Take the Case

The intrigue swirls thick 'round Pancake Court. Inspired by a black-and-white movie her mother watches with her even though it's not on the list of 10 movies without mean people, smoking, bad words and tiny clothes, Bean goes into the PI business. Donning an old fedora, in no time she attracts the attention of the other neighborhood children, including best friend Ivy. Bean solves a couple of mysteries--what's under the cement lids in all the lawns, why the letter carrier takes a two-hour nap every day--but the kids are not particularly impressed. Then a real mystery arises: A bright yellow rope appears, tied around Dino's chimney and trailing onto his lawn. Incredibly, each day it lengthens, sprawling around the cul-de-sac and evidently evading the notice of every adult there