by Heather Alexander ; illustrated by Laura Zarrin ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2017
Nick and Nora they’re not, but Wallace and Grace are a good team for the younger set.
A new chapter-book series for young mystery fans kicks off.
Wallace and Grace are partners in the Night Owl Detective Agency. Wallace is a fairly typical brown owl, but Grace is adorned with a shiny gold necklace and a red-and-white bow. “Grace liked to use big words.” Her vocabulary is extensive, including “quandary,” “investigate,” and “courageous,” and is explained in the text. Occasional puns may make adults groan, but kids will laugh: “Wallace and Grace always found out whooo-done-it!” Their first case involves Edgar the rabbit. He sees a ghost who makes spooky noises in the garden. The owls listen to his description, make notes, and hold a brief conference to decide whether to take the case. The two use their owlish abilities, things that Edgar can’t do, like spying things in the distance and twisting their heads around to look in both directions. They soon realize that the ghost is a sheet from the clothesline, stolen by Mother Cat to “keep her kittens cozy,” and the spooky noise is the mewing of the kittens. The mystery is simple, and the male and female partners invite interest across a broad readership. The language is accessible, and full-color cartoonish illustrations, created with pencil and Photoshop (a mix of whole-page and smaller vignettes), throughout the book are a change from many black-and-white chapter books.
Nick and Nora they’re not, but Wallace and Grace are a good team for the younger set. (Mystery. 6-8)Pub Date: May 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61963-988-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
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by Dori Hillestad Butler ; illustrated by Kevan Atteberry ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2020
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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by Matthew Cordell ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time.
Soup is always the correct solution.
Evergreen, a young squirrel who lives high in a tree in Buckthorn Forest, is afraid of most things, but top of the list is thunderstorms. When her mother, who makes magical soup, asks her to take an acorn full of soup to Granny Oak, who is ill with the flu, Evergreen is afraid that she won’t be brave enough to do it. But she knows she must—and that she must be careful not to spill a drop, as “Granny Oak will need every bit of it to get better.” Setting off, the scared squirrel encounters a menagerie of adventures and forest creatures in her journey. It’s a wild, imaginative read and one that twists and turns like a forest path, with unexpected surprises along the way. Cordell is a masterful storyteller, and readers will love following Evergreen’s journey as she grows into a more confident squirrel. The artwork is the real star of the show, however; there’s a hint of Sendak in the characters’ humorous expressions and in the timeless pen-and-watercolor backgrounds that cry out to be examined in detail. Educators and caregivers will love reading this story aloud in installments, and readers will adore seeing what Evergreen encounters in her travels. A hint of future stories will tantalize readers, who will close the book eager for a new volume to devour.
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time. (Early chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-31717-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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