CANR

• Cat on the Run in Hidden Layers! (Cat on the Run #3) - 2025 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Pug: Cranky Pug - 2024 Cartwheel Books, New York, NY
• Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! (Cat on the Run #2) - 2024 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (Cat on the Run #1) - 2023 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Rebel - 2022 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Monster - 2021 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• The return of Thelma the Unicorn - 2020 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Tourist - 2020 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Slob - 2020 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Stinker - 2019 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• I Need a Hug - 2019 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas - 2018 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Star - 2018 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Thelma the Unicorn - 2017 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Winner - 2017 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Pug - 2014 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• Pig the Elf - 2017 Scholastic Press, New York, NY
• The Dreadful Fluff - 2017 Puffin Australia, Southbank Blvd, VIC, Australia
• Don't Call Me Bear - 2016 Scholastic Australia, Lisarow, NSW, Australia
• Pig the Fibber - 2015 Scholastic Canada, Markham, ON, Canada
• Babies Don't Suck - 2014 Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia

• Aaron Blabey website - https://www.aaronblabey.com/

  Aaron Blabey is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author with around 30 million books in print. He is also the co-executive producer of the The Bad Guys movie by DreamWorks Animation and the upcoming Netflix movie-musical adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn.

  FAQ
  THINGS THAT KIDS ASK A LOT…
  Where are you from?
  A mystical fairyland full of magical creatures called Bendigo, located in the enchanted realm of regional Victoria.

  (You’ll find near the bottom of Australia, a country that is located right at the bottom of your globe. No, that’s Antarctica. You’ve gone too far. Come back up a bit. That’s it. Now you’ve got it.)

  What were you like as a kid?
  Impossibly handsome. I also had an eye-patch, stooped shoulders and very few friends. It was a complicated time.

  Do you have pets?
  I live with Maude - a ridiculously beautiful ragdoll cat who suffers no fools.

  Did you always want to be a writer?
  All I ever wanted to be was a co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon.

  When did you become a writer?
  When it became clear that the Millennium Falcon was a fictional vehicle and there was no one, living or dead, that I could send a job application to.

  Why did you become a writer?
  Because it’s awesome.

  Do you do the pictures in your books?
  Yes I do
  *mic drop*

  Where do your ideas come from?
  I’m glad you asked. There’s actually a spot, just near the end of my street, where you can pick up ideas on a Tuesday morning at around 9.45am, depending on whether their bus is on time or not. It’s really irritating when they’re late though. I’m a busy guy, you know what I saying?

  How do you make a book?
  By putting words and pictures together in such a way that makes me feel happy. I don’t know how to describe it more accurately than that.

  How long does it take to make a book?
  About 11 minutes.

  Which character from your books is 
your favourite?
  Pig the Pug changed my life so he gets a shout out here (Yo Pig! Sup?!) but my favourite character is actually Mr Snake from The Bad Guys. He’s a complicated dude and he struggles with life more than all the other characters. I really love him.

  How do you write rhymes?
  Let me show you –
  Who has a name that rhymes with BABY?
  That writer you love called AARON BLABEY.
  See? Easy.

  Where do you write your books?
  On the back of my left leg.

  What’s the best thing about writing books?
  The endless critical acclaim.

  How can I get better at writing or drawing?
  Do it lots.

  What advice would you give a young writer?
  Do it lots.
  And never give up.
  And avoid corduroy jackets with, or without, leather elbow patches.

  Will all your books be turned into movies or TV shows?
  It’s like this –
  Bad Guys? Yep! It’s out! Right now!
  Thelma? Yep, coming soon.
  Cat On the Run? Yep, in a little while.
  Pig? Yep, but you have to be patient, I’ve got a lot happening right now, OK?
  My weird OTHER books? Who knows? Stranger things have happened…

  THINGS THAT GROWN-UPS ASK A LOT…
  What has happened to my life?
  (just kidding)

  How do I get my children’s book published?
  I really don’t have a good answer for this.
  One thought though –
  Don’t be Gollum.
  By which, I mean, don’t write one thing and then hold onto it like it’s your preciousssss.
  Write a bunch of stuff. Like, all the time. Or as much as you can manage, depending on your life and circumstances. Write from your heart. Write things that makes you happy. Write things that YOU would have liked to have read when you were a kid. Actually think about what you loved back then. Just write, write, write,

  And then, be brave and show it to people.

  If it’s good and you don’t give up, hopefully you’ll find a home for it.
  I really do, from the bottom of my heart, wish you the very best with it.

  THINGS THAT KIDS AND GROWN-UPS ASK A LOT…
  Can you visit my school, join me on Zoom, read my story or get me published?
  I wish I could but I make a lot of books and most of those books are becoming movies so my time is shrinking by the day and the tiny bits of time I have left are for my family. I apologise in advance for any disappointment this may cause.

• Deadline - https://deadline.com/2025/03/kids-author-aaron-blabey-book-deal-new-series-macmillan-1236328761/

  Aaron Blabey, Popular Kids Author Behind ‘The Bad Guys’, Sets Two New Book Series With Macmillan

  By Jill Goldsmith

  Jill Goldsmith
  Co-Business Editor

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  March 18, 2025 9:00am
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  Aaron Blabey, 'The Bad Guys' Book
  Rahkela Nardella
  EXCLUSIVE: Bestselling author Aaron Blabey has signed an eight-figure deal with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for two new series.

  ADVERTISEMENT

  The first, called Game of Pets, will debut in the fall of 2026. Macmillan and Foundation Media Partners plan to develop and produce it as a feature film franchise.

  Blabey’s The Bad Guys series and Thelma The Unicorn were adapted for film by, respectively, DreamWorks Animation and Netflix. Blabey served as executive producer on both.

  Universal Pictures and DWA are releasing The Bad Guys 2, a sequel to the $250 million-grossing 2022 hit, later this year. It follows a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws, struggling to find acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, who are pulled out of retirement and forced to do one last job. Netflix aired animated prequel The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday Christmas special in 2023.

• Publishers Weekly - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/95380-blabey-bids-farewell-to-the-bad-guys-and-to-books.html

  Blabey Bids Farewell to the Bad Guys—and to Books
  By Shannon Maughan | Jun 25, 2024
  Share Post Post Click Here

  The end is near. After spending the better part of a decade doing good deeds hoping to shake their “bad guy” reputations, reformed criminals Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha are headed for their swan song. On November 12, Scholastic will publish The Bad Guys in One Last Thing, the 20th and final volume in Australian author-illustrator Aaron Blabey’s smash-hit graphic novel series, with an announced first printing of 500,000 copies. PW has a first look at the cover—fittingly black background and all.

  By any measure, the Bad Guys are going out with a bang. The series boasts 23 million copies in print in the U.S. since its 2017 debut and was adapted as a Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation feature film in 2022, with a sequel from the same team (Blabey is executive producing) on the way next summer. And a DreamWorks Animation Television half-hour special that served as a prequel, The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday, aired on Netflix last November.

  Major mojo aside, Blabey believes the time is right to bring the Bad Guys adventures to a close. “After the first book unexpectedly took off in 2016 [initially for Scholastic Australia],” he told PW. “I knew I had my chance to create something with scope that could reach a wide audience over an extended period,” he said. “I carefully plotted their entire journey with a 20-book arc, quietly hoping that I could sustain tension and anticipation for an age group that is generally underestimated in their capacity to remain interested if there are gaps between instalments. To my delight, each new episode has been more popular than the last. That said, the story has always had a specific, and hopefully very satisfying, conclusion planned. So, here we are.”

  A favorite element of the books for fans has been each episode’s cliffhanger ending. One of Blabey’s biggest teases appears at the end of book 19, The Bad Guys in the Serpent and the Beast, which will be released July 2, and it helped inspire the cover design for the finale. “Kids have been left wondering what happened to Mr. Wolf at the end of episode 19,” Blabey said. “What became of him is quite unexpected. The final cover gives a little hint of where he’s ended up.”

  But what about this very last book’s last chapter—will readers get closure to the story? “They sure will,” Blabey said. “I love episode 20. It’s my favorite. I’ve been so excited for kids to see what’s been in my head [all this time].”

  Blabey Drops the Mic

  The end of the Bad Guys series marks another significant endpoint for Blabey. “As for books, I have officially retired,” he announced. “I always wrote my books specifically for my own kids, to make them laugh, but now they’re all grown up,” he said. “Continuing past this point just feels kind of inauthentic. It was a magical time but it’s over, just like childhood. It’s bittersweet but it’s also beautiful.”

