Once again, Rylant and Karas (The Case of the Sleepy Sloth, 2002, etc.) demonstrate why they are a cut above the rest when it comes to beginning readers: their verbal and visual sophistication is ever so easy and pleasurable. In their sixth adventure, the high-rise private eyes, Bunny (a bunny) and Jack (a raccoon), are on the track of an errant pair of fuzzy dice—lucky fuzzy dice that the bus driver must have hanging from his mirror or he won’t operate the bus. Of course, things are never so simple with these two, who start the proceedings by excising the calm Bunny is enjoying after a yoga session. Which also helps establish a running joke—the importance of potato chips in maintaining one’s emotional equilibrium—they will enjoy throughout the story, as well as introducing their cracked sense of humor. Rylant is not above some verbal tomfoolery—“ ‘Oops, did I scare you?’ Jack called. Bunny gave him a look. ‘I must have,’ said Jack. ‘You’re all white.’ ‘Jack, I’m always all white,’ said Bunny. ‘Oh, all white. Whatever you say,’ said Jack”—and Karas is ready to ramp up the imagery, like the smile on Jack’s face when he’s trying to soothe a ruffled, and very large, bulldog. The perp turns out to have made the kind of mistake any kid might. He learns what he has to do to rectify the situation: “Just tell Melvin you’re sorry, okay?” The kind of simple, respectful advice that builds character 12 different ways and entertainment while instructing that’s elevated to a particularly high order. (Easy reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-009101-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Not terribly remarkable, but the series has lots of growing room.
Second-grade twins prepare to leave the country, but not without first solving a time-sensitive mystery.
Ella and Ethan Briar are devastated by their parents’ announcement that the family is leaving their beloved hometown. Mrs. Briar has accepted a new job as a travel writer, a job that will send the family to new places all over the globe on a weekly basis. In an attempt to soothe the twins’ unhappiness about the move (“What about school? And soccer?” they ask), their grandfather—a retired, globe-trotting archaeologist himself—gives each a special gift for their travels. Mystery-writing Ella gets a journal; Ethan gets a special gold coin. On their last morning in town, Ethan realizes that his gold coin is missing—and they only have a few hours before they have to leave for the airport. While their grandfather does their chores, the twins methodically determine when Ethan last had the coin—the previous day—and make a list of places he visited to retrace his steps. This allows the twins to say goodbye to friendly faces throughout the town. This series-launching installment’s light on mystery, but it’s welcoming and accessible through expressive, frequent illustrations. The Mystery of the Mosaic, publishing simultaneously, takes the kids to Venice for their first overseas adventure.
Not terribly remarkable, but the series has lots of growing room. (Mystery. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9719-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kellogg (Give the Dog a Bone, see above, etc.) remakes his Mystery of the Missing Red Mitten (1974) into a larger, longer, and more colorful ramble through snow-covered landscapes. Suddenly aware that she’s short a mitten after a long day of play, Annie sets off on a frantic hunt. Her panic gives way to joie de vivre, though, as she finds articles of clothing left in the snow by her playmates, builds fantasies about where her mitten might have gotten to, and thinks about planting a mitten tree, so she’ll always have mittens to give away. In the wide-angle illustrations, a low winter sun sheds buttery light over rolling hills, snowdrifts, the wandering child, and her serious-looking dog. Any reader who has ever worried about getting in trouble for losing something will be drawn into Annie’s search—which ends joyfully, after a brief rain shower washes her snowman’s outer layer away to expose the red “heart” within. The plot and pictures have undergone considerable change, but this is still suffused with Kellogg’s characteristic warmth and charm and all the better for being easier to read to a group. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8037-2566-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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