WHO DID THAT?

A community investigates petty vandalism.

“The ruckus began with a broken seesaw. It was cut in half.” And thus, the game is afoot as the multicultural citizens of an unnamed town discover ever more items destroyed with nary a motive in sight. Hockey sticks, fishing rods, even street signs aren’t safe from the mysterious vandal. Could it be the hairdresser and his scissors? Or knight Melvin and his sword? Or the lumberjack and his axe? The lumberjack provides the first clue, as he tells the boat captain, “Your mast seems to have been gnawed!” Aha! It’s the fluffy beaver, caught just as it’s about to topple a local wind turbine. Little readers will delight in the increasingly absurd mischiefs. The color palette leans on reds, oranges, and browns that color peculiarly shaped people with flat-topped heads and oval bottoms, giving the book a distinctive look. The mystery is sweetly resolved (the beaver doesn’t do any hard time) and holds a convenient lesson about awareness and empathy baked in. The creative team is a Dutch collective.

A lovely, silly mystery.