THE HIGH-RISE PRIVATE EYES: THE CASE OF THE CLIMBING CAT

This versatile Newbery Medalist has crafted another winning series for young readers, this one for kids who are ready for books that are a little longer than the stories in her perennially popular Henry and Mudge series. The High-Rise Private Eyes are two big-city sophisticates, Bunny Brown, a stylish and brilliant female rabbit, and Jack Jones, a rather timid but inquisitive raccoon. The two are best friends who live in separate apartments in the same high-rise building, and together they specialize in solving minor crimes in their neighborhood. In this book, the second in the series, Bunny and Jack track down a bird-watching cat who has made off with monogrammed binoculars belonging to their neighbor Miss Nancy, a delightful goose who gives piano lessons on her grand piano and grows yellow roses on her balcony. The winsome animal creatures are brought to life with Karas’s (The Seals on the Bus, p. 633, etc.) pastel illustrations done in acrylic, gouache, and pencil, in a style similar to that of Marc Brown. Teachers will like the format of this series, with clever integration of different types of writing: the words of the title on an index card, the contents page on a legal pad, lists of clues, and a letter from the detective duo on the inside back cover flap. Bunny and Jack solve their first case in The High-Rise Private Eyes: The Case of the Missing Monkey (not reviewed), with more cases in the works. The series will help fill the demand for easy mysteries that are accessible to young readers in the early grades and funny, too. (Easy reader. 6-8)