Nursery noir.
That great body of literature known as the nursery rhyme is used as a fine tease here by Metzger; their intimations carry this humorous, simple detective caper along. The glimpses are just provocative enough to have young readers ask what an allusion means, whereupon adults can introduce the real, often surreal, deal. The tale has more meat on its bones than insinuations of the nursery, as well as being aided and abetted by Arnold’s illustrations, with their bold, black outlines and translucent blocks of color. It’s the story of Detective Blue (the kid formerly known as Little Boy—“At one time I blew a horn and looked after cows and sheep. That’s in the past!”) and his search for a missing person: Miss Muffet. Detective Blue affects a tough-egg attitude—Sergeant Friday in fairyland—though he is friend to all: Jack Horner, Jack Sprat, Bo Peep, Humpty (who gets a comradely pat on the back from Blue and takes a fall).
Best are all the dangling strings the story presents—ten o’clock scholar, baking blackbirds, a plum on a thumb, the knave of hearts—that interested readers can follow to the source. (Picture book. 4-8)