  Blabey certainly has plenty to show for this career era. “I’ve made 40 books in 10 years—20 Bad Guys, 10 Pigs [Pig the Pug], three Cats [Cat on the Run], two Thelmas [Thelma the Unicorn], and a bunch of others,” he said. “That feels like plenty to me. I love all of them and I’m really proud of the body of work, so it feels like the right time to drop the mic. It’s time to explore other things.”

  The Bad Guys in One Last Thing (The Bad Guys #20) by Aaron Blabey. Scholastic Paperbacks, $6.99 Nov. 12 ISBN 978-1-5461-1180-1

• London Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/19/aaron-blabey-bad-guys-author-new-book-deal-eight-figures

  Bestselling Australian Bad Guys author Aaron Blabey signs eight-figure deal for seven new books
  This article is more than 6 months old
  First title of series for tweens titled Game of Pets will be fantasy story to debut in 2026

  Kelly Burke
  Tue 18 Mar 2025 20.51 EDT
  Share
  The Australian bestselling children’s author Aaron Blabey has signed an eight-figure deal with the UK, US and Australian arms of Macmillan.

  The publisher announced the deal on Wednesday, contracting the actor turned writer to produce seven new titles across two new series for the tween reading market.

  Blabey, whose books have sold about 55m copies, is a New York Times-bestselling author. The Bendigo-born writer’s career took off more than a decade ago when he launched his Pig the Pug children’s series, a collection of picture books about a small bad-tempered dog.

  The success of the books in the US was a harbinger to the success the animated television series Bluey is experiencing in the US market, and secured a three-book deal with Scholastic Australia.

  The second picture book under the deal, Thelma the Unicorn, became a bestseller along with its sequel The Return of Thelma the Unicorn, selling millions of copies. It was adapted by Netflix to make a film.

  Blabey’s graphic novel for primary school age children, The Bad Guys, also with a theme about animals with a bad reputation, became the New York Times No 1 bestselling graphic novel series and was also adapted for the big screen. A sequel is due in 2025.

  Macmillan announced that the first of Blabey’s new series, titled Game of Pets, was a fantasy series expected to debut in 2026.

  The second, titled The Awfuls, suggests a more psychological sci-fi theme for young readers.

  “Aaron’s talents are myriad and extraordinary – and among his greatest gifts is his affection for what it means to be a young reader,” said Jen Besser, president and publisher, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

  In a media release, Blabey was quoted saying: “In June 2023, I completed the final Bad Guys book – my 40th title in 10 years – and genuinely felt it might be time to retire. I mean, that’s a lot of books!”

  “However, the infectious enthusiasm of everyone at Macmillan for a pair of new ideas (that I had quietly tucked away) has made me think perhaps all I needed was a holiday and a shot of new positive energy. I am very excited to get back to work.”

  This article was amended on 19 March 2025. An earlier version ascribed a quote from Jen Besser to Praveen Naidoo, Pan Macmillan Australia’s managing director.

• Wikipedia -

  Aaron Blabey

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  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Aaron Blabey
  Born 1 January 1974 (age 51)
  Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
  Occupations
  Children's authorexecutive producerillustratorartistdesigneractor
  Years active 1989–2005 (actor)
  2006–present (children's author)
  Spouse Kirstie Hutton ​(m. 2000)​
  Children 2
  Website aaronblabey.com
  Aaron Blabey (born 1 January 1974) is an Australian author of children's books, and a former actor.

  He is the creator of three best-selling children's series; Pig the Pug – a picture book series about a rude, selfish, mean-spirited little dog, The Bad Guys – a The New York Times #1 best-selling graphic novel series for junior readers about a gang of scary-looking animals trying to change their bad reputations, and Thelma the Unicorn – a second picture book series about a plain little pony who pretends to be a unicorn.

  As of December 2022, Blabey has around 35 million books in print and his books have spent over 120 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. The Bad Guys first reached #1 on the list on 3 July 2019.

  On 22 April 2022, an animated movie adaptation of The Bad Guys from DreamWorks Animation starring Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, and Anthony Ramos premiered in the United States. Blabey served as an executive producer on the movie with Patrick Hughes and Etan Cohen. The movie opened at #1 at the U.S. box office and was the fifth-highest-grossing animated film of 2022, followed by a sequel in 2025 with the aforementioned cast all reprising their roles from the first film, which opened at #2 at the U.S. box office.

  In May 2019, it was announced that Netflix is developing a movie-musical adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn with Blabey again serving as executive producer.

  Until 2005, Blabey was also an actor. In the field of acting, he is probably best known for his lead roles in two television dramedies, 1994's The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, for which he won an Australian Film Institute Award, and 2003's CrashBurn,[1] before retiring from performance in 2005.

  Personal life
  Aaron Blabey was born on 1 January 1974, in Bendigo, Australia.[2] He married the actress and speech pathologist Kirstie Hutton in April 2000. They have two sons.

  Blabey supports The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, who work to protect children from violence.[3]

  Career
  Acting
  Blabey appeared in various television and film roles throughout the 1990s and 2000s and took part in several theatrical productions.[4]

  Besides his 1994 award for acting in a lead role, the Australian Film Institute also nominated him in 2000 for his guest-starring role in the series Stingers.

  Art
  From the mid-2000s, Blabey turned his attention away from acting and towards painting and created six separate solo exhibitions across Australia between 2004 and 2006.[5]

  Early picture books
  Then in 2006, Blabey turned his focus entirely to the creation of children's picture books. The first of these, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, was published in July 2007. In 2008, the book received a Children's Book Council of Australia Award in the council's Early Childhood category.[6] The book was also shortlisted for the CBCA's Crichton Award (given to new illustrators), The NSW Premier's Literature Awards – The Patricia Wrightson Award, and the Children's Peace Literature Award. In 2008, the book was also included on the Notable Book list from the Smithsonian Institution.[7]

  His second book, Sunday Chutney, was published in 2008 and shortlisted for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year 2009[8] and the Australian Book Industry Awards 2009.

  His third book, Stanley Paste, was a CBCA Notable Book in the Picture Book category in 2010[9] as was The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon in 2012, which was also selected as a prestigious White Raven of 2012 by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany. The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon also won the Patricia Wrightson Award in 2013 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards and the 2013 Children's Peace Literature Award.[10] In early 2014, Nick Cave selected The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon to record for the Story Box Library website.

  His fifth book, The Dreadful Fluff won the Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year by the Australian Publishers Association in 2013,[11] which also saw the release of his critically acclaimed sixth title, Noah Dreary.

  This was followed by a picture book for adults entitled Babies Don't Suck – a guide for expectant new fathers.

  Blabey's seventh children's book, The Brothers Quibble, which deals with sibling rivalry, was chosen as the National Simultaneous Storytime Book of 2015, and was read by over 500,000 children on 27 May 2015.

  Pig the Pug, Thelma the Unicorn and Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas
  In 2014 Blabey signed a three-book deal with Scholastic Australia beginning with Pig the Pug, a humorous picture book about a rude, selfish, mean-spirited dog (pug), who always gets into arguments and even fights with his rival playmate, the friendly, polite-mannered, good-hearted Trevor (dachshund). The book was an immediate hit in Australia and has since been translated into many languages and published around the world. It spawned a series of Pig books including Pig the Fibber (2015), Pig the Winner (2016), Pig the Elf (2016), Pig the Star (2017), Pig the Grub (2018), Pig the Tourist (2019), Pig the Slob (Blob) (2020), Pig the Monster (2021) and the final instalment Pig the Rebel (2022).

  The Pig books have sold millions of copies around the world, predominantly in the US and Australia.

  The second book released from his initial three-book-deal was Thelma the Unicorn. This picture book – about a plain little pony who dreams of becoming a unicorn – has also become a bestseller. In combination with its sequel The Return of Thelma the Unicorn, it has sold millions of copies as well.

  In June 2019, it was announced that Netflix was developing an animated musical movie adaptation of Thelma the Unicorn, to be directed by Jared Hess (who wrote the script with his wife Jerusha) and Lynn Wang with animation provided by Mikros Image Montreal. Blabey served as an executive producer on the project.[12][13] The film adaptation released on 17 May 2024.

  The Bad Guys
  2015 also saw the release of the first two instalments of Blabey's best-selling graphic novel series for junior readers, The Bad Guys. The humorous series follows the adventures of a gang of scary-looking, dangerous animals – Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark and Mr. Piranha – who attempt to change their bad reputations by performing good deeds.

  In January 2018, The Bad Guys hit The New York Times Best Seller list (Children's Series) and have since remained there for many weeks. After 36 weeks on the list, The Bad Guys finally reached the number one spot on 3 July 2019.

  As of December 2022, there are over 25 million Bad Guys books in print around the world and the series has spent over 120 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.

