A fetching hero and his bright human companions lead a gently absorbing mystery.
Tween best friends and a shrewd cocker spaniel investigate dubious activity at a ranch in Troy’s middle-grade series installment.
Casey Donovan and Sumo Modragon are excited to spend a few days at a horse ranch. Sumo’s dad, Tennyson, drives the boys and his new filly to his ranch in Lake Arrowhead, not far from their homes in Brea, California. Casey’s beloved cocker spaniel, Dylan, an endearing canine who’s always ready for adventure and chow time, joins them. Before they even make it to the ranch, Dylan spots a suspicious man lurking around the horse trailer. When they reach Lake Arrowhead, they learn that someone has attacked a ranch hand. Although Casey and Sumo are looking forward to a bit of fun, they can’t ignore the ranch-related crimes and potential suspects, including an incensed neighbor and one of the other ranch hands. It sounds like a job for Dylan’s Dog Squad, the popular social media savvy group that’s managed to solve some mysteries. For this latest whodunit, the Squad, as always, relies on Dylan and his impeccable nose. Troy’s well-established recurring cast, which also includes Casey’s warmhearted mom, Colleen, gets this fifth entry off to a quick start. Dylan’s inner dialogue (reporting “I love the smell of grease and fast food” or misunderstanding the expression “on the house”), along with familiar doggie quirks like covering his eyes with his paws during a zombie flick, provide loads of humor. New characters, such as Noah, a detective’s hearing-impaired son, and Noah’s dog, Billy da Pug, further enrich this installment, as Casey and Dylan have been learning American Sign Language. While Dylan’s adorably naïve perspective on the humans’ world drives this narrative, the kids’ investigation is genuinely engaging. Suspects are aplenty, and the possibility of an unknown assailant stalking the ranch slowly builds tension. Dylan’s sniffer is so remarkable that he’s often a step or two ahead of the boys as he easily carries this diverting series.
A fetching hero and his bright human companions lead a gently absorbing mystery.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 238
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 27, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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