic invertebrates attempt to earn scout badges in the great outdoors.
Lowery kicks off his graphic early chapter book series with a scout’s oath: “All bugs are awesome / and that is a fact. / Raise your leg or antenna / and let’s make a pact.” Four “bug scouts” (two of whom are technically not bugs) introduce themselves; Josh the spider joins Abby the earthworm and Doug (“some kind of bug”) in welcoming Luna the firefly to their troop. The group sets out on a nature walk in order to find an edible plant, and a series of outdoorsy teaching moments culminates in a narrow escape from a (seemingly!) friendly frog: “Come back! I want to eat you! I mean…meet you!” Along with lots of silly jokes and banter and plenty of frantic action, the book delivers a cogent warning about the hazards of eating or sometimes even touching anything unidentified in nature. However, Lowery uses the words toadstool—a term typically reserved for any type of mushroom that is poisonous and thus inedible—and mushroom interchangeably, which may prejudice impressionable young readers against the edible type. Furthermore, some of the natural history presented in the text is a bit dubious. The very simply drawn cartoon art and big lettering make this book appropriate and appealing for beginner and newly independent readers.
An amusing, high-energy outing that teaches an important nature lesson. (Graphic early chapter book. 6-8)