A delightful chase through the City of Love.
Having run afoul of the Easter Bunny, Santa, and a witch, Inspector Cluehound and Sergeant Squirrel now face off against Cupid.
This Valentine’s Day celebration is set—naturally—in Paris, where animals pair off in couples and Inspector Cluehound sports a beret. Swooping Cupid snags the Inspector’s box of chocolates. Outraged, Cluehound pursues. As usual, the detective is on the wrong track, causing minor courtship disruptions, while faithful (but ignored) sidekick Sergeant Squirrel almost captures the cherub. The apparently endless trail of chocolates leads the detecting duo through several diverting attractions: a patisserie, where Cluehound is distracted by dessert, and the Seine, complete with rowers in the river and artists on the bank. The Louvre is next (the masterpieces within feature cats and dogs rather than humans).Cluehound and Sergeant Squirrel leap inside a hot-air balloon to pursue Cupid; Cupid’s arrow deflates the balloon, draping it over the Eiffel Tower. Sans chocolates, in the rain, the discouraged pair follow heart petals to a restaurant, Le Petit Amour. There all ends with hearts, candy, and flowers—a gift from Cupid! Cluehound isn’t quite as goofy as in the past (could our hero be honing some skills?), but the main attractions here are the vicarious trip to Paris, the more-than-competent couplets, and the reader’s sweet satisfaction at being a better sleuth than the protagonist.
A delightful chase through the City of Love. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781664301030
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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