  On 9 March 2018 it was announced that an animated feature film adaptation of The Bad Guys was in development at DreamWorks Animation – with a screenplay by Etan Cohen.[14][15][16] On 17 October 2019 the project went into production with a scheduled release date of 17 September 2021.[17] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date was pushed back to 22 April 2022.[18] The movie is directed by veteran animator Pierre Perifel in his feature directorial debut and produced by Damon Ross and Rebecca Huntley and written by Etan Cohen, who also serves as an executive producer on the project with both Blabey (the book's author) and Patrick Hughes. It stars Sam Rockwell (Mr. Wolf), Awkwafina (Ms. Tarantula), Marc Maron (Mr. Snake), Craig Robinson (Mr. Shark) and Anthony Ramos (Mr. Piranha).

  Whilst promoting the movie in Los Angeles in April 2022, Blabey appeared on Maron’s podcast WTF and discussed his journey to that point with Maron who played Mr Snake in the film. A Netflix-exclusive holiday special, subtitled "A Very Bad Holiday", was released on 30 November 2023, followed by a Halloween special in 2024.

  In March 2022, a month before the film was released, Perifel said that he would love to do a sequel.[19] Two years later, DreamWorks Animation officially confirmed a sequel, The Bad Guys 2, and was released on 1 August 2025. Perifel returned to direct and JP Sans, who served as head of character animation on the previous film, also returned co-direct, with the cast reprising their roles.[20]

  Cat On The Run
  In January 2022, about 3 months before the release of the film adaptation of The Bad Guys, Blabey announced that a new book series called Cat on The Run is in development and was released in 2023. The book takes place in the same universe as The Bad Guys and the story will feature the world’s #1 cat video star trying to prove her innocence after she was framed for a crime she didn’t commit.

  Art direction
  Blabey has also worked as a staff writer at a major advertising agency and spent two years as a lecturer at a prominent Sydney design college.

  Honours and awards
  1994, Australian Film Institute Award, Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama, The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, episode: "Spay Misty For Me."
  2008, Children's Book of the Year Award: Early Childhood, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley.
  2012, White Ravens Award by the International Youth Library, The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon.
  2012, National Literacy Ambassador[21]
  2012 - 2015, Ambassador for The Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
  2013, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature, The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon.
  2013, Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year by the Australian Publishers Association, The Dreadful Fluff.
  2013, The Children's Peace Literature Award from the Australian Psychological Society – Psychologists For Peace, The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon.
  2016, INDIE books award for Best Children's Book, The Bad Guys
  List of works
  As author and illustrator:

  Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, Penguin Books, Australia, 2007.
  Sunday Chutney, Penguin Books, Australia, 2008.
  Stanley Paste, Penguin Books, Australia, 2009.
  The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon, Penguin Books, Australia, 2011.
  The Dreadful Fluff, Penguin Books, Australia, 2012.
  Noah Dreary, Penguin Books, Australia, 2013.
  The Brothers Quibble, Penguin Books, Australia, 2014.
  Pig The Pug, Scholastic Australia, July 2014.
  Babies Don't Suck, Pan Macmillan Australia, August 2014.
  Thelma the Unicorn, Scholastic Australia, February 2015.
  Pig the Fibber, Scholastic Australia, May 2015
  The Bad Guys (Episode 1), Scholastic Australia, July 2015
  Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas, Scholastic Australia, September 2015.
  The Bad Guys (Episode 2 - Mission Unpluckable), Scholastic Australia, November 2015
  I Need A Hug, Scholastic Australia, December 2015
  Pig the Winner, Scholastic Australia, March 2016
  The Bad Guys (Episode 3 - The Furball Strikes Back), Scholastic Australia, May 2016
  Don't Call Me Bear, Scholastic Australia, June 2016
  Pig the Elf, Scholastic Australia, October 2016
  The Bad Guys (Episode 4 - Attack of the Zittens), Scholastic Australia, November 2016
  Busting!, Scholastic Australia, February 2017
  The Bad Guys (Episode 5 - Intergalactic Gas), Scholastic Australia, May 2017
  Guff, Penguin Australia, August 2017
  Pig the Star, Scholastic Australia, September 2017
  The Bad Guys (Episode 6 - Alien Vs Bad Guys), Scholastic Australia, October 2017
  The Bad Guys (Episode 7 - Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?), Scholastic Australia, May 2018
  Pig the Grub, Scholastic Australia, September 2018
  The Bad Guys (Episode 8 - Superbad), Scholastic Australia, October 2018
  The Bad Guys (Episode 9 - The Big Bad Wolf), Scholastic Australia, May 2019
  Pig the Tourist, Scholastic Australia, July 2019
  The Return of Thelma the Unicorn, Scholastic Australia, October 2019
  The Bad Guys (Episode 10 - The Baddest Day Ever), Scholastic Australia, October 2019
  The Bad Guys (Episode 11 - Dawn of the Underlord), Scholastic Australia, May 2020
  Pig the Slob (Blob), Scholastic Australia, September 2020
  The Bad Guys (Episode 12 - The One?!), Scholastic Australia, October 2020
  The Bad Guys (Episode 13 - Cut to the Chase), Scholastic Australia, May 2021
  Pig the Monster, Scholastic Australia, July 2021
  The Bad Guys (Episode 14 - They’re Bee-hind You!), Scholastic Australia, October 2021
  The Bad Guys (Episode 15 - Open Wide and Say Arrrgh!), Scholastic Australia, July 2022
  Pig the Rebel, Scholastic Australia, July 2022
  The Bad Guys (Episode 16 - The Others?!), Scholastic Australia, October 2022
  The Bad Guys (Episode 17 - Let the Games Begin!), Scholastic Australia, June 2023
  Cat on the Run in: Cat of Death!, Scholastic Australia, September 2023
  The Bad Guys (Episode 18 - Look Who's Talking!), Scholastic Australia, October 2023
  Cat on the Run in: Cucumber Madness!, Scholastic Australia, May 2024
  The Bad Guys (Episode 19 - The Serpent and The Beast), Scholastic Australia, June 2024
  The Bad Guys (Episode 20 - One Last Thing), Scholastic Australia, October 2024
  Cat on the Run: Hidden Layers!, Scholastic Australia, May 2025
  Other editions
  The Pig the Pug series is published by Scholastic Canada in Toronto. This edition preserves the Australian spelling of the original.

  Filmography
  Film
  Year Film Role Notes
  1996 Turning April Leif Feature film
  Mr. Reliable Bruce Morrison Feature film
  1998 Pentuphouse Dale Short film
  1999 Erskineville Kings Trunny Feature film
  2001 Mullet Terry Feature film
  2004 Human Touch David Feature film
  2006 The 9:13 Thunder Short film
  Television
  Year Film Role Notes
  1991; 1995; 1996 G.P. Sean Bartells / Jim Mayhew / Sean TV series, 3 episodes
  1993 Phoenix TV series, season 2, episode 4: "The Return"
  1994 Blue Heelers Robbie Davies TV series, season 1, episode 42: "The First Stone"
  The Damnation of Harvey McHugh Harvey McHugh Miniseries, 13 episodes, Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama[22]
  1995 Halifax f.p. Tony Lobianco TV series, season 1, episode 2: "Words Without Music"
  The Man from Snowy River Jimmy Wilks TV series, season 2, episode 12: "The Recruit"
  1996 Twisted Tales Nick TV series, season 1, episode 1: "The Confident Man"
  1996–1997 Medivac Danny Haywood TV series, 2 episodes
  1997 Fallen Angels Jim Phelps TV series, season 1, episode 6: "All Things Bright and Beautiful"
  Wildside Warren Beckett TV series, 4 episodes
  1997; 1999 Water Rats Doug Porter / Gary Travis TV series, 4 episodes
  1998 Day of the Roses Dr John White Miniseries, 2 episodes
  1999 All Saints Scott Lacey TV series, season 2, episode 36: "The Ties That Bind"
  2000 Grass Roots Sandy Maxwell TV series, season 1, episode 5: "January to April"
  Stingers Michael Callum TV series, season 3, episode 17: "Second Chance"
  Nominated for Australian Film Institute Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series
  2003 CrashBurn Ben Harfield TV series, season 1, 13 episodes
  2004 Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story Kirkham Miniseries, 2 episodes
  2005 MDA Luke Rodman TV series, 4 episodes

• SYFY - https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-bad-guys-author-aaron-blabey-talks-his-favorite-character

  'The Bad Guys' author Aaron Blabey reveals favorite 'bad guy' as DreamWorks film wins box office
  Which bad guy is the favorite bad guy of The Bad Guys creator?

  By Matthew Jackson Apr 25, 2022, 12:40 PM ET
  DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys
  (from left) Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Shark (Craig Robinson) and Wolf (Sam Rockwell) in DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys, directed by Pierre Perifel.

