From writer and illustrator, Kirk Scroggs, get the inside scoop on Russell Weinwright’s swampy life in The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid on shelves NOW!
Warning! Unless you have express permission from young Russell Weinwright to access his personal journal, do not read any further. This blurb is strictly off-limits! Seriously, we mean it.
Okay, if you are still with us, here is what we can share: Russell is a middle schooler; he excessively doodles in his spiral notebook; he has two best friends, Charlotte and Preston; he is not-so-great at sports; and he is pond scum. Nicknamed “Swamp Kid” by his classmates, Russell has algae for hair, a tree trunk of a right arm, webbed toes, and a parsnip for a thumb. Also, Russell’s favorite meal is sunlight. Also, a frog lives in his arm.
In this notebook, Russell details, in both hilarious text and green-tinted illustrations (complete with ketchup stains!), what it’s like to be different, to be comfortable in his own skin (no matter how slimy), to discover his true talents, to avoid the intense stare of Mr. Finneca (his suspicious science teacher), and to find humor in the everyday weird.
This is The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid by writer and illustrator Kirk Scroggs, and you’ll never look at the bayou the same way again.
Kirk Scroggs is an author-illustrator best known for the Snoop Troop books, It Came from Beneath the Playground, and Attack of the Ninja Potato Clones, as well as the series Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet and Wiley & Grampa’s Creatures Features. His website is kirkscroggs.com.
Check out the book trailer below!
This graphic novel is written like a journal with funny dialog and illustrations on each page. Russell is very different from his classmates in appearance as he was found in a swamp and has vines growing out of him. He eventually wants to find out about his parents so he studies the swamp and discovers there was once a lab there. As kids read this graphic novel they might feel a connection to Russell because they too feel different! In this book Russell embraces his differences which is always comforting to kids because they too can learn to enjoy their differences from their peers as well. Plenty of funny pop-culture references are scattered throughout for added fun. Listed for ages 8-12 this graphic novel is great for middle grade readers. Big Sis is 10 and currently OBSESSED with graphic novels and loves this book so much she has read it cover to cover twice in 2 days. She told me that she loves how it looks like a spiral notebook complete with light blue lines running across the page and that the story and illustrations are awesome. I also read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Big Sis immediately wanted to know if Scroggs had any other books and to me that means this book is perfect!
