Young sleuths will enjoy the easy mystery and the cheeky illustrations. More cases on the way! (Fantasy/mystery. 6-10)
How does a hippo go missing? Fabio and Gilbert are on the case!
Bright pink Fabio is the world’s greatest flamingo detective, and his favorite place for a pink lemonade, taken in the company of his giraffe sidekick, Gilbert, is the Hotel Royale on the shores of Lake Laloozee. But all is not well there. Smith, the vulture who runs the place with his sister, chef Penelope, is none too keen on her daughter’s ideas to bring in more customers: Violet wants to have a talent contest. When head contest judge Daphne, a rhino who goes by “the General,” catches cold, Fabio takes her place…and then contestant Julia the hippo vanishes—from the stage. Was it a rival contestant? A crooked judge? Or is the disappearance connected to the strange events at the Gold Cup athletic competition, where many of the contestants seemed strangely sleepy? No need to fear with dapper, superobservant Fabio investigating. With this caper, James, British author of the Adventures of Pug chapter books, kicks off a new series of easy-reading mysteries peopled with jungle animals. Fox’s cartoons are offset by an arresting design that incorporates copious applications of bright pink and electric green. Characterization is broad: Fabio is quite self-assured and Gilbert, gangly and bumbling.
Young sleuths will enjoy the easy mystery and the cheeky illustrations. More cases on the way! (Fantasy/mystery. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0217-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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