DAV PILKEY INTERNATIONAL TOUR
ANNOUNCED
DREAMWORKS ANIMATION'S NEW FEATURE FILM,
DOG MAN, COMING TO THEATERS WORLDWIDE STARTING JANUARY 31
NEW
YORK and LONDON and
TORONTO and SYDNEY, Dec. 3, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Dog Man-ia is about to sweep the globe. Big
plans for Dav Pilkey's #1
blockbuster hit series Dog Man kicks off with the launch of the
newest book, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, releasing today
simultaneously in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand with a 5 million copy first printing.
Since the book series launched to critical acclaim in
August 2016, Dog Man has more than 60
million books in print with translations in 47 languages, making it
one of the bestselling graphic novel series of all time. DreamWorks
Animation's new feature film adaptation, Dog Man, will
arrive in theaters worldwide early next year, beginning with the
U.S. release on January 31. The film
is directed by Peter Hastings and
features the vocal talents of a powerhouse comedic cast, including
Saturday Night Live star Pete
Davidson, Isla Fisher
(Wedding Crashers), Lil Rel
Howery (Get Out) and Emmy and Golden Globe winner
Ricky Gervais (The
Office).
More big news is coming in the New Year as Dog Man author and
illustrator Dav Pilkey embarks on an
international tour. Inspired by one of the themes in the Dog Man
series about how ordinary people can do extraordinarily good deeds,
all events on Dav Pilkey's tour will
shine the spotlight on everyday heroes who make a positive impact
in their own communities. The tour starts in the U.S. in January
with an event at the world's largest library, the Library of
Congress, in Washington, D.C.
Additional event details and tour stops in the U.S. include
Kansas City, Detroit, Dallas, Orlando, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and
more. For the first time in 10 years, Pilkey will travel to the
U.K. and Ireland appearing in
London at the Royal Festival Hall
as part of the Southbank Centre's Imagine Festival on February 22nd followed by an event in
Dublin. More venues and countries
along with ticket information will be announced in the coming weeks
on Scholastic's social media platforms and Scholastic's Dav
Pilkey website.
In a statement, Dav Pilkey said,
"In this new book, Big Jim begins to discover that what we focus on
is often more important than what happens to us. Books bring people
together and reading helps kids develop empathy and compassion. I'm
excited to meet readers in person, sign their books, and I look
forward to celebrating everyday heroes within each community who
make this world a better place."
For nearly four decades, Dav
Pilkey's books have been inspiring and igniting kids'
passion for reading. Highlights of upcoming plans
include:
- A new Dog Man book, Dog Man: Big Jim Believes,
will be published by Scholastic worldwide in Fall 2025.
- Scholastic also will release a special full-color edition of
Dav Pilkey's first-ever graphic
novel, The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby in
August 2025. Originally published in
2002, fourteen years before Dog Man, The Adventures of Super
Diaper Baby was an instant national bestseller.
- Starting this month and through spring 2025, more than 100 Dog
Man costume characters will be appearing at bookstores, libraries,
and community-wide events across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New
Zealand.
- Thousands of custom "Join The Hero Party" Dog Man displays and
exclusive giveaways will be featured across all major retailers in
the U.S. and Canada. Scholastic
will also distribute thousands of event kits and the Dog Man iconic
hero badges to bookstores and libraries. To find events in the U.S.
and Canada, and to download free
"Join the Hero Party" activities, visit
www.celebratedogman.com.
- Dav Pilkey has created a free
"Supa Special Collector's Comic" showing how animators brought his
characters to life on the big screen for the Dog Man movie. To help
readers explore the exciting world of graphic novels and creative
storytelling, Scholastic will provide nearly 4 million copies of
this free mini comic through its school channels in the U.S., U.K.,
Canada, India, Australia, and New
Zealand.
- Through literacy programs organized by Scholastic collaborators
Book Trust and the Scripps Howard Fund, which promote book access
and the joy of reading, nearly 50,000 students across the U.S. will
each receive a free copy of Dog Man: Big Jim Begins. In
addition, one school from each program will receive a "Join the
Hero" party-themed Scholastic Book Fair. Participating schools will
also recognize everyday heroes who make a difference in their own
communities. These in-school literacy programs will be fully funded
by Dav Pilkey.
- Starting this month through 2025, international publishers have
major plans to promote Dog Man including a costume character tour
in Spain organized by Grupo SM. In
Brazil, where Dog Man sales have
doubled, publisher Companhia das Letras is sending the Dog Man
costume character on a wide-ranging promotional tour appearing at
bookstores in various cities including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
- The critically-acclaimed Dog Man: The Musical and Cat Kid Comic
Club: The Musical from TheaterWorksUSA, stage adaptations of
Dav Pilkey's hit graphic novel
series, will be touring across North
America and around the world through 2025. Learn more at
TWUSA.ORG.
"Dav Pilkey is an ambassador for
reading whose personal story is an inspiration to kids and families
everywhere. We look forward to an exciting year with a new Dog Man
book and movie, and bringing Dav's books to a new generation of
readers," said Ellie Berger,
President, Scholastic Trade.
About Dog Man
The Dog Man series follows the hilarious
adventures of the "Supa Buddies": Dog Man, a lovable canine
superhero, and his friends Li'l Petey, a curious kitten
who embodies love, optimism, and hope, and 80-HD, a robot who
expresses himself best through his art. With Dav Pilkey's trademark humor and heart, the Dog
Man series celebrates creativity and imagination and explores
universally positive messages including the importance of doing
good and striving to become a better version of one's self, while
it also tackles more complex themes including loss, redemption, and
forgiveness. Most recently with Dog Man: The Scarlet
Shedder, Dav Pilkey delved into the world of artificial
intelligence while making a gripping and comical commentary about
the impact of social media.
About Dav Pilkey
When
Dav Pilkey was in second grade, he
was diagnosed with dyslexia and what is now widely known as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Because of his
learning and behavioral issues in school, he was often sent out in
the hallway. It was in his elementary school hallway where he
created comic books about superheroes that eventually became
Captain Underpants and Dog Man. Launched nearly 30 years ago,
Pilkey's pioneering Captain Underpants series has helped to create
the illustrated children's chapter book category. The series has
more than 90 million copies in print, translations in 38 languages,
released as a feature film by DreamWorks Animation, as well as an
original series on Netflix. Pilkey's Cat Kid Comic
Club series, a spin-off of Dog Man which launched in
December 2020, is also a #1 worldwide
bestseller with more than 12 million copies in print and
translations in 26 languages to date. Dav
Pilkey has created over 70 books for children and was
awarded a Caldecott Honor for his picture book The
Paperboy. For more information about Dav Pilkey and his books, visit
https://mediaroom.scholastic.com/davpilkey.
About Scholastic
For more information about
Scholastic, visit our mediaroom
at https://mediaroom.scholastic.com/.
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SOURCE Scholastic Inc