  Photo: DreamWorks Animation
  Over the weekend, DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys became the new box office champion, overtaking Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with a $24 million domestic haul and an A CinemaScore from moviegoers. Throw in a wave of positive reviews for the new film based on the animated book series by Aaron Blabey, and it looks like The Bad Guys is an original animation hit for DreamWorks.

  For Blabey, who's sold more than 30 million children's books in no small part thanks to the launch of The Bad Guys series in 2015, it's both an unlikely success story and a sort of prophecy fulfilled. In an interview with The New York Times over the weekend to promote the film adaptation, loosely based on the first four books in his series, Blabey explained that The Bad Guys came about in part because he'd given himself an ultimatum as an author working a string of day jobs to keep his family afloat. It was simple: At the age of 40, he would either come up with an idea that would make him a full-time author, or surrender himself to a corporate job.

  Blabey quickly came up with several concepts that would later be books, including The Bad Guys, a gang of anthropomorphized animal criminals who decide that they're going straight, and they're going to be good guys no matter what people think. Inspired in part by his love of Quentin Tarantino films and driven by his desire to write a book that would be "as exciting as playing Xbox or watching a movie" for kids, Blabey solidified the concept over the course of a long walk, then got an interesting prediction from a friend.

  "All of those ideas converged on a walk through the countryside in 2014, and when I wrote the idea down with all the character names, I texted a friend and said, 'What do you think of this?' and she texted back, 'That sounds like a DreamWorks movie,'" Blabey recalled. "We both laughed and I didn’t think about that again until I found myself in Hollywood, talking to all the studios and being at DreamWorks."

  Now, one of Blabey's last-chance ideas -- now 14 books long, with the 15th Bad Guys graphic novel set to release this July -- is a hit movie with a shot at becoming a hit movie franchise. The author, who's dubbed himself the "epitome of a late bloomer," no longer has to worry about paying the bills with his writing. Now, he spends a little more time thinking about his characters and their adventures, even if he and his readers can't always agree on who the best Bad Guy is.

  "[Readers] do contact me. Mr. Piranha [voiced by Anthony Ramos in the film] has generally been the fan favorite because he’s probably the funniest of the group. My personal favorite has always been Mr. Snake [Marc Maron] because he’s the most complicated of the group, and the one who struggles the most," Blabey said. "He’s kind of like a recovering alcoholic, he’s trying to stay on the path with the other guys, but he keeps falling off and they keep trying to help him out. The journey is more of a struggle for him.

  "I think the core relationship between Mr. Wolf [Sam Rockwell], who is an optimist despite his circumstances, and Snake, who is a pessimist, creates a relatable tension that my kids loved from the outset and it seems that other kids get it, too. Their relationship is messy and complicated, like the actual relationships between people, which is somewhat rare in books for the 6-to-12 market. My kids always loved that [complexity]. It didn’t feel 'kiddie' to them. It felt like they were being treated like little adults who could understand stuff. Having said that, my own kids, who are now 14 and 16, also love Piranha because he’s the funniest."

• Imagination Soup - https://imaginationsoup.net/author-interview-with-aaron-blabey/

  Author Interview with BAD GUYS Creator Aaron Blabey
  This post may contain affiliate links.

  By Melissa Taylor
  Posted on
  August 29, 2023
  Unless you’ve been in outer space, and I’m sure a few astronauts are reading this, you know that the BAD GUYS chapter books are some of the most beloved and popular books for growing readers. Ever. We’re talking about a mega-fandom of 7- to 10-year-olds.

  Today, I’m thrilled to share a recent interview with Bad Guys creator Aaron Blabey, author of Pig the Pug, Thelma the Unicorn, and a new book series coming September 5, 2023, called Cat on the Run.

  author interview with Aaron Blabey
  AARON BLABEY is a #1 New York Times bestselling author with over 45 million books in print. He is the creator of three globally popular book series – The Bad Guys, Pig the Pug, and Thelma the Unicorn. His series The Bad Guys has spent well over 100 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and was adapted into a thrilling animated movie by Dreamworks in 2022, on which Aaron served as an executive producer. Aaron’s books have won countless awards, including recognition from the REAL Awards, INDIE Book Awards, Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Australian Book Design Awards, and Children’s Peace Literature Awards.

  photo credit: Rahkela Nardella
  Author Interview with Aaron Blabey
  Question from Ellie, age 12: What prompted you to write about villains?

  AARON: I like characters who are complicated, characters that have complicated emotions and motivations. It makes them much more interesting to me. Sometimes their behaviour might seem villainous, but that’s usually because they’re dealing with something in their life that they can’t quite control. I like characters who go on difficult life journeys. Except Pig the Pug. He’s just awful. But that’s what makes him funny – he just won’t learn his lessons.

  Question from Owen, age 9: How did you come up with your characters’ personalities?

  AARON: They’re often a lot like me. Or people I know. Or people I’ve met. Or people I’ve seen. It depends.

  reading Bad Guys

  Question from Roy, age 8 (shown above): Which character did you come up with first? And which is your favorite?

  AARON: On a single day, I invented Pig the Pug, Thelma the Unicorn, and all of the main Bad Guys. I know that sounds bananas, but it’s true.

  Questions from Melissa Taylor, founder of Imagination Soup:

  Melissa: Do you have a favorite book?

  AARON: As a kid, I always loved Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn. I loved the combination of genuine mystery, dry humour and propulsive action.

  Melissa: Kids love your humor. Is that because you’re connected to your child self? Or is it a matter of putting yourself in the shoes of a kid when you’re writing?

  AARON: I wrote my books, especially The Bad Guys, directly for my youngest son because I knew what would make him laugh. Happily, they seems to have made a lot of other kids laugh, too.

  Melissa: Are your books getting banned? Anything you want to say about that?

  AARON: Not that I know of…I’ve literally been too busy making them to notice. I’ve been making THREE graphic novels a year. That’s a LOT of work. Half the time, I can barely remember where I am…

  BUY on Amazon
  BUY ON BOOKSHOP

  Melissa: I love your sneakily complex main character in your new book, Cat on the Run. What was the inspiration behind this character?

  AARON: I have always wanted to put a complicated female character absolutely front and centre. I have my female squad in The Bad Guys, but Cat On The Run has given me the chance to dedicate an entire series to a female character with messy foibles, remarkable strengths, complex emotions, and high-stakes motivations. I love her a lot.

  Melissa: What do you hope readers take away from Cat on the Run?

  AARON: I hope they have the most fun they’ve ever had with a book. Or at least as much fun as they’ve had with The Bad Guys. 🙂

  Melissa: Thank you so much, Aaron!

• The Film Pie - https://www.thefilmpie.com/index.php/blog-2/5502-interview-author-aaron-blabey-on-the-bad-guys

  Interview - Author Aaron Blabey on 'The Bad Guys'
  Written by Matthew Toomey Created: 24 March 2022
  Aaron Blabey Interview
  The Bad Guys is an animated feature with a timely release in Australia to align with the Easter school holidays. I recently had the chance to speak with Australian author Aaron Blabey about his much-loved books being adapted for the big screen…

  Matt: I’m sure it’s something a lot of authors think about when writing books. Was there a point where you thought The Bad Guys could make a good movie or TV show?

  Aaron: The DNA was always in there but when I wrote the first book, I hadn’t had any real commercial success. It was beyond a flight of fantasy at the time but then, a part of me went “you know what… I love movies so much and I’m going to deliberately write something that is my version of movie except in book form.” Everyone picked up on that instantly, including movie studios, which is why there was so much interest so suddenly.

  Matt: So how does it work? How do they contact you and say “we want to buy the rights to your books”?

  Aaron: We had heard whisperings that a couple of studios were interested. The book had done well very quickly in American schools so word had got around that way. I flew across and had the strangest week of my life and the end of 2016 and met the heads of all the studios. A number of them were aggressively pursuing it. Dreamworks kept rising to the top of being the obvious choice.

  When my eldest was little, Kung Fu Panda had just been released and I always felt the tone of that was perfect. It was what I was hoping to achieve with this.

  Matt: Do you give up full creative control once you sign the rights over or are there things you still get a say over when the script is being written and the film being made?

  Aaron: That can certainly happen but I had a deal as an executive producer so I’ve been across each draft of the screenplay, each cut of the movie, and each major discussion about the film. If the studio decides to go rogue there’s not much you can do about it but Dreamworks have been sensational from the start and incredibly inclusive and respective to the point of almost being reverent about the source material.

  Two of the major gags from the trailer are directly from the book. It blows my mind that gags I came up with 8 years ago are now suddenly everywhere. It’s the most wonderful thing.

