A serviceable introduction to sleuthing for more fluent readers who are almost ready for early chapter books.
Archer (of the Urgency Emergency! series) takes on the mystery genre in her new Detective Paw of the Law series.
Dream team Detective Paw (an old dog) and Patrol Officer Prickles (a young porcupine) sure love solving crime together—even when it’s hard. Early one Monday morning at Big City Police Headquarters, a call interrupts Detective Paw’s doughnut breakfast. Someone has robbed Piggy’s Bank! With notebook, pencil, and magnifying glass in hand, Detective Paw speeds to the scene of the crime in his Vintagemobile. The first to greet Detective Paw is Patrol Officer Prickles, who uses his “electronic notepad” to present the existing evidence. Detective Paw individually interviews the bank employees and cross-checks their alibis. Since the safe isn’t broken, only someone with the keys to unlock it could be the culprit. But who? Divided into four chapters, the step-by-step story logically follows the detective’s thought process as readers crack the case alongside him. Though there can be up to 16 lines per page, ample leading helps give the text a spacious feel. Archer’s mix of colorful full-page and spot illustrations aids in decoding more complex sentences. Her expressive, cartoony character design delightfully accentuates comedic moments. The Case of The Stolen Drumsticks, which is different in plot but identical in formula, publishes simultaneously.
A serviceable introduction to sleuthing for more fluent readers who are almost ready for early chapter books. (Early reader/mystery. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1557-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Not perfect but a pleasant-enough caper that bridges a gap between leveled readers and chapter books.
A hedgehog and rat solve a gentle whodunit.
Quillan, a tawny-hued hedgehog who goes by Q, and Ray, a chocolate-colored rat, return for their third graphic-novel mystery. Inspired by famous women ballplayers, Q has joined the Loons baseball team and is anticipating a fun season practicing catching. Ray, however, is more interested in indoor pursuits, sharing his recent reading about forgery and fakes. This information comes in handy as the pair soon discovers that a valuable signed baseball has been stolen and a forgery left in its place. Stephen Shaskan’s panels are large and bright, focusing on the prominently displayed characters alongside uniformly stylized and easy-to-read speech bubbles. As they are constructed with blocky outlines and solid colors lacking detail, readers may find it difficult to discern exactly which mammals they are intended to depict. Although a stand-alone mystery, this new case does not rehash necessary details explained in earlier installments, which may be perplexing to series newcomers. Those familiar with the series, on the other hand, may notice that this volume follows an almost identical investigational path as its predecessor, reinforcing mystery conventions for young readers but perhaps causing more-seasoned ones to feel it is stale. This affable mystery is probably best for younger readers looking for more of a challenge than leveled readers provide.
Not perfect but a pleasant-enough caper that bridges a gap between leveled readers and chapter books. (Graphic mystery. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2644-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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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