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INSPECTOR FLYTRAP

From the Inspector Flytrap series , Vol. 1

Three cases and lunch! What more could you need? Happily, Volume 2, The President’s Mane Is Missing, publishes simultaneously

Inspector Flytrap is here to solve your “BIG DEAL” mysteries…foolishness in every case file guaranteed.

Inspector Flytrap may be a Venus flytrap, but the carnivorous plant is also trying to become the greatest private detective ever grown. Inspector Flytrap lives in a pot and can leave the office only with the help of assistant Nina the Goat, always hungry and frequently unimpressed. She puts the inspector’s pot on a skateboard and pushes it around town. Calls come from many of the town’s animal denizens, but the inspector spurns small cases. Lulu Emu’s request for assistance at the art museum seems important enough to put the inspector on the case—but contrary Nina’s fondness for going the wrong way down busy, one-way streets makes for a hair-raising start. At the museum, Lulu takes them to the Top Secret Art Lab, where they are shown the only flower painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted: there’s a mysterious yellow glob stuck to the masterwork. Nina tastes it. And after a few simple questions, the intrepid plant detective solves the explosive (and slightly gross) case. Angleberger and Bell team up for a goofy, easy chapter-book series kickoff. The cases (in addition to the Leonardo enigma, there’s a case involving a fetid cookie factory and an AWOL rose) are full of silly characters (and solved with silly solutions), and Bell’s ample cartoon line drawings pair perfectly.

Three cases and lunch! What more could you need? Happily, Volume 2, The President’s Mane Is Missing, publishes simultaneously . (Humor. 6-9)

Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0948-7

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016

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TIDE POOL TROUBLES

From the Shelby & Watts series , Vol. 1

Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts.

Beachcombers and shell seekers, gather ’round and meet Shelby and Watts, Planetary Investigators.

When Fred the hermit crab can’t find a new, larger shell to move into, he seeks out the “brilliant brains” of Shelby and Watts. Shelby, a fox, is the detective in the duo, and Watts, a badger, loves facts, adding simple fun ones—about hermit crabs, tides, tide-pool dwellers, how shells are used, etc.—throughout the story. Watts also loves to catalog clues in his notebook. In fact, the first mystery that Shelby solves is that of Watts’ lost notebook. Young readers can watch Shelby investigate, solve, and explain her deductive process, all while learning to carefully examine all the details in each graphic panel. Once the missing shells are found, it’s “time for the hermit crab shuffle,” in which the members of a colony of hermit crabs all line up and trade up to larger homes. Final pages include “Earth-Saving Tips from Shelby & Watts,” such as taking pictures of shells instead of collecting them, eating seafood from sustainable sources, and cleaning up the beach. The seven chapters are of varying length, but with several one-panel pages and many pages with low word count, the book is shorter than it appears, which should be a confidence boost for young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts. (Graphic early reader/mystery. 6-9)

Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-20531-0

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021

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AVEN GREEN SLEUTHING MACHINE

From the Aven Green series , Vol. 1

A fun series opener with a feisty protagonist who’ll keep readers on their toes.

Bowling introduces the outspoken, armless narrator of her Life as a Cactus series to younger readers.

Eight-year-old Aven Green doesn’t need arms to be a good private investigator; her feet work just fine. In fact, all those extra arm cells went to her brain instead—at least, that’s her hypothesis. So when somebody starts stealing food at school, she’s on the case. But then her great-grandma’s dog, Smitty, goes missing, and then new student Sujata arrives—looking mysteriously sad. Can Aven’s “super-powered brain” solve three cases at the same time? The simple plot, peppered with humorous malapropisms and leaps of kid logic, is primarily a showcase for Aven’s precocious personality. Witty, stubborn, and self-confident (“I was shy once. It was on a Wednesday afternoon in kindergarten”), Aven takes her disability in stride; her classmates are also accepting. She and her friends share rowdy and gleefully gross activities, complete with “ninja” chops, flatulence, and “rainbow barf.” Her (adoptive) parents are warmly supportive, but her long-suffering teacher is perhaps too much so; her remarkable tolerance for Aven’s occasionally disruptive antics may raise some eyebrows. Perry’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations energetically depict Aven’s agile feet and mischievous grin. The tidy ending sets up another adventure; a list of Aven’s “sleuthing words” is appended. Most characters, including Aven, appear to be White; Sujata is Indian American.

A fun series opener with a feisty protagonist who’ll keep readers on their toes. (Mystery. 6-9)

Pub Date: April 6, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-4549-4221-4

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Sterling Children's Books

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021

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