Agent Harrier must discover the identity of a top-secret file-stealing traitor in the BARK intelligence agency. But something’s happening to the book itself . . . whole pages are repeating, and there’s an ink-deleting weapon threating to wipe everything out! What’s going on? And will Agent Harrier sniff out the rat before he’s TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY ERASED?

This stylish graphic novel is a funny, punny twist on the traditional spy caper. The second instalment of the Agent Harrier series by award-winning illustrator Ben Sanders (Clive Penguin), featuring books that can be enjoyed in any order. Perfect for readers transitioning from picture books!

You Only Spy Twice by Ben Sanders is the second children’s humorous graphic novel in the Agent Harrier series. I haven’t read the first book but I presume given I understood it perfectly that it is fine to read it as a standalone.

The plot revolves around a dog spy, a James Bond wannabe. He loves his gadgets and wants fantastical ones like an all-star car, though that isn’t quite what he gets.

His mission this time is to find a traitor in the BARK intelligence agency but he and you will have a time finding them given that they have an ink-deleting weapon and they are using it within this book.

I love the premise of You Only Spy Twice. I even love the James Bond-esq title and cover. The plot itself was amusing and entertaining, however, I found it hard to read at times as the blue colour (same as the front cover) with black italic-style writing caused me visual stress. There is also a lot of text within, more than I expected from a children’s graphic novel.

Overall, this book could have been a real hit but I think the colours have not been chosen wisely, and as such some children will struggle with it.

Ben Sanders is an award-winning Australian illustrator and children’s book author. His first book, I’ve an Uncle Ivan, was short listed for the Crichton Award, 2013 and I Could Wear That Hat! was short listed for the Australian Book Industry Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year, 2015. Ben’s Lento & Fox books won the ABDA Award for best book design in 2020. Ben has worked as an illustrator for many well-known publications, companies and organisations in Australia and around the world, including Wall Street Journal, Harrods of London, Cadbury and The Natural Confectionery Co.

Ben has teamed up with British author Huw Lewis Jones with the release of the Bad Apple series, Croc O’Clock, Blue Badger and Clive Penguin and has recently published his first graphic novel series, Agent Harrier.