BAD BEAR DETECTIVES

Irving and Muktuk—“each a bad bear if there ever was one”—embark on their fourth crime spree. Yet this time, it may be a case of mistaken polar bear identity. Yes, there were bear footprints found on the docks where a shipment of expensive Italian designer muffins have disappeared (Irving and Muktuk are known miscreants in the missing-muffin department). But Irving and Muktuk claim innocence—when the police arrive, the bears vow to erase the “smirch” on their names—and set out to bring whoever snatched the mirtilli dell’Italia to justice, or spend a year without their nightly passes from the zoo. After some serious sniffing at the crime scene, they follow the scent—whoops!—right back to their cave at the zoo. Looks like they made off with the loot after all. Hey, memory-wise, polar bears aren’t elephants, so give the boys a break. The Pinkwaters have their mother wit at full tilt, never talking down to their audience (mirtilli dell’Italia, for goodness sake), and are joyously troublemaking, dryly humorous to the point of combustion and playing out just enough rope for Irving and Mukluk to hang themselves. (Picture book. 4-8)