Adam Wallace (text) and Wayne Bryant (illustrator), S. M. Ellybutt Strikes Back (Pugnacious & Scuttlebutt #2), Larrikin House, June 2023, 208 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922804495
The canine comedy odd couple are back for more butt-scraping adventure!
Scuttlebutt the greyhound and his dour pug friend, Pugnacious, are hungry—it’s no mean feat finding food on the streets. Pugnacious will do anything for a feed, but Scuttlebutt has his limits. But when the dog-catcher—1980s fugitive S. M. Ellybutt—catches up to them, staying out of his clutches becomes their priority.
Pugnacious and Scuttlebutt use diversion and distraction to avoid being dragged back to the pound, and a gang of kids become their unwitting helpers. That is, until one of the kids is thrown into the middle of the lake. The kids become too much for S. M. but Pugnacious and Scuttlebutt face a moral dilemma—leave the boy in the lake, or become the (anti) heroes of the day? And can Scuttlebutt reach the boy before his butt becomes too itchy?
Pugnacious & Scuttlebutt is a high action, high drama, highly-illustrated junior fiction series that’s a little bit crude (dog poo and vomit), a little bit rude (lots of butt jokes) and filled to the brim with slapstick comedy in canine form. The text moves quickly, relying heavily on the brilliant illustrations to portray the outlandish escapades of the doggy duo.
Pugnacious & Scuttlebutt: S. M. Ellybutt Strikes Back is laugh-aloud comedy for lovers of odd dogs, butt jokes and non-stop action.
Review by Pamela Ueckerman