  Matt: With an animated film I guess you see parts of it being put together but when did you finally get to see the finished product?

  Aaron: I’ve seen the whole thing in various forms many, many times but because of COVID-19, I haven’t been able to travel back and forth to the United States and so I’ve been watching it all on my laptop with “property of Dreamworks – do not copy – do not copy” written all over it.

  It was a couple of weeks ago when I got to sit in a cinema with a small audience and see it on the big screen. It was pretty sensational. It’s only just been finished with the final sound mix and that added a whole other layer to it given movies in many ways are 50-50 between sound and visuals. I’m not very good at pretending to like things if I don’t… but I think they’ve hit this out of the park.

  Matt: Did you get to take family and friends along to that screening?

  Aaron: No, that’s happening this coming weekend. I went down to Melbourne to do some media but the actual Australian premiere will be in Sydney. That’s where my family will see it for the first time. My two boys made a conscious choice to not see it until it was fully done which is impressive for a couple of kids. I kept telling them how it was changing and evolving and shifting and they said “we just want to see the movie” so were happy to wait.

  Matt: The animation is top-notch and the voice cast have been well chosen. Do you have a favourite character from the movie? One that translates best from your books?

  Aaron: It’s really hard to choose which is a great situation to be in. I feel like they’ve nailed all of them. My personal favourite, because it’s always been my favourite character, is Mr Snake. He’s the most troubled by the situation they’re in and, in many ways, he’s the centre of the book series. If my book series was Star Wars, he’d be Anakin Skywalker on his Darth Vader journey. He’s that guy. I love what they’ve done with him but the whole cast is extraordinary.

  Matt: The same question I have about the movie also applies to the books – how do you get in the head of 6-year- old or 9-year-old and know the best way to target a story towards them?

  Aaron: I have to time travel now because my kids have grown up but at the time, it was about what would make my two kids laugh and what would hold their attention and make them want to know what comes next. That was it really. That then opened a whole bunch of doors about what would have worked for me at that age and that’s what led me to muck around with the iconography of stuff from older age groups. That’s how I end up doing a mash-up which I’ve described as Tarantino for kids from the start of the book series.

  Matt: Your books are already very popular. Do you hope this will spur even further interest in them?

  Aaron: That’s the big question. I dread to think. All on our own, we’ve sold 30 million books across 8 years. It’s significant this giant movie is about to drop but who knows? It’s a win either way.

  Matt: If this movie is a big success as we hope, is there a chance we’ll see further movies? Do Dreamworks have the rights to that as well?

  Aaron: Yeah, they’re in the whole way. Yes, it will entirely depend on the response to the first one but if it is popular, I’m sure you’ll see a bunch of them.

BLABEY, Aaron [E]

Pig the Fibber

Scholastic Canada, 2015. 24p. Illus. Gr. Preschool--2. 978-1-4431-4807-8. Hdbk. $14.99

Pig the Pug is an evil dog, but once again, he gets what he deserves. In this second Pig the Pug book, Pig tries to get Trevor, the happy-go-lucky wiener dog, in trouble by blaming him for messes, accidents, and odd smells. Trevor is incredulous. "I thought we were friends" he exclaims with his eyes open wide. Pig's response, "Whatever". Just as in the first book, the story ends with Pig in a cast. And because he's temporarily stationary, Trevor cuddles up to him with a smile. This is one of those books where the text (which rhymes) and the acrylic, pen, and pencil illustrations are both humorous.

I have read both these books for story time at the library, and each have made adults in the audience laugh. That is magical writing.

Also available in French. See p. 41.

Thematic Links: Pugs; Dogs; Humour; Lying; Friendship; Rhyme; Accidents

Tanya Boudreau

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Resource Links
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Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Pig the Fibber." Resource Links, vol. 21, no. 4, Apr. 2016, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A451939972/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b330b77b. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

BLABEY, Aaron

Thelma the Unicorn

Scholastic Canada, 2016. 32p. Illus.

Gr. Preschool--1.978-1-4431-4810-8. Hdbk.

$14.99

Thelma the pony has i short legs, bland fur, and a round belly. She longs to look like a beautiful unicorn even though her friend Otis likes her as she is. When she finds a carrot on the ground, her transformation begins. She coats herself in pink paint and glitter and enjoys all the attention she receives when she becomes a celebrity. She poses for the media and travels aboard yachts. For the first time, the acrylic, pen and pencil illustrations show Thelma smiling and standing confidently. But when she loses her privacy and her sense of self by spending all her time pleasing people who love her only because she looks like a unicorn, she gets rid of everything but the carrot because that is for her and Otis to eat; together, as horses.

This rhyming picture book features a sparkly cover and a clear, simple message about the importance of being kind to yourself and others. Fans of Blabey's Pig the Pug Series of picture books will recognize his rhythmic humour and his wide-open eyed characters.

Thematic Links: Horses; Unicom; Identity; Self-Acceptance; Friends; Appearances

[E] Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
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Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Thelma the Unicorn." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 1, Oct. 2016, p. 2. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A469756050/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=124ea3cc. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

BLABEY, Aaron

Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug Series)

Scholastic Canada, 2016. 32p. Illus.

Gr. Preschool--1.978-1-4431-4891-7.

Hdbk. $14.99

Blabey contrasts the good (Trevor the loyal dachshund) with the bad (Pig the selfish Pug) in his hilarious rhyming picture books. In this third story, poor sportsmanship is the quality Pig exhibits whenever he and Trevor are running, playing, or eating. Pig kicks Trevor in the face to slow him down during a race. He throws a temper tantrum when he loses to Trevor, and he brags when he wins a game Trevor didn't even want to play. On the day he yells "GO!" at mealtime, Pig swallows all his food, and his over-sized bowl. "Lucky for Pig, Trevor knew what to do. He squeezed out the bowl before Pig could turn blue." Does Pig thank his friend? No. He says, "I win!" Pig will never learn to be good, but his bad behaviour momentarily slows down by the end of each book because of injuries that result in him looking like a mummy.

Children and adults have enjoyed these books when I read them aloud at story time. One teacher I know even went out and bought the books because they remind her of her pug. Also available in French. See p. 43.

Thematic Links: Dogs (Pugs and Dachshunds); Winning and Losing; Competition; Poor Sportsmanship; Friends

[E] Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Resource Links
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Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug Series)." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 1, Oct. 2016, p. 2. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A469756049/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=865f7583. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Aaron Blabey, Aaron Blabey THE BAD GUYS Scholastic (Adult Fiction) 3.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2

Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leafor a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp. As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean / I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man. We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Aaron Blabey, Aaron Blabey: THE BAD GUYS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A465181919/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b902266e. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron THE BAD GUYS IN MISSION UNPLUCKABLE Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $5.99 2, 28 ISBN: 978-0-545-91241-9

The foursome of reformed villains returns with a new mission and new team member in a continued effort to repair their reputations in Blabey's (The Bad Guys, 2017) rollicking sequel. This second installment opens with our would-be heroes, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha, fresh from their bold liberation of the local pound, finding that the media is not spinning in their favor. Accused of terrorizing rather than rescuing, the group (at least Mr. Wolf) refuses to admit defeat--"We're the GOOD GUYS here!"--and begins planning a new mission to free innocent chickens from their deplorable confinement in the Sunnyside Chicken Farm. But if the team can't work together--something all the more difficult with the team a little panicked by the addition of Legs (a friendly, tech-genius tarantula) and one of the group suspiciously excited to greet the chickens--a rescue mission may be all but impossible. Despite some language devaluing of mental diversity ("freak out," "loco," etc.) that may turn some readers off, Blabey once again deploys moral ambiguity to overall success, challenging fear as a justification for prejudice and mistakes as reasons to give up. The narrative has lost no comic momentum from first to second book, juxtaposing classic riffs on Mission Impossible and new visual gags unique to these delightfully wry characters. Another uproarious romp that explores what it is to be good as well as do good. (Fiction. 7-11)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Blabey, Aaron: THE BAD GUYS IN MISSION UNPLUCKABLE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A473652215/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c66ceec7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

BLABEY, Aaron

I Need a Hug

Scholastic Canada, 2016. Unp. Illus. Gr. Preschool--3. 978-1-4431-4889-4. Hdbk. $14.99

I Need A Hug is a delightful picture book offering from Australian, Aaron Blabey who is also known as the creator of Pug the Pig.

A young porcupine desperately wants a hug only to be rebuffed by Lou the Rabbit, Ken the Deer, and Moe the Bear. All is pretty sad until the small porcupine meets a snake who wants a kiss. Problem solved for two when prickles (quills) encounter scales and the porcupine and the snake each receive what they need.

