- Graphic Novels
- Ages 5–8
- Comedy
Pizza and Taco: Wrestling Mania!
Book 7 of 11 in Pizza and TacoView the full series
A wrestling-themed early graphic novel full of food-character smack talk, silly competition and friendly action. It is ideal for young readers who like big poses, pretend battles and comic rivalry.
- Best for5–8
- FormatGraphic
- Length72 pp
- Read aloud~34 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Exciting
- Irreverent
- Warm
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Pizza and Taco are ready to enter the ring. Wrestling gives them the perfect excuse for dramatic names, over-the-top moves, big reactions and ridiculous competitive energy. As always, the real appeal is the friendship comedy between two characters who can turn almost any simple idea into a loud, silly event. Stephen Shaskan's layouts stay clean and highly readable, with short chapters, expressive panels and enough repetition to support emerging readers without making the story feel babyish. Wrestling Mania! adds a sporty, performative flavour to the series, but the conflict remains cartoonish and friendly rather than aggressive. It is especially useful for children who like action but are still best served by low-stakes, low-prose, funny graphic novels where nobody is truly in danger.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 5–8
- Read aloud · 5–8
- Independent · 5–8
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny sports story
- First graphic novel
- Reluctant readers
- Food character comedy
- Comic competition
Avoid if
- Wants realistic sport
- Wants dense prose
- Prefers realistic children
- Wants calm bedtime
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Making friends
- Anger management
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A snappy, silly early comic series — a confidence-builder for new and reluctant readers.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific kick is dramatic moves — Pizza and Taco in the ring with over-the-top finishing names, friendly smack-talk, comic competitive energy. The early graphic novel for a child obsessed with wrestling but unable to read prose about it yet.
- Friendship and belonging
- Trickery and cleverness
- Having a nemesis
Why parents love it
The Pizza and Taco wrestling volume — sporty setup, dramatic poses, low-stakes pretend battles. Useful for any child currently impressed by WWE without being ready to engage with it. Reliable late-series entry.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
In the series
Pizza and Taco.
11 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Stephen Shaskan.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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