Inspector Flytrap in The Da Vinci Cold

Description

From husband-and-wife team Tom Angleberger, creator of the New York Times bestselling Origami Yoda series, and Cece Bell, author/illustrator of the Newbery Honor graphic novel El Deafo, comes the start to a funny and clever illustrated chapter-book series about a mystery-solving Venus flytrap. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, this early-chapter-book series is a must for beginning readers. Inspector Flytrap in the Da Vinci Cold introduces kids to the humorous and wacky world of Inspector Flytrap's Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of BIG DEAL mysteries. The plant detective works tirelessly with his assistant Nina the Goat on his community's unsolved cases. There's no case too big, but there are definitely cases too small for this endearingly self-important plant detective. Celebrating the disabled yet enabled, the character of Inspector Flytrap is wheeled everywhere (on a skateboard, of course) by his goat sidekick as this mystery-solving duo works on cases such as "The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies" and "The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose." On his first caper, Inspector Flytrap heads to the Art Museum's Secret Lab to discover what important message lies in a mysterious glob on a recently discovered Da Vinci flower painting. The ingenious solution: Da Vinci was allergic to flowers, and the glob is, er, evidence of that ancient sneeze. Combining wacky humor and a silly cast of characters with adventure, friendship, and mystery, the powerhouse team of Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell have created a uniquely engaging series that is perfect for newly independent readers and fans of Ricky Ricotta, Captain Underpants, and the Galaxy Zack series. Also included in these books are some graphic novel-style pages that will attract reluctant readers.

Tom Angleberger is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Fake Mustache and Horton Halfpott, both Edgar Award nominees, and the Qwikpick Papers series. He is also the author of the transportation picture book McToad Mows Tiny Island. Tom lives with his wife, Cece Bell, in Christiansburg, Virginia. www.origamiyoda.com. Cece Bell is the author of the Newbery Honor Book and Eisner Award winner El Deafo, which received four starred reviews, was named a 2014 best book by Parents magazine, and is a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of Rabbit and Robot, winner of a Geisel Honor. Cece lives with her husband, Tom Angleberger, in Christiansburg, Virginia. www.cecebell.wordpress.com.

"Angleberger established his aptitude for finding kids' funny bones with his Origami Yoda series, and he doesn't hold back in this wacky new series for elementary schoolers... Running gags and gross-out humor will keep readers in stitches, with Nina acting as "straight goat" to the more animated detective--when she is not eating the evidence, that is. Bell's cartoonish illustrations appear on almost every page, ramping up the laughs."-- "Booklist" "Generous illustrations spilling across the pages humorously set the mean-streets, noirish scene, complete with beat-up office and Bakelite phone, and Bell manages the challenge of giving a potted plant both personality and verve."-- "The Horn Book" "The direct storytelling makes the episodic structure engaging but accessible, and the repetition both in the narration and the dialogue ("Big deal" is a common utterance, especially by Nina) gives multiple opportunities to practice decoding skills. Black and white illustrations can be found on nearly every spread, helpfully giving context clues to readers while moving the story along. This will snare transitioning readers like Flytrap snags his lunch."-- "BCCB" **STARRED REVIEW** "Uproariously funny illustrated chapter book...Abundant punning and absurdity, Bell's equally raucous cartooning...make this series opener a "big deal" winner. "-- "Publishers Weekly"