Awesome Dawson

by Chris Gall

Overview

EVERYTHING CAN BE USED AGAIN! That's Dawson's motto. He collects junk that people throw away and turns it into something STUPENDOUS. But when Dawson uses his skills to create a machine to do his chores for him, he discovers he might have invented something a little too... AWESOME. Can he stop the rampaging robot before it destroys the entire town?


Chris Gall inspires kids to reuse, repurpose, and recycle in this inventive adventure about a boy superhero who turns trash into treasures—and saves the world while he's at it!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316213301
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/19/2013
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	284,810
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chris Gall is the award-winning author and illustrator of Revenge of the Dinotrux, Substitute Creacher, Dear Fish, There's Nothing to Do on Mars, and Dinotrux, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2009. His books have received numerous starred reviews and awards including a Borders Original Voices Book for 2006 for Dear Fish and a Kirkus Best Children's Book for 2008 for There's Nothing to Do on Mars. Chris has won a multitude of awards from organizations like the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts Magazine, and is also the illustrator of America the Beautiful, a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2004. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

With great horsepower comes great responsibility. So learns Dawson, a boy whose mechanical-mindedness lets Gall make full use of his skill for drafting the sort of straight-from-kids’-dreams machines he showcased in Dinotrux and Revenge of the Dinotrux. With goggles, tool belt, and a massive basement workshop, Dawson is a creative genius in the vein of Dexter (from Dexter’s Laboratory, not Dexter). With the support of his sidekick/friend, the equally creepy and hilarious Mooey (a disembodied mechanical cow’s head), Dawson creates a giant robot to do his chores for him. As might be expected, the Vacu-Maniac goes out of control, which is what happens when you build robots from whatever is lying around (“The Vacu-Maniac has a brain made of cat food,” bleeps Mooey). In the town-threatening battle that follows, Mooey’s bodilessness turns out to be an asset. There’s a light message about reusing so-called junk to make, well, awesome new inventions (Gall labels every soda can, hockey stick, and grocery cart wheel that goes into Dawson’s creations), but the emphasis is on a larger-than-life sense of fun. Ages 3–6. Agent: George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

A 2014 Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Book

"This is action, adventure and imagination with a positive message."—Kirkus Reviews

"Gall make[s] full use of his skill for drafting the sort of straight-from-kids'-dreams machines he showcased in Dinotrux and Revenge of the Dinotrux."—Publishers Weekly

"Gall's busy, saturated spreads...[result] in vibrant imagery that is both slick and homespun, like Dawson's own creations....Superheroes, recyclers, and inventors unite!"—Booklist

"Aspiring young inventors will enjoy identifying the assorted thingamabobs strewn throughout the pages.... A rollicking read."—School Library Journal

"[Will] inspire children to stretch their imaginations. Chris Gall delivers an action-packed story."—Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

"[Will] inspire children to stretch their imaginations. Chris Gall delivers an action-packed story."

Library Media Connection

"Gall's busy, saturated spreads...[result] in vibrant imagery that is both slick and homespun, like Dawson's own creations....Superheroes, recyclers, and inventors unite!"

Booklist

10/01/2013
PreS-Gr 2—Readers first see Awesome Dawson in his bedroom, which is tricked out with a variety of homemade furniture and toys, captioned with word balloons indicating the materials used for each item. Declaring that "EVERYTHING can be used again," the young inventor descends into his underground workshop to do his thing, but is interrupted by his mom reminding him of his chores. He decides to invent a robot that will do them for him. He connects a rake, broom, watering can, pool hose, and gum-ball machine to an old vacuum cleaner to create the Vacu-Maniac. Unfortunately, he used cat food for the creature's brain, and it now has an insatiable appetite. It sucks up everything in sight, growing bigger until it explodes through the ceiling and starts to attack the town. He goes after it with his rubber-band-powered airplane and with the help of his friend, a talking cow toy, manages to defeat the monster. Like all good superheroes, Awesome Dawson pledges to use his recycling talents only for the good of humankind (and to help with chores). Gall's comic-book-style art was made by engraving on ink-coated clay board and using a wireless drawing tablet and Adobe software to add the bold colors. This technique suits the action of the outrageous story. Aspiring young inventors will enjoy identifying the assorted thingamabobs strewn throughout the pages and will wonder how they can get a talking cow of their own. A rollicking read.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT

School Library Journal

An inventive reuser builds a cleaning robot that threatens to eat his town. Awesome Dawson repurposes everything. From his earliest childhood, he has made new things from old, including, most importantly, his best friend, Mooey. Together, boy and talking cow-head (Dawson likes to switch Mooey's bodies around) save the town from the young inventor's overachieving vacuum cleaner; on the final pages, they're poised to save humanity from space invaders. The inspiration for this adventure is revealed in mostly sepia-toned endpapers showing a sea of household junk and a broken sign that reads MacGyver St. But the real appeal comes from Gall's intriguing illustrations. These digitally colored prints made from engravings on an ink-covered clay board are crowded with things--robots, toys, Mooey's ever-changing body, even furniture and airplanes--made out of discarded materials. Everything is carefully labeled. Old surfboards, plastic bottles, lobster claws and even cat food find new uses. Though his workshop is jumbled, tools (also carefully labeled) hang neatly on a pegboard. The text appears in boxes and speech bubbles, as in a graphic novel or comic strip. Even more than his monster cleaner, Dawson's final constructions--a new car for his parents, yet another body for Mooey and an alien-chasing airplane--will remind readers of the author's Dinotrux (2009). Aimed squarely at small boys, this is action, adventure and imagination with a positive message. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews