Aaron Blabey’s The Bad Guys: Episode 1 is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize. Here are five reasons why we think it’s brilliant.

1. It’s funny. Seriously funny.

Mr Wolf, Mr Piranha, Mr Snake and Mr Shark are four bad guys who want to be good. This isn’t as easy as it sounds when doing evil deeds is in your nature. Between the snappy dialogue and the comic book-style illustrations, the kids will be in stitches when they read this book.

2. It’s great for beginner readers.

The Bad Guys is an engaging read with a great story that isn’t too text-heavy. If you’ve got a reader aged seven or up at home who has been dragging their heels when it comes to reading, here’s a story that will draw them right in and make a lifelong reader out of them.

3. It reads like a graphic novel.

There are a lot of brilliant graphic novels out there for the older readers, but sadly not as much for the younger set. While it’s more of a hybrid of a graphic novel and a chapter book, the unusual format of The Bad Guys fills this gap perfectly. The story is told in illustrated panels with breakout bits of dialogue that make it a lively reading experience.

4. It’s all about not conforming to other people’s expectations.

Who says bad guys have to be bad? The Bad Guys has a great message (without sounding preachy) about how we all have the power to decide who we want to be. We can choose to do good things even when people expect us to be bad. Or to put it another way – if you’re a piranha it doesn’t matter if people think you’re a weird sardine.

5. It has 200 puppies in it.

Need I say more? (Though, if you’re not much of a dog lover perhaps you’ll be swayed by the shark in a dress…)