Written in rhyming verse that is quite reminiscent of The Gruffalo, this is a lovely read aloud which is truly enhanced by Blabey's artwork which is acrylic (with pens and pencils) on watercolour and which presents as one solid colour per animal encounter. The text of the book is in speech bubbles which works well. A real bonus is the built-in end papers which both foreshadow and complete the story--the front end being about rejection and the back end about acceptance and kindness. Children will love identifying and reading the words.

While I Need a Hug may not be the definitive porcupine picture book--that honour probably still belongs to Patti Stren's Elliott in Hug Me--it is a wee pleasure just the same and a worthy purchase for any primary school. Highly recommended.

Also available in French. See p. 41.

Thematic Links: Character Building; Acceptance

[E] Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Resource Links
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Letain, Anne. "Blabey, Aaron: I Need a Hug." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 3, Feb. 2017, p. 4. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A492222357/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=80990f11. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIG THE WINNER Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 6, 27 ISBN: 978-1-338-13638-8

Sore loser and sore winner is always a losing combination."Pig was a pug / and I'm sorry to say, / if he didn't come first, / it would ruin his day." And chubby Pig is hard to beat...because if he's behind, his response is to cheat. And if by some chance he does lose to, say, his long-suffering friend Trevor, he throws a fit until his opponent relents and declares Pig the actual winner. Even if Trevor just wants to play for fun, Pig's response is "It ain't fun till I've WON!" One night at supper, Pig challenges Trevor to a speed-eating contest and doesn't bother waiting for the reluctant Trevor to agree. Pig eats so fast that he swallows his food dish. Trevor saves the day with the Heimlich, sending the dish shooting into the air. After it falls and bonks him on the head, Pig learns his lesson...sort of. Australian author/illustrator Blabey brings back his greedy pug Pig for a second American release (there will be four shortly in his native land). It seems Pig has more problems than just greed. The goggle-eyed cartoon illustrations are fun, funny, and appealingly grotesque in their exaggerated goofiness, and they are a good match for the rhyming text. Pig probably doesn't have any fans per se (who'd like the nasty little booger?), but his antics make learning good sportsdogship fun. (Picture book. 4-8)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE WINNER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A487668564/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=86d2f65b. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIG THE ELF Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 9, 26 ISBN: 978-1-338-22122-0

In this rhyming story, the latest in a series from Australia, Pig the pug celebrates Christmas in his characteristically greedy fashion. Pig's best pal, Trevor the dachshund, asks Santa for "something nice" in a neatly printed letter shown on the front endpapers. But Pig has a Christmas list a mile long, ranging from a motorcycle to longer legs, reproduced in blocky print on the back endpapers. Wearing a red Santa suit, Pig stays up waiting for Santa's arrival. When Santa leaves only a few presents, Pig yells at him rudely and tries to detain him by biting "poor old Santa's big, rosy behind!" Pig doesn't let go, and he is dragged along as Santa returns to his sleigh, with Pig complaining that his pile of presents "is just not enough." (Sharp-eyed children may wonder how Pig talks when his teeth are clenched on Santa's rear end.) The greedy pug finally falls from the flying sleigh, and in "a real Christmas miracle," he is saved by landing on an angel at the top of an outdoor Christmas tree. The visual humor of the dog clamped onto Santa's seat is funny (if a dog biting someone can be funny), but Pig's greedy, ill-mannered comments to Santa are not. Mixed-media illustrations emphasize Pig's bulging eyes, which are echoed in the similarly buggy eyes of Santa (who is white), his reindeer, and even Trevor the dachshund. Kids will find the premise comical, but as far as a rewarding Christmas story is concerned, a dog-bites-Santa joke "is just not enough." (Picture book. 3-6)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE ELF." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A502192228/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4f8526b7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

The Dreadful Fluff

Aaron Blabey. Puffin Australia (IPG/Trafalgar

Sq., dist.), $9.99 paper (32p) ISBN 978-0-14-350700-0

Bellybutton lint turns into a living nightmare for a type-A schoolgirl not used to such imperfections. Serenity Strainer prides herself on being perfect, so it's bad enough when she discovers some lint in her bellybutton. Worse yet, "It was evil." With a menacing glare, claw-like limbs, and razor-sharp teeth, the lint-promptly dubbed the Dreadful Fluff-goes on a domestic rampage, growing in size as it absorbs more dust and gulps down Serenity's cat, mother, and older sibling ("Serenity's big brother never knew what hit him"). When the Dreadful Fluff sets its sights on her baby sister, a vacuum-wielding Serenity shifts into warrior mode to save her family. Blabey's expressive cartoons bring a horror-movie vibe to a story that's best suited to children looking for a good scare and lots of gross-out humor. A final scene reveals that the incident has taught Serenity how to "deal with" such menaces: by impaling them like butterflies, mounting their heads to the wall, and preserving them in jars. Beyond being a gruesome ending, it leaves the point of the book unclear--is the way to handle imperfections to kill them dead? Ages 3-5. (Nov.)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
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"The Dreadful Fluff." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 41, 9 Oct. 2017, p. 64. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A511293389/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=acc6bfd1. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

The Dreadful Fluff. By Aaron Blabey. Illus. by the author. Nov. 2017. 32p. IPG/Puffin, paper, $9.99 (9780143507000). K-Gr.3.

Blabey shows uncommon talent for depicting gross and revolting substances in this tale of belly lint gone bad. As the trophies and photos in her room show, young Serenity Strainer is as smart and talented as she is lovely--in a word (repeated no less than five times), perfect. What she pulls out of her navel one morning, though, is "perfectly awful." Perfectly evil, too: sporting a malevolent leer, it rolls off into the house with a fart and a spatter of green goo, soon growing big enough to eat the cat, Serenity's mum, and even her pimply big brother. But when it goes after the baby, Serenity intrepidly makes a stand, roaring "Cough them up!" and jamming a vacuum cleaner nozzle deep into the monster's guts. With an awful shriek, the mountain of fuzz vanishes into the dust bag, leaving its thoroughly slimed victims sprawled out on the floor. From then on, Serenity knows just what to do with earwax or any other signs of imperfection that might appear. Readers will applaud her resourcefulness (though few will, or should, want to imitate her practice of keeping gooey globs of refuse as trophies). Fans of Keith Graves and similar blech-meisters will be over the moon.--John Peters

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
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Peters, John. "The Dreadful Fluff." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2017, pp. 58+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512776247/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47268dc7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron I NEED A HUG Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 1, 29 ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2

A hug shouldn't require an instruction manual--but some do.

A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: "I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,...?" As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It's an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.

This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they've Googled "How to pet a porcupine." (Picture book. 3-5)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Blabey, Aaron: I NEED A HUG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A557887232/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9d33b653. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

BLABEY, Aaron

Don't Call Me Bear!

Scholastic Canada, 2018.

24p. Illus. Gr. Preschool--1.978-1-4431-6395-8. Hdbk.

$16.99

[E]

The Pig the Pug creator's newest rhyming picture book aims to clear up the confusion between bears and marsupials. Talking for the marsupials is a koala bear named Warren. He says G'day, and introduces the reader to all the common marsupials found in Australia. As he appears in different parts of Australia, he points out signs, books, people, and labels that incorrectly name koala bears as bears. His reactions are exaggerated in both his speech (WHY

AM I THE ONLY GUY YOU DON'T CALL BY HIS NAME?), his gestures, and his facial expressions. But no matter how loud he gets, not everyone gets the message. Children will likely still want to call him a bear at the end of the story too, but will likely remember why that's wrong.

The acrylic illustrations include different parts of the world showing polar bears, grizzly bears, and brown bears. Humans are depicted as naive tourists who are sometimes scared of bears. There is one page which shows the koala in a library reading (he's defaced a book cover), and another which artwork readers will find silly because the animals pose in their underwear. Neon orange and green draw the readers' attention to the word bear and the Koala's presence on the page when he's mixed in with a pile of stuffed koala toys.

Blabey makes a good point not only about the importance of using the proper name for things, but about correcting mistakes as they arise.

Thematic Links: Koala Bear; Marsupials; Mistakes; Rhyming Story; Comparisons

Tanya Boudreau

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Resource Links
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Boudreau, Tanya. "BLABEY, Aaron: Don't Call Me Bear!" Resource Links, vol. 24, no. 2, Dec. 2018, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A570046438/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ee19639e. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIG THE STINKER Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 4, 30 ISBN: 978-1-338-33754-9

Pig loves things that stink...including himself.

