O'Donnell has a real way with words, and I would have laughed even if this were just a list of funny phrases; I totally needed a PETCATRAZ cage when my daughter had Gimli, her dwarf hamster! From Sam's mother calling him Bunny Butt to the doll in the museum made of beef jerky, this book kept me snorting from the random, funny descriptions and names. Combine this with Tim Miller's excellent depictions of a giant, ravenous squirrel and twitchy, ever-ravenous hamstersaurus, and there's a laugh on every page.

Sam's single minded determination to save Hammie and to do the right thing keeps this from being completely silly. He is often conflicted-- SmilesCorp is mutating animals, but his mother works there. He has promised Dylan he'll be at her tournament, but he has to save the town from destruction. Even his dealings with the reformed Beefer Vanderkoff show a maturity and gentleness of spirit that would seem wildly out of place amongst all of the slapstick humor if it weren't so endearing.

Readers who can appreciate Stick Dog's humane manipulation of his less-than-intelligence friends or revel in the deeper thematic undercurrents of justice inherent in Captain Underpants will find Sam and his sidekick to be as mouth wateringly awesome as a bag of Maple Syrup and Pickles Funchos. Remember, it's the Partially Hydrogenated Frog Chromosome Extract that makes them extra tasty!