Cam Jansen uses her photographic memory to solve two mini-mysteries that take place on a trip to the beach with her mother, her aunt, and her friend, Eric. This is Cam’s eighth mystery in Adler’s successful easy-reader series (Young Cam Jansen and the Library Mystery, 2001, etc.), which features the main character from his longer Cam Jansen stories. In this summertime beach adventure, Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly stroll down the beach to look for shells, leaving Cam’s mother under her red beach umbrella. Cam’s group briefly loses track of Cam’s mother (mystery number 1) as the tide rises and the configuration of colorful beach umbrellas changes. Cam’s mother briefly loses track of her papers for work (mystery number 2), which were covered by blowing sand. Cam solves both puzzles by reviewing prior situations, a device that offers a repetitive structure for new readers to practice the same descriptive words. The mysteries are rather lame, but the plot hangs together and the controlled vocabulary and familiar, appealing character address the considerable market for new readers who can feel successful reading through a whole series of similarly leveled and structured stories. The final page offers an easy memory game with questions based on the story’s first illustration. Natti’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations add colorful interest, although Cam often looks a little too young for the intended audience. (Easy reader. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-670-03531-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2002
No surprises here.
The famous Disney duck triplets, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, travel to Berlin and uncover a sinister plot.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie are living with their uncle Donald in Duckburg when they’re appointed International Student ambassadors by the National Association of Studious and Talented Youth. This gives them the opportunity to become exchange students and live in several countries for two-month stints in each. First on the list: Germany. The triplets arrive in Berlin, and a rather transparent mystery reveals itself when a schoolmate starts behaving strangely after being gifted a soccer ball by the mysterious Dr. Z. The light mocking of German culture (cuisine and names in particular) is in poor taste. Dewey, being the middle brother and feeling left out, narrates, but the other brothers chime in regularly. Unfortunately, the varying fonts used for each brother aren’t easily distinguishable and may lead to confusion for readers. Additionally, seemingly arbitrary words are set in boldface, and more than halfway through the book, speech bubbles begin to appear—questionable design choices that may also perplex. Ferrari’s spot art is featured on nearly every page and should help attract reluctant readers. The triplets are easily recognizable, and all characters are very expressive. There’s not much here that won’t be obvious to astute readers, but it may draw in fans of the TV show DuckTales. Oh, and this one isn’t for arachnophobes!
No surprises here. (Adventure. 5-8)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5077-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brief but tasty morsel.
When thieves steal the monumental Big Cheese, all Mouseopolis turns to its favorite masked crime fighter.
With liberal use of flaps and die-cut holes, including one in the front cover, to add extra drama to the caper, Chambers follows seemingly ordinary citizen Peter Parmesan as he transforms himself into the mighty Supermouse to investigate the theft. He tracks a trail of cheese crumbs from the Hickory Dickory Docks to a dark warehouse where the culprits lurk. Miraculously avoiding an ambush involving a vat of bubbling fondue, Supermouse bursts in just as the villains are about to “cut the cheese.” After a bit of work with a string-cheese lasso (“Did I catch you at a bad time?”), the redoubtable rodent has saved both the Cheese—part of the latter, viewed through a round hole, doing double duty as the moon in a final nighttime cityscape—and the day. Sharp-eyed young sleuths will spot plenty of clocks and other sight gags to go with the jokes and tropes (“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s…”) Tahl has woven into the laconic narrative. Novelty elements include a pasted-in newspaper, the two-flap telephone booth in which Supermouse dons his costume, and small flaps that double as trapdoors through which our hero tumbles. Much of the story is printed on and under the large flaps, a clever device that also makes loss of flaps particularly compromising.
A brief but tasty morsel. (Novelty. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68010-262-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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