- Graphic Novels
- Ages 9–12
- Comedy
The Unpetables: Call of The Weird
Book 3 in The UnpetablesView the full series
Pigmund and Lizardo dive into a water-tossed tale of hijinks, mystery and mayhem in their third freelance-pet adventure. More fast, silly diary-and-comics chaos from Dennis Messner.
- Best for9–12
- FormatGraphic
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Epistolary
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Irreverent
- Adventurous
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The Unpetables are back, and this time the freelance-pet duo are in over their heads, quite literally. In their third hilarious adventure, best friends Pigmund and Lizardo plunge into a water-tossed tale of hijinks, mystery, mayhem and friendship, following the call of the weird wherever it leads. Dennis Messner sticks to the recipe that turned this odd-couple series into a reluctant-reader favourite: paper-plate diary entries, fast black-and-white comics, a joke on nearly every page and a retro comic-strip sensibility all its own. As ever, the giddy silliness rides on top of a genuinely warm story about two mismatched friends who always have each other's backs. Fast, funny and irresistibly odd, Call of the Weird is another perfect page-turner for fans of Dog Man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Timmy Failure and InvestiGators, and for any young reader who needs a book that feels more like a dare than homework.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
A fast, funny graphic novel for 9-12s reading independently, with strong appeal for reluctant readers from around 8. Silly and high-energy but low-peril and gentle in content, it is a page-turner rather than a wind-down read.
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- Best fit · 9–12
- Read aloud · 8–11
- Independent · 8–12
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
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant readers
- Comic fans
- Fans of wimpy kid
- Silly humour
Avoid if
- Wants gentle quiet story
- Wants realistic fiction
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The freelance pets get swept into a water-tossed mess of hijinks, mystery and mayhem, so it is their wildest outing yet. The diary-and-comics pages fly, the jokes keep coming, and Pigmund and Lizardo always have each other's backs.
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Friendship and belonging
- Surviving danger
Why parents love it
A third dose of the diary-and-comics format that hooks Wimpy Kid and Dog Man fans, with retro comic wit for the adult reader and a warm friendship holding the chaos together. Gentle in content despite the mayhem, and an easy sell to a book-resistant child.
- Shared humour
- Nostalgia
- Indie gem discovery
- Quick to read
In the series
The Unpetables.
3 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Dennis Messner.
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