Review by Ian Keogh

Team Pom’s first outing under Isabel Roxas was cheery, wacky and very silly. Look for it as Squid Happens. It’s great news, then, that Agnes, Roberta and Ruby are back, and this time they have the chance to make a serious dent in the plans of C.A.O.S. (Criminal Agents of Steve).

In keeping with the strangeness of Team Pom’s world, Steve is a dodo. Why he’s a dodo and how he became a criminal mastermind is explained, and so is his plan to restore the otherwise now extinct dodo back to the world. It’s suitably nefarious. Also back are his hilarious henchmen rats Mister Gilbert and Monsiuer Georges, seen on the sample art as no more capable than last time, and there’s a bigger role for Mister Tiny, inventing genius.

However, they’re just the window dressing, and it’s the energetic positivity of the girls that readers will respond to most. This time there’s no synchronised swimming as they’ve been invited to be junior naturalists for the summer at the Musuem of Natural History. Roxas covers their activities in a couple of busy wordless spreads where a number of pictures surround a central image, and so much about her distinctive art is appealingly joyful. The tone is exactly right, for instance, in providing threats whose comedy incompetence undermines any possibility of instilling fear in young readers.

What makes the Adventures of Team Pom stand out is that it falls into that desirable category of a story that really only could have been conceived and created by the Roxas and her individual worldview. This is even funnier than Squid Happens, and there’s a even a bonus feature on how to make steamed bao buns. An absolute delight.