"Pig liked to get dirty. / He frankly was RANK. / His paws could be frightful. / His fur often stank." Pig rolls in garbage and spoiled milk; he even plays with poo! He's not offended by smells--not even by his wiener-dog buddy's butt! Calls for bathtime make him run, and he's very good at escaping, evading, and hiding. He sneaks away and jams a rubber-bone toy up the bathtub spigot. Then, being the nasty scamp that he is, he boogies with glee right in the tub, taunting his owner--until the plumbing explodes, bonking him in the nose with the faucet. From then on he doesn't balk at bathtime...but that doesn't change the fact that he often stinks to high heaven. Pig returns from his native Australia (where the book was titled Pig the Grub) to teach another lesson by setting a bad example. Blabey's gleefully rancid creation scampers across the pages covered in (and liberally spreading) green and brown goo, and his pong is as visible as his owner's face is not. With his bulging eyes and general nastiness, Pig is definitely an acquired taste; that this is his fifth outing is ample proof that many have done so.

Those who have enjoyed Pig's other adventures in badness will likely love this one, and the obviously frequent mentions of things potty-related will recruit new fans. (Picture book. 3-7)

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"Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE STINKER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A569224588/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=415774f4. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIRANHAS DON'T EAT BANANAS Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 7, 9 ISBN: 978-1-338-29713-3

It takes a lot of sass to make "piranhas" and "bananas" rhyme, and Blabey's book is full of that sass.

Who would guess that a piranha loves fruit? But Brian does. When he tries to tempt other piranhas to try a banana, they turn him down cold. "Well, how about some silverbeet?" Brian asks. "Are you serious, Brian? We eat feet," they reply. "Or would you rather a bowl of peas?" "Stop it, Brian. We eat knees." Children will readily guess what the other piranhas reply when Brian asks if they'd like some nice, ripe plums. But Brian keeps trying, ultimately offering the other fish "an awesome fruit platter." They gobble it up in a typical piranha frenzy, and a hopeful Brian asks, "Is it yucky or yum?" While they admit "It's very nice," they enthusiastically proclaim, "But we still prefer bum!" The loose, rhyming back and forth between Brian and the other piranhas make this a fun read-aloud guaranteed to generate giggles and requests to "read it again." Illustrations, just as sassy as the text, spotlight bright, lantern-jawed avocado-green fish and colorful fruit that pop against a stark white background. And the piranhas' facial expressions? Priceless. Don't miss the endpapers for serious and not-so-serious information about piranhas and bananas.

A wonderfully silly story about being true to yourself. (Picture book. 4-6)

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"Blabey, Aaron: PIRANHAS DON'T EAT BANANAS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A582144049/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c92d9dfa. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas

Aaron Blabey. Scholastic Press, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-338-29713-3

Brian, a piranha, clearly did not get the memo about what his species eats, and it's frustrating his fellow fish. "Well, how about some silverbeet?" asks the piranha protag when the others reject the titular banana offering. "Are you serious, Brian? We eat feet" replies the opposition's leader as a human's toes suddenly dangle temptingly in the water. Brian, who holds forth from the left side of each spread, keeps at it, suggesting peas and plums as the others counter with preferred piranha foods (knees, bums). He eventually convinces his carnivorous peers to decide for themselves whether plant-based eats are "yucky or yum," and the fish concur that they're tasty--just not as delicious as the swim-trunk-clad human buns now on the scene. As the green, bug-eyed fish float and squabble in rhyme amid a bubbleflecked white space, Blabey (the Bad Guys series) hits all the right notes of absurdity (including piling enough fruit on Brian's head to give Carmen Miranda a run for her money) to send young readers into a bedtime reading frenzy. Ages 3-5. (July)

Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 PWxyz, LLC
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"Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas." Publishers Weekly, vol. 266, no. 20, 20 May 2019, p. 80. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587765550/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=896b92e5. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron DON'T CALL ME BEAR! Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 9, 17 ISBN: 978-1-338-36002-8

An anguished koala beseeches readers not to confuse koalas with bears.

Warren, a frustrated marsupial, introduces himself and carefully explains the confusion. Yes, he's furry, and yes, the explorer Capt. Cook misidentified his species years ago, but Cook was wrong. Bears live in the U.S., Canada, and the polar regions. "Australia doesn't have bears!" Australia has marsupials such as kangaroos and wombats, emus (which are not chickens), and platypuses (which are not ducks). Blabey's smoothly rhyming text is set in varying typefaces and fonts to emphasize Warren's vexation. Australian terms, such as "chook" for chicken (defined in context) and "bush," meaning a sparsely inhabited region, have been retained in this U.S. edition of a title first published in Australia in 2016. Humorous acrylic paintings feature the koala wearing various types of garb. In a chart of five marsupial species, all wear only tighty whities, guaranteeing giggles. Speech bubbles set on commanding background colors (lime green, deep yellow, ginger orange, light olive, and a deep red) carry the text and will show well to a group of kids who may want to chime in. Observant viewers will notice the crossed-out word in the phrase "koala bear" on a book cover and a toy store sign. When the kangaroo, emu, and platypus point out the obvious--he looks like a bear--he leaves in disgust. Pair with Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's Diary of a Wombat (2003) for an Australian storytime.

Modestly informational and totally fun. (Picture book. 3-7)

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"Blabey, Aaron: DON'T CALL ME BEAR!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588726846/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fdaee5be. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIG THE TOURIST Scholastic (Children's Fiction) $14.99 3, 3 ISBN: 978-1-338-59339-6

People who live in popular spots always complain when human tourists invade, but when the visitor is an unruly dog like Pig the pug, the situation gets even worse.

The big-eyed, ill-behaved pug runs roughshod over everyone: his owner, a brown-skinned woman who remains faceless; Trevor, his owner's other dog, a big-eyed dachshund (every human and animal has large eyes in Blabey's amusing illustrations); and all the other people, animals, works of art, and architectural marvels encountered in Pig's world travels. Pig disrupts a Japanese geisha's lunch; he angers some scantily clad Caribbean carnival dancers; he breaks the head off the Sphinx in Egypt; and he disturbs the queen's tea and menaces her prize corgis, prompting the headline: "CHAOS AT THE PALACE: Queen shaken, not stirred." (Young readers will likely be unmoved by this joke.) Yes, the rhyming text is occasionally clever and the pictures are full of action, but there is nothing original in this skewed presentation of a few of the world's best-known, stereotypically presented tourist sites. Although Pig does get a well-deserved punishment for his rude behavior (piranhas attack when he least expects it), he still manages to get the last word when he stinks up first class with a very explicitly visual fart. The moral of the story? Leave Pig in the kennel when you travel.

Everyone except die-hard Pig fans may skip this installment. (Picture book. 5-8)

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"Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE TOURIST." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605549404/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0cf34cf0. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron PIG THE REBEL Scholastic (Children's None) $13.49 10, 4 ISBN: 978-1-338-85919-5

You got schooled!

Pig the Pug is back for another off-kilter adventure, and this time he's a doggie school dropout. After off-page antics that leave his owner's home a mess, Pig is shipped off to Big Jean's Dog Obedience School, where the institution's "No job too tough" motto finally meets its match. Pig joins a cohort of equally uncouth pups but doesn't advance further than the first lesson before he organizes a revolt. Mayhem ensues, and Pig ends up looking like his namesake after an accident with a few pink cakes and a tank of flammable gas. Thankfully, though, some lessons were learned and the book ends on a positive note. The story and the illustrations--rendered in acrylic with pens and pencils--are just as zany as readers would expect, and educators and librarians will revel in reading the book aloud. The plot moves at a breakneck pace; as a result, Big Jean, a stern, light-skinned woman with a heap of purple curls, isn't developed, which is unfortunate as the character radiates interest and seems like a funny foil for the mischievous pug. Instead, the focus stays solely on Pig, whose reaction shots and bug-eyed horror at the thought of behaving will have readers giggling long after the book is finished. One sour spot is a visual joke that implies cultural insensitivity among Pig's bad dog behaviors; it appears to be a reference to a previous title in the series, but without context it may confuse readers unfamiliar with the series. This issue aside, Pig is a bad pug whom children will want to read about again and again. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Another hilarious outing with this deliciously naughty dog. (Picture book. 4-8)

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"Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE REBEL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906686/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=538bd859. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (Cat on the Run #1)

Aaron Blabey. Scholastic, $7.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-338-83182-5

Fluffy, white anthropomorphic cat Princess Beautiful, an online influencer, gets a reality check when she's forced on the run in this harebrained graphic novel by Blabey (the Bad Guys series). Feline social media megastar Beautiful has it all: 2.2 billion adoring fans, even more billions of views on her oh-so-cute cat videos, and several assistants who are ready to fulfill her every whim, even during inconvenient moments. Today, the "World's Favorite Kitty" is preparing for a date with handsome feline and billionaire heir Catrick Cash. Distracted by swoony daydreams while filming a new video of her using the computer, Beautiful doesn't notice that her device has been hacked and that she has accidentally armed nuclear missiles. Suddenly, Beautiful goes from a beloved media figure to a wanted global villain. Now a fugitive, Beautiful seeks the real culprit--the evil Red Scorpion while being relentlessly hunted by mouse deputy Marshall Cheeseman. Rough-hewn b&w illustrations with red accents portray Beautiful as a prim and proper feline who's used to the finer things in life in an antics-filled series launch that effectively captutes the absurdity of social media fame while building to a cattastic cliffhanger. Ages 7-10. (Sept.)

