Get ready for the creative twists and turns of moon adventures, time travel, and a disappearing Pig Day cake.Meet Gustav, a pig, and Henri, a dog, who problem-solve their way through three stories. When their badminton shuttlecock goes missing midgame, Gustav deduces that it went into space, and with Gustav's plans and Henri's know-how, an aerodynamic(?) pig spaceship is soon ready. After landing on the moon, the pair successfully complete five creative challenges to wrangle the shuttlecock away from a crab who has turned it into his crown. Unfortunately, their spaceship is now too heavy, and they have to leave the shuttlecock on the moon. Good thing they like tether tennis! When Gustav's local librarian double-cancels his library card, Gustav creates a time machine so he can return his book on time and eventually succeeds-well, sort of. When Gustav throws Henri a Pig Day party complete with an amazing and delicious cake to eat in the bathroom (where every Pig Day feast is eaten), all of the book's characters gather at the appointed time, but when the cake goes missing, Detective Gustav is on the case. Although the cover features shades of red, blue, and yellow, illustrations inside are black outline drawings with gray shading and blue highlights. The tales brim with enough humorous references, wordplay, and tricky plots to keep readers young and old entertained.Giggleworthy graphic-novel goodness worth rereading to appreciate the visual and textual humor. (maze, word search, riddles, recipe for nachos) (Graphic novel. 7-10)

This hilarious graphic novel series opener by two Australian creators follows anthropomorphic best friends Gustav, a self-confident pig, and practical Henrietta, who resembles a golden retriever, across three episodic tales. In the opening romp, “Gustav, Space Pig,” the porcine youth overenthusiastically demonstrates his badminton skills, landing a shuttlecock on the moon. Determined to retrieve his lost object, Gustav designs a swine-shaped spaceship, which Henri “worked all night” to build. The next morning, the two blast off into outer space and, upon arriving on the moon, encounter a crab—the self-named “King of the Moon”—who has already claimed the misplaced shuttlecock as his own. The crab agrees to return the item, but only if Gustav and Henri can complete four impossible challenges. Thomas renders the animalian duo’s shenanigans in heavily lined grayscale illustrations, accented with electric blue hues. Matthews’s comical onomatopoeic text—Gustav and Henri “BOING!” across the moon—accompanies rounded panels and varied fanciful landscapes. Stereotypical depictions of female characters in supporting roles occasionally dampen the narrative’s overarching playfulness, but this fast-paced jaunt promises enjoyably absurd adventures in subsequent volumes. Ages 7–10. (Sept.)