If you’ve somehow never heard of The Bad Guys, where have you been? This New York Times bestselling kids book series, created by Aaron Blabey and published by Scholastic Australia, is zany, hilarious, and a hit with kids all over the world.
Buckle up chicos, because I’m about to tell you everything you need to know …
What’s The Bad Guys all about?
The series follows a motley crew of criminal creatures named Mr Wolf, Mr Piranha, Mr Snake and Mr Shark. Struggling with their ‘Bad’ image, they set off to try and be good … with hilarious results (in Episode 1, for instance, they decide to break 200 dogs out of the pound, which goes about as well as you can imagine).
The books develop as an epic and ongoing battle of redemption, as the Bad Guys attempt to do more good deeds and encounter more mischievous characters along the way. It’s Disney meets Reservoir Dogs, but without all the violence and swearing, obviously.
How many books are in the Bad Guys series?
There are 15 books (or ‘Episodes’) in the series so far, with plenty more to come. Aaron typically releases 2 Episodes per year, but we don’t know yet what the next Bad Guys book will be.
What order do the Bad Guys books go in?
It makes sense to read the books in order, so we’d recommend you start with Episode 1, which came out in 2016, and move straight on through the other books.
Episode 2: Mission Unpluckable
Episode 3: The Furball Strikes Back
Episode 4: Attack of the Zittens
Episode 7: Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?!
Episode 10: The Baddest Day Ever
Episode 11: Dawn of the Underlord
Episode 14: They’re Bee-Hind You!
Episode 15: Open Wide and say Arrrgh!
You can find a list of Bad Guys books here.
What age group are the Bad Guys books for?
The Bad Guys books are suitable for kids of all genders aged 6-12. With their wacky illustrations, these books are the perfect thing to transition younger readers from picture books to chapter books, while still keeping older readers engaged.
Who is Aaron Blabey?
I’m so glad you asked! He’s an actor-turned-artist-turned author/illustrator originally from Bendigo, who now resides with his family in the Blue Mountains.
He’s also the creative genius behind the Pig the Pug series and Thelma the Unicorn, as well as countless other picture books for kids (my personal favourite is Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas). We don’t play favourites … but Aaron Blabey is definitely a Booktopia favourite.
We last spoke to him on The Booktopia Podcast three years ago, for the release of Episode 7: Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?! — have a listen to our Aaron Blabey interview below!
Awesome! Will there be a Bad Guys movie?
Yes! In May 2019, it was announced that DreamWorks would turn the Bad Guys series into an animated film, with Aaron Blabey serving as executive producer.
The director is Pierre Perifel (in his feature directional debut), with a script by Etan Cohen and Hilary Winston. What’s more, it’ll be hitting screens in early 2022 — March, to be exact.
And the cast. Is. AMAZING. Check it out!
Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf
Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula
Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha
Marc Maron as Mr. Snake
Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark
Other cast members include, Zazie Beetz as Diane Foxington, Alex Borstein as Chief of Police, Richard Ayoade (!!!) as Professor Marmalade, and Lilly Singh as a TMZ reporter.
UPDATE: Check out the awesome trailer below!
And there you have it! Leave any and all questions you might have about the Bad Guys universe in the comments below.
The Bad Guys Episode 14: They're Bee-Hind You!
POP QUIZ! YOU are on the roof of a SKYSCRAPER. EVERY FLOOR of that building has NASTY THINGS that JUST DON'T LIKE YOU. And you REALLY need to get to the BASEMENT. WHADDAYA DO?! (And no, you can't just join the B-TEAM and fly away in their glamorous new spaceship.)
THINK QUICK, chico, because THE MULTIVERSE IS GETTING WORSE! It's The BAD GUYS EPISODE 14...
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
Follow Olivia: Twitter
Top 10 book deals for Black Friday! 
Bestsellers: BarefootKids leaps into the bestsellers! 
Best of 2019: Junior Fiction
Comments