The only sadness is that Volume 2 isn’t immediately available.
Who are the scurvy thieves loose in the woodland district?
The “famous Detective Gordon” is a portly, old toad. He’s the only police official in his district. Though he’s wise and experienced, he’s often a bit tired. He always skillfully applies the tools of his trade: his intellect, his official stamp, which goes “Kla-dunk” in a very satisfying way, and his pistol (safely locked away). When Vladimir the squirrel rushes in crying for his lost stash of nuts, Detective Gordon stakes out Vladimir’s nut hole. He catches his friend Buffy, a poor, hungry mouse, stealing one nut, but Buffy could not possibly have stolen all 204 nuts missing from Vladimir’s hole. Kindly Detective Gordon deputizes Buffy and finds it’s most excellent to have someone young and enthusiastic (and nimble) around the office. But can the detective duo discover the identity of the thieves? If a heretofore-unknown collaboration between Agatha Christie and A.A. Milne were to be uncovered, it would likely bear a striking resemblance to Nilsson’s charming, wry and entertaining chapter-book mystery. Deftly translated by Marshall and decorated with Spee’s delightful full-color illustrations of clothed woodland creatures, this gentle tale of intergenerational friendship reads like a classic.
The only sadness is that Volume 2 isn’t immediately available. (Mystery. 4-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-927271-49-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers.
A fifth grade girl brings her love of chemistry to the school play.
Kate loves science so much she’s determined to breathe fire. Of course she knows that she needs adult supervision, and so, with her science teacher’s help, Kate demonstrates an experiment with cornstarch and a blowtorch that nearly sets her teacher’s cactus on fire. Consequences ensue. Can someone who loves science as much as Kate does find pleasure spending her fall break at drama camp? It turns out that even the school play—Dragons vs. Unicorns—needs a chemist, though, and Kate saves the day with glue and glitter. She’s sabotaged along the way, but everything is fine after Kate and her frenemy agree to communicate better (an underwhelming response to escalating bullying). Doodles decorate the pages; steps for the one experiment described that can be done at home—making glittery unicorn-horn glue—are included. The most exciting experiments depicted, though, include flames or liquid nitrogen and could only be done with the help of a friendly science teacher. Biberdorf teaches chemistry at the University of Texas and also performs science-education programs as “Kate the Chemist”; in addition to giving her protagonist her name and enthusiasm, she also seems represented in Kate-the-character’s love of the fictional YouTube personality “Dr. Caroline.” Kate and her nemesis are white; Kate’s best friends are black and South Asian.
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11655-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not terribly remarkable, but the series has lots of growing room.
Second-grade twins prepare to leave the country, but not without first solving a time-sensitive mystery.
Ella and Ethan Briar are devastated by their parents’ announcement that the family is leaving their beloved hometown. Mrs. Briar has accepted a new job as a travel writer, a job that will send the family to new places all over the globe on a weekly basis. In an attempt to soothe the twins’ unhappiness about the move (“What about school? And soccer?” they ask), their grandfather—a retired, globe-trotting archaeologist himself—gives each a special gift for their travels. Mystery-writing Ella gets a journal; Ethan gets a special gold coin. On their last morning in town, Ethan realizes that his gold coin is missing—and they only have a few hours before they have to leave for the airport. While their grandfather does their chores, the twins methodically determine when Ethan last had the coin—the previous day—and make a list of places he visited to retrace his steps. This allows the twins to say goodbye to friendly faces throughout the town. This series-launching installment’s light on mystery, but it’s welcoming and accessible through expressive, frequent illustrations. The Mystery of the Mosaic, publishing simultaneously, takes the kids to Venice for their first overseas adventure.
Not terribly remarkable, but the series has lots of growing room. (Mystery. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9719-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
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