In the fourth adventure of Dog Man (a police officer who is a dog) we see Dog Man and his new sidekick, Cat Kid, fighting evil and trying to find a missing actress.
While this book is partly a standalone title, it does help to have read the other books in the series. Therefore, while the adult should pick up enough to be okay with the lack of backstory, your child will probably need to have read all the others first. The other point is this is a very basic graphic novel. Therefore, this means lots of pictures and minimal text. This is not, however, a bad thing. I have gotten many children into reading by using graphic novels and novels with illustrations. We all relate to the written word differently and some of us need a little visual stimulation, too.
It must be pointed out that these illustrations are not for everyone, nor is the text. If you know Dav Pilkey at all, you know that his illustrations are not very traditional. They are cartoonish and even abstract. There is a lot of color, they tell the story, fill in the areas the text misses and support the story, yet they are not very realistic. Also, the text is “dumb dog/police officer” with smart sidekick. The feel is a modern mentality. With that said, kids can relate to “adults” (Dog Man) know “nothing” and kids (Cat Kid) know the truth. The text does reflect modern cartoons and other books with similar themes.