Mellybean and the giant monster / Mike White.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Mike White hits a heartwarming hat trick with this cute, funny, and action-packed adventure. Mellybean will bounce off the page and into your heart." -Mo O'Hara, New York Times bestselling author of the My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish series and Agent Moose

The Secret Life of Pets meets The Wizard of Oz in this debut graphic novel about a spunky pup who gets trapped in a world filled with magic, adventure, and one giant, grumpy monster.

Melly loves to play games. All her feline friends want to do, though, is take a nap. So when she doesn't leave them alone, the cats trick her into burying a shoe in the backyard. But the small prank turns into a big problem when Melly falls down the hole . . . and is magically transports her to another world!

Melly lands smack-dab in the middle of a scuffle between a group of knights and a huge monster. But Melly soon befriends the grumpy giant, learning he isn't as scary as he seems. He's being hunted by a greedy king. One who has also been stealing from his people and locking them up in the dungeons. So although Melly is desperate to find a way back home to Mama and Papa (her human owners), she makes it her mission to help her new friend and the kingdom. But how could someone so tiny defeat such a powerful king? It may just take a game that only Melly can win.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this charming comics series starter told in brief chapters, adopted dog Mellybean wants nothing more than to play with her cat siblings, but when they trick Mellybean into burying their owner's shoe, she discovers a portal to a medieval fantasy world. Upon arrival, Melly lands atop Narra, a comically oversize unihorned rabbit who possesses abundant magical powers and "has pretty much had it with humans." From there, Melly runs into a vainglorious, gold- and sports-obsessed king who taxes his people relentlessly. Three orphans implore Melly and Narra to help rescue the orphanage's head from the dungeons, where the king imprisoned her for spending her tax money on the children's food and clothing. The graphic novel may skew slightly younger than its intended audience due to simple plotting and diction, but Melly's infectious enthusiasm ("Oh boy! I'm so good at hiding stuff"), portrayed through straightforward art, makes her a very good dog, indeed. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8--12. Agent: Gemma Cooper, the Bent Agency. (Oct.)

Kirkus Book Review

The characters in this graphic novel are so exhausting that it's endearing. Melly the dog looks exactly the way a cartoon character is supposed to. Small, scruffy, and black, she has bright eyes and a head the same size as her body. She wants to play every game--wrestling, fetch, tug of war--even when everybody else is trying to take a nap. The cats in her house are not fond of her. They're almost relieved when she falls through a hole, Wonderland-style, into another world. The land is ruled by one of the few people with as much energy as Melly, a king who's constantly posing for statues and competing for trophies. Anyone who beats him risks being sent to the dungeon--either the "nicer dungeon," where "you can smell cinnamon buns but not eat them," or the "worst dungeon," with "sad clown paintings." Fortunately for readers, another key character is less frenetic, a jaded monster named Narra who's lost faith in the human race--with good reason. If Eeyore were a gigantic yellow Pokemon, he'd be Narra. The artwork, with its bold colors, actually resembles the Pokemon cartoons, but the characters are even cuddlier. They're defiant enough, though, to appeal to cynical readers, and the story ends with a revolution. (The king is White, but the rebels and the other human characters are racially diverse.) And the jokes are both subversive and hilarious. This story is funny enough to get away with being utterly adorable. (Graphic fantasy. 6-11) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Mike White was born and raised in Toronto. He worked for five years in children's television animation before moving to San Francisco in 2008 to make mobile games and apps. In 2018, after getting nachos for lunch, Mike and his girlfriend, Carol, were walking around an outdoor mall and met a cute little puppy at a pop-up adoption event. After much consideration they adopted the puppy and named her Melody, and her delightful and infectious personality became the inspiration for Mellybean. You can follow all things Mellybean on Twitter @Mellybeanpup and by visiting Mellypup.com.