Big Bad Baby

Hale (Clark the Shark) and Breen (Pug and Doug) have such a similar go-broad-or-go-home comic aesthetic that it’s surprising they haven’t crossed collaborative paths before. Together, they come up with a hybrid of Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and The Incredible Hulk, starring an almost naked toddler whose bad mood transforms him from kewpie doll to holy terror. “Pausing only to slurp from his sippy cup, Big Bad Baby set out to take over the world!” proclaims Hale, While the ensuing havoc—not to mention the implications of a giant, filled diaper and a torrent of drool—are almost too horrible to contemplate, Breen has a good time doing so. A highly expressive pooch named Boris, deemed Baby’s “evil hench-dog,” is actually a shocked reader surrogate, and is almost as much fun to watch as Baby himself. A surplus of maniacal jokes and sound cues ought to win the hearts of older siblings who know just how bad babies can be. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Teresa Kietlinski, Prospect Agency. (June)