What to Read After Dog Man: Bridge Books for Kids Who Love Graphic Novels
By Andrew Signore | Brave Hearts Publishing
I met an eight-year-old recently who carried Dog Man everywhere.
Not a backpack. Not a bag. He carried the actual book — thumb jammed into his place, not willing to put it down long enough to lose his spot. He'd read most of the series. Twice. He could tell you every character, every plot twist, every moment that made him laugh out loud.
When I asked him what else he liked to read, he shrugged.
"Nothing. Just Dog Man."
That's the moment this blog is for.
The Thing Most Parents Get Wrong About Graphic Novel Kids
If your kid is obsessed with Dog Man — or any graphic novel — and you're worried they're "not really reading," I want to offer a different way to look at it.
They are reading. They're just reading visually.
Dog Man is not a simple book. The humor is layered. The plots build on each other. The panel-to-panel storytelling requires a kind of reading comprehension that's genuinely sophisticated — even if it looks like "just pictures" from across the room. A kid who is deep in a Dog Man book is not avoiding reading. They're doing it.
The question isn't how do I get them away from graphic novels. It's how do I use this as the bridge to something more.
And here's the thing: Dog Man is already a bridge. Dav Pilkey designed it that way. He's said in interviews that he wanted to make books for the kids who didn't see themselves as readers — because he was one of those kids.
Dog Man is a door. The job is to walk through it.
What Makes Dog Man Work (and What to Look For Next)
Before the list, the pattern. Dog Man works because of a few specific things:
Humor that actually lands. Pilkey's comedy isn't performed. It's real. The jokes are funny to kids because they're genuinely funny — not watered-down adult humor, not slapstick for its own sake. The books respect the reader.
Short, visually broken-up pages. A kid who finds a wall of text intimidating doesn't face that problem in Dog Man. The panel format creates built-in breathing room. The right next books share that quality — short chapters, white space, a page that doesn't look like work.
A protagonist who is earnest and a little chaotic. Dog Man means well. He doesn't always get it right. Kids love characters like that because they're real in a way that perfect protagonists aren't.
Series format. Knowing there are more books waiting is motivating. The next book on this list should ideally be the first in a series, not a standalone.
Keep those four things in mind. The books below share at least two of them.
8 Books for Kids Who Love Dog Man
1. Adventures of Charlotte & Henry: The Mariana Trench
By Andrew Signore | Ages 6–9 | Lexile 580L | 12 short chapters
Here's why this is first on a list for Dog Man lovers: it's built on the same core idea.
Dav Pilkey makes books for kids who think they're not readers. That's also what I was trying to do when I wrote Charlotte & Henry. Short chapters — twelve of them, all finishable before bed. Real science and history woven into a story that moves fast. A main character who is curious and brave but not a superhero.
Charlotte and her dog Henry find a glowing book that takes them seven miles underwater — to the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. They meet real explorers (Jacques Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Phillipe Cousteau), rescue a sea turtle, ride a humpback whale, and descend into total darkness in a submersible.
The difference from Dog Man: this is prose, not panels. But the chapters are short enough that the page never feels heavy. It's the natural first step off the graphic novel and into something that asks a little more of the reader — without asking so much that they tap out.
I wrote this one, so take that for what it's worth. But the reason it belongs here is that the kid I met with his thumb in Dog Man is exactly the reader I had in mind when I wrote it.
2. Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Series
By Dav Pilkey | Ages 6–8 | Lexile 370–570L
Same author as Dog Man. Same humor. Same absurd premise executed with complete sincerity. Ricky is a small mouse with a giant robot best friend. The illustrations are dense — almost every page has them — which makes this the most natural stepping stone from full graphic novel to illustrated chapter book. If your kid is resistant to anything that looks like "regular" books, start here. Same world, more words, same Pilkey voice. A warm-up lap before something longer.
3. Captain Underpants Series
By Dav Pilkey | Ages 6–9 | Lexile 640–680L
Also Dav Pilkey. The series that came before Dog Man and helped open the door for it. Two kids hypnotize their principal and accidentally turn him into a superhero who fights crime in his underwear. The humor is unhinged in exactly the right way, and the format mixes prose with comic panels — so a Dog Man fan will feel at home before they realize they've been reading actual paragraphs.
This is the bridge in the clearest sense: enough illustration to feel familiar, enough prose to stretch the reader. Strong pick especially for boys who are convinced they hate chapter books.
4. The Bad Guys Series
By Aaron Blabey | Ages 6–9 | Lexile 390–470L
A shark, a piranha, a snake, and a tarantula decide to become good guys. Nobody believes them. The jokes hit fast, the illustrations are all over the page, and the series has enough books in it that once a kid is in, they're in for a while. The format feels more like a graphic novel than a standard chapter book — which is exactly why Dog Man fans tend to find it immediately. This one bridges the gap without announcing it's a bridge.
