Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe's Wiener Getaway Review (Kids Graphic Novel)

Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway Review (Kids Graphic Novel)

Meet Cosmoe, the Earth-Boy. He’s captain of the Neon Wiener, the finest flying food truck in the galaxy. Along with his bud, Big Humphree, he spends his days cruising the cosmos and staying crazy busy…

1. Cooking up a Mega-Dog. (Dude, this hot dog is the size of a jeep!)

2. Escaping mutant worm monsters, zombie space pirates, and grumpy robots. (What the butt?!)

3. Playing Super Moon Ninja Death Jab (Turbo Ear Slap! 9,000 points!!)

4. And… PROTECTING THE GALAXY from the Ultimate Evil. (He’s kind of an awesome space guy.)

Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway Review

Aimed at 8-12-year-olds, Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway is the action-packed first book in a new series by Max Brallier and Rachel Maguire. Cosmoe is the lone earth boy in space, and he’s running an intragalactic food truck with his buddy (an ex-pirate) named Humphree. All they want to do is win the Intragalactic Food Truck Competition. Fame, fortune, and hot dogs. Life would be good.

Unfortunately, before things even get started, there’s thievery afoot, and before they know it the two partners find themselves in over their head. And they’ve got an evil princess on board. Well, except for the fact where she doesn’t want to be evil. But maybe it’s in her ~~jeans~~ genes. So there’s epic video game battles, daring escapes from the queen’s armada, and facing zombie space pirates. Yes, there are zombies in space.

Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway is fun and fast-paced. It’s simple but dramatic and has a few almost curse-words to make it feel slightly naughty. It’s filled with enough action to keep a middle grader’s attention, and even though there’s a girl involved, there’s no chance of cooties. In terms of illustrations, Rachel Maguire and Nichole Kelley do a solid job. The illustrations have bold, thick lines to match the rather dramatic text, and the panels are easy enough to follow for the most part.

My child loved it. She cracked up frequently and insisted I keep reading it to her through lunch. I have to confess, I don’t quite understand what appealed to her so much about it. To me, Galactic Hot Dogs: Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway was mildly amusing and that was about the limit. However, considering this is a kid’s book, I’m going to yield to the 7-year-old’s opinion and acknowledge that the book has something special about it. Overall, it’s a fun, fast-paced science fiction graphic novel that’s worth checking out for your kid.