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"Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (Cat on the Run #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 270, no. 28, 10 July 2023, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A758336783/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47072f7d. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron CAT ON THE RUN IN CAT OF DEATH! Scholastic Paperbacks (Children's None) $7.99 9, 5 ISBN: 9781338831825

A celebrity cat-turned-unwitting outlaw fumbles hilariously through a series of calamities.

Princess Beautiful needs her vanilla latte! Right now! No, make that a green tea! She's preparing for a date with suave billionaire Catrick Cash, and she's all out of sorts. This sort of outburst is par for the course in the life of a superfamous cat. Princess Beautiful is wildly popular, racking up over 3 billion likes on goofy videos in which she chases laser pointer beams, smashes her paws haphazardly on a computer keyboard while wearing googly-eye glasses, and activates top-secret nuclear missile codes for the whole world to see. Wait, that last one seems a bit off. Princess Beautiful, set up by shadowy enemies, swiftly finds public opinion turned against her. She's arrested, spectacularly destroys a prison bus and a Supermax prison, and attempts to flee in disguise in a series of snowballing catastrophes that make her appear much more evil than she is. Princess Beautiful, a delightful new addition to the Bad Guys universe, is a true diva, glamorous and self-obsessed yet perpetually uneasy, not unlike the iconic Miss Piggy. Each character she encounters is equally dramatic and broad, and every turn of the page brings fresh disaster. Punctuated with red, Blabey's dynamic grayscale art brings to life Princess Beautiful's pratfalls with the same enjoyably chaotic energy as in his Bad Guys books.

The perils of online celebrity take the form of frantic feline antics in this capable, caper-filled series starter. (Graphic fiction. 7-12)

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"Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN CAT OF DEATH!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A756872223/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a1f7d590. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron CAT ON THE RUN IN CUCUMBER MADNESS! Scholastic Paperbacks (Children's None) $7.99 8, 6 ISBN: 9781339000923

A fugitive feline finds herself at the center of international hijinks.

When we last left internet superstar and unintentional enemy of the state Princess Beautiful, she'd mysteriously disappeared after accidentally destroying a high-security prison. As this second installment begins, Princess Beautiful is tied to a chair--the work of a bespectacled goat named Marv who declares himself, somewhat conveniently, to be a literal scapegoat. People assume he's a bad guy, but, he assures her, that's a lie. Still, if he's really a good guy, why is our hero tied up in a dark room, on the edge of a cliff, in the mountains of Eastern Europe? Great question! Blabey's graphic novel plunges readers ever deeper into the tangled web of Princess Beautiful's predicament. As Marv shuttles her to a scorpion-shaped archipelago in the Caribbean, her so-called friends rat her out to an overeager rodent detective, and Catrick Cash, her potential paramour, seeks her out for his own particular purposes. The narrative focuses on unveiling the villain who's framing our furry protagonist and places less emphasis on the sending up of mass media and internet culture so central to the first volume. The two threads weave back together, however, in the story's dramatic denouement, setting up a scenario for world domination to be further explored in the series' next volume. Blabey's spare black-and-white art is punctuated with pops of red; once more, he delivers both satirical jabs and exaggerated, cartoonish antics.

Classic comic timing and kooky characters continue to captivate. (Graphic fiction. 7-12)

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"Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN CUCUMBER MADNESS!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A797463316/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=db336806. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron CRANKY PUG Cartwheel/Scholastic (Children's None) $7.99 9, 17 ISBN: 9781546122692

The infamous Pig the Pug walks board-book readers through a range of emotions in this new installment that's loosely tied to the rest of the series.

Blabey's signature exaggerated style and Pig the Pug's bug-eyed facial expressions are put to especially good use in this concept book. The first page states that "Pig the Pug has many feelings! How is he feeling today?" Readers are invited to identify Pig's moods, from "cranky" to "EXCITED" to "sleepy." Each page highlights the named emotion in large colored type, followed by a quote from a character on the page (usually Pig). Fans will recognize Pig's selfishness and cheekiness in many of the quotes ("I want ALL my stuff!" "Aren't I divine?"), some of which offer callbacks to previous books, while those new to the series will still find much humor in both Pig's lines and his caricaturelike expressions. A mirror on the last page that asks, "How are YOU feeling?" gives readers the opportunity to put their emotional vocabulary to use immediately and perhaps make a Pig-like face themselves.

An effective stand-alone concept book and a series add-on; followers of the titular pug will be delighted.(Board book. 0-3)

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"Blabey, Aaron: CRANKY PUG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A801499657/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5dcec733. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Blabey, Aaron CAT ON THE RUN IN HIDDEN LAYERS! Scholastic Paperbacks (Children's None) $7.99 5, 6 ISBN: 9781546111825

A feline framed for a world-destroying plot goes to dramatic lengths to reveal the true villain.

Princess Beautiful, an internet superstar, started her story as a self-obsessed, demanding diva. The earlier books in the trilogy saw her attempting to clear her name and discovering the real bad guy: Thaddeus Cash, a scheming media mogul and the father of her boyfriend, Catrick. Cash harnesses Beautiful's internet celebrity for evil, broadcasting a video that brainwashes viewers into believing that he's president of the United States. With most elements essential to the narrative already revealed, this tale sees our protagonist trying to put a stop to Cash's corruption. The first two installments were compelling and suspenseful, with a premise that was darkly comedic in its likeness to real-world manipulators of mass media. In his latest, Blabey sacrifices tension and character development for high-energy action sequences. Though a bit loosely plotted, this third-act romp still offers thrills and plenty of humor, including an improbable but hilarious scene in which a subway car careens into a helicopter. Readers will cheer as Princess Beautiful finds her true calling as a nunchucks-wielding action hero. Loose-lined, expressive grayscale cartoon artwork punctuated by pops of red bring plenty of drama. Familiarity with the earlier two books in the series is a must for readers of the newest volume.

A silly series finale, rife with action and hijinks.(Graphic fiction. 7-12)

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"Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN HIDDEN LAYERS!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A839213274/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3708fb70. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Pig the Fibber." Resource Links, vol. 21, no. 4, Apr. 2016, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A451939972/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b330b77b. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Thelma the Unicorn." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 1, Oct. 2016, p. 2. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A469756050/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=124ea3cc. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. Boudreau, Tanya. "Blabey, Aaron: Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug Series)." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 1, Oct. 2016, p. 2. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A469756049/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=865f7583. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Aaron Blabey, Aaron Blabey: THE BAD GUYS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A465181919/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b902266e. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: THE BAD GUYS IN MISSION UNPLUCKABLE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A473652215/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c66ceec7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. Letain, Anne. "Blabey, Aaron: I Need a Hug." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 3, Feb. 2017, p. 4. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A492222357/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=80990f11. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE WINNER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A487668564/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=86d2f65b. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE ELF." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A502192228/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4f8526b7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "The Dreadful Fluff." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 41, 9 Oct. 2017, p. 64. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A511293389/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=acc6bfd1. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. Peters, John. "The Dreadful Fluff." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2017, pp. 58+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512776247/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47268dc7. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: I NEED A HUG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A557887232/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9d33b653. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. Boudreau, Tanya. "BLABEY, Aaron: Don't Call Me Bear!" Resource Links, vol. 24, no. 2, Dec. 2018, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A570046438/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ee19639e. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE STINKER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A569224588/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=415774f4. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIRANHAS DON'T EAT BANANAS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A582144049/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c92d9dfa. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas." Publishers Weekly, vol. 266, no. 20, 20 May 2019, p. 80. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587765550/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=896b92e5. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: DON'T CALL ME BEAR!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588726846/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fdaee5be. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE TOURIST." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605549404/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0cf34cf0. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: PIG THE REBEL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906686/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=538bd859. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (Cat on the Run #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 270, no. 28, 10 July 2023, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A758336783/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47072f7d. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN CAT OF DEATH!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A756872223/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a1f7d590. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN CUCUMBER MADNESS!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A797463316/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=db336806. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: CRANKY PUG." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A801499657/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5dcec733. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025. "Blabey, Aaron: CAT ON THE RUN IN HIDDEN LAYERS!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A839213274/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3708fb70. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

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