A genius boy and his talking dog
Mal is a child genius and Chad is a talking dog. Mal pretends to be just a normal kid so he can stay in grade school, either because he doesn’t want to grow up too fast or because he has a crush on Megan (a girl in his class). Mal and Chad do everything together from scuba diving in the kitchen sink to traveling back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. The story is fun and filled with mayhem and adventure. The drawings are simple and in black and white. They show the character’s emotions and portray a sense of excitement when the story calls for it. McCranie originally created Mal and Chad as a comic strip for a college newspaper. There are three books in the Mal and Chad series.
This one was very cute and funny. I actually laughed out loud at times. Another good addition for our elementary school library (at least I hope so).
8
 - Stephen McCranie)
