REAL PIGEONS FIGHT CRIME
From the Real Pigeons series, volume 1
by Andrew McDonald ; illustrated by Ben Wood
When crime rears its ugly head, who better than pigeons to have on your side?
Rock Pigeon loves nature and dressing up—as other birds, animals, even vegetation. He’s a master of disguise, and that’s why Grandpouter Pigeon flies from the city to the farm where Rock lives to recruit him to join a crime-fighting pigeon team. Rock Pigeon joins Tumbler, Homing, and Frillback, pigeons who each have their own special talent to apply to their first case: Where have all the breadcrumbs in the park gone?! The crime fighters stage a stakeout. Rock disguises himself as a bag of chips. Frillback uses super strength to create a pile of acorns to hide in. Tumbler’s ultraflexibility makes hiding in a crack easy, and Homing…well, Homing takes a nap. Eventually they realize there are no animals or, more importantly from the breadcrumb standpoint, humans in the park. Though the humans are still buying bread at a nearby bakery, both humans and animals think the park may be haunted. What haunts the park? It’s terrifying (and foolish). This series opener from an Australian author-and-illustrator team (three others are already out Down Under) is a goofball farce, Wood’s line drawings visually amping up the slapstick. Following the breadcrumbs mystery, this episodic volume offers two other cases for the crime-busting birdies, and young readers will make quick work of them all.
Totally coo! (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 8-12)