5. Big Nate Series
By Lincoln Peirce | Ages 8–12 | Lexile 580–960L
Nate Wright draws comics during class, is convinced he's a genius, and is consistently wrong about nearly everything. The books mix prose with comic panels in a way that will feel familiar to graphic novel readers — but with more text per page than Dog Man, which makes it a natural step up. Good for Dog Man readers who are ready for something a little longer and a little more character-driven. The humor stays sharp throughout.
6. Fly Guy Presents Series
By Tedd Arnold | Ages 5–8 | Lexile 460–790L
Fly Guy is a pet fly who is much smarter than you'd expect. The Presents series is non-fiction — each book covers a real topic (sharks, dinosaurs, space) in the same visual, illustrated style that graphic novel readers love. Great for kids who gravitate toward Dog Man's humor but also respond well to real-world facts. The books are short, the science is real, and the photos and illustrations make every page feel visual rather than text-heavy. A strong pick for the kid who likes learning things but doesn't want it to feel like school.
7. Geronimo Stilton Series
By Geronimo Stilton | Ages 6–10 | Lexile 400–700L
Geronimo Stilton is a mouse who runs a newspaper and keeps getting pulled into adventures he didn't ask for. The books are visually busy in a way that will appeal to graphic novel readers — the text is printed in multiple colors and fonts, illustrations interrupt the prose throughout, and the pages feel more like a graphic novel hybrid than a standard book. Great transition book because it looks different from a regular chapter book, which matters for kids who associate "regular chapter books" with hard and boring.
8. My Father's Dragon
By Ruth Stiles Gannett | Ages 6–9 | Lexile 680L
A classic, and a different kind of pick. A boy stows away on a ship to rescue a baby dragon from a jungle island. The illustrations are sparse — less visual than the others on this list — but the story moves fast enough that it doesn't matter. This one is for the Dog Man reader who's ready to let go of the illustrations entirely and trust that the words can carry them. Short chapters, real adventure, a protagonist who figures things out as he goes. If your kid finishes this one, they've crossed the bridge.
How to Make the Transition Without a Fight
A few things I've learned from watching kids move (or not move) from graphic novels to prose:
Don't make it a replacement. "You can't read Dog Man anymore — read this instead" almost never works. Let graphic novels stay on the table. Add the bridge book alongside them. The goal is expansion, not substitution.
Let the kid pick the order. If you put a few options in front of them, let them choose which one to start. Buy-in matters more than sequence.
Celebrate the finish. A kid who completes a bridge book for the first time — even a short one — has just proven to themselves that they can do it. That moment matters. Mark it. Then hand them the next one.
Match the humor. Dog Man readers chose it for a reason. Don't replace it with something earnest and slow-moving and expect a smooth transition. The books on this list were chosen because they share some of what made Dog Man work — funny, fast, a little chaotic. Start there.
One More Thing
That eight-year-old with Dog Man tucked under his arm?
He's not a reluctant reader. He's a visual reader who found his book. The job now is to use that momentum — not fight it.
Give him something that starts where Dog Man ends. Let him discover that words can do what pictures do, if the story is right.
That's how graphic novel kids become chapter book kids. Not through convincing. Through the right next book.
Explore the Charlotte & Henry series: braveheartspublishing.com/books
Free 20 min Mariana Trench Reading Guide: Get it here →
For teachers: Free Teacher's Guide →
Andrew Signore is the author of the Adventures of Charlotte & Henry series and the founder of Brave Hearts Publishing. He's also an ICU nurse, a former camp counselor, and the uncle of a little girl named Charlotte.
Find Adventures of Charlotte & Henry: The Mariana Trench on Amazon →
Find Adventures of Charlotte & Henry: Mount Everest on Amazon →
Explore Every Bridge Book Guide →
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The Complete Guide to Bridge Books for Kids (Ages 6-9)
What Are Bridge Books? A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers
How to Help Your Child Transition from Picture Books to Chapter Books
What Comes After Picture Books? Discover Bridge Books for Growing Readers
Bridge Books: The Perfect Next Step After Frog and Toad
Not sure where to start? → Read this first: What Are Bridge Books? A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers
Purchase Adventures of Charlotte and Henry Books in the link below!
Adventures of Charlotte & Henry: The Mariana Trench
Adventures of Charlotte & Henry: Mount Everest
A bridge book series built for early readers ages 6–9. Real science. Real historical explorers. Real courage.
Available on Amazon and in bookstores. Search "Adventures of Charlotte and Henry" or visit BraveHeartsPublishing.com