Review - Bob Goes Pop!

Bob Goes Pop! (Bob the Artist #3)
by Marion Deuchars
Date: 2020
Publisher: Laurence King Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

There's a new artist in town making a new art, knocking Bob's beak out of joint. The subsequent competition to see who is the best artist escalates as the two artists try to outdo each other. It all ends in tears, but the two realize that they are better working together rather than against each other. From Marion Deuchars comes this charming and funny follow-up to Bob the Artist and Bob's Blue Period about art and friendship and working together.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The overall premise of this one seems okay, but I didn't really like it. Roy is one of those pretentious "artists" whose work is more about trying to make people think they're amazing (rather than actually doing anything of note).

Bob is understandably peeved when Roy shows up and hogs all the attention for doing some pretty unimaginative stuff. So Bob goes and spies on Roy, makes a copycat piece, and then the two fight... destroying both sculptures. They then decide to work together and be friends. (I don't know how long that'll last with those two egos.)

This is one of those books that has characters scowling and sniffing their speech, which I hate. The illustrations are rough and uninteresting (except for the collaborative art pieces at the end), and the typeface used throughout is kind of hard to read. (It's almost cursive, with many of the scratchy-looking letters joined in the lowercase.)

Overall, I'm not impressed. This may be the third book in the series (and perhaps weaker than its predecessors), but I don't see anything here that makes me want to rush out and find the others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Laurence King Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5