That intrepid hitchhiking doll is back—and gone, as his repeat trek from South Carolina to California goes terribly awry, and Tameka enlists the help of Paige Hall, an investigative reporter, to track him down. With the help of Tameka’s Uncle Ray, Paige sets a new wooden figure, Ms. Imogene Poplar, P.I., to tail him. The caper’s format follows very closely in the pattern set in the first outing, featuring letters and postcards sent back and forth between Tameka and Paige, and updates from characters Imogene encounters on the road as she is borne along on Oliver’s trail from Rock Hill to Alaska. (How Oliver ends up in Alaska instead of California is revealed in a sequence that unfolds on the title and copyright pages.) Cepeda’s signature oils-over-acrylic illustrations fairly fizz with energy and good humor, sliding occasional glimpses of Oliver into the backgrounds as Imogene pursues him across the great American landscape. Pattison’s epistolary text does yeomanly work, giving each of Imogene’s helpers a distinctive character and developing a romance subplot between Paige and Uncle Ray. As with its predecessor, understatement and ambiguity are everything; Oliver’s fans will happily embrace both. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-15-205184-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2005
Policeman Jack’s cat and dog team, Kitty and Belle, are an unusual crime-busting duo: Kitty is a shrewd mouser, while lazy Belle would rather sleep. When a wily burglar picks the lock and breaks into Policeman Jack’s house, Kitty jumps on top of the thief’s head, while Belle rouses from a nap to growl and chase the burglar out the door. They are rewarded with a TV appearance on the nightly news. In a tale told entirely in verse, the entrance of the burglar functions more as a device to break up the monotony than for building suspense or creating comedy. O’Malley saves the day with his portraits of the highly personable pets, including one picture of the appropriately sleepy Belle, bloodshot eye open amidst folds of fur. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8167-4952-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
A book that takes into account what beginning readers need’simple words, uncomplicated sentence structure—but provides little original in the way of plotting and action to keep them involved. In a sequel to The Biggest Pest on Eighth Avenue (1997, not reviewed), Mary Lou and her friends are sure that Leroy, an adult who has the reputation of having once been a really bad kid, is hiding stolen money in his backyard. So they set about finding clues. They sneak into his house and find various mysterious objects, but everything is explained when they meet Leroy, now a fire marshal who trains tracking dogs. The formula is too familiar; new readers will already have encountered similar events in such picture books as Roni Schotter’s Captain Snap and the Children of Vinegar Lane (1993). (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 15, 1998
ISBN: 0-8234-1350-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1998
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