A gentle, mothercentric mystery that couldn’t be less threatening and a fine addition to the series.
A very personal case for the detectives of the sweet little police station in the forest.
Detective Buffy (a young mouse) and Detective Gordon (an old toad) handle nice, small cases like lost scarves and naughty, littering children in their forest district. When two students from the local kindergarten, a baby toad and a baby mouse, come to train as “small police,” they mention their mothers so often that Buffy becomes sad. She doesn’t remember hers. Detective Gordon encourages her to write poetry to remember, and her verse leads to memories of her past. The four head out to Cave Island to discover what happened to Buffy’s newly remembered mother and siblings. The island is across a mountain and, of course, a bit of water—and there is a fox there to deal with…will he eat the police? Nilsson’s fourth case for kind, wise (and tired) Detective Gordon and his cake-loving mouse protégée is no less charming than its predecessors. Marshall’s deft, homey translation and Spee’s colorful, plentiful illustrations of anthropomorphic animals give the book the feel of a classic you just hadn’t discovered until now. A good choice for family reading time or newly minted readers of chapters.
A gentle, mothercentric mystery that couldn’t be less threatening and a fine addition to the series. (Mystery. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-776571-78-9
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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