WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN?

A mystery in the classic style, written in verse that mimics the familiar rhyme. A haughty detective—an owl in a pince-nez- -gets a confession from a sparrow plus an eye-witness account from a gardener/magpie; still, it's not so simple—an apparently unrelated jewel heist is involved. Small sleuths will enjoy picking up the clues in the illustrations, though the parody of adult mysteries will surely elude them. O'Malley's brash, bold art is nicely peopled with suspicious looking birds and caricatures, like the old turkey presiding at the trial. Not as cleverly plotted or as elegantly illustrated as Yolen's Piggins series, but with much of the same appeal. (Picture book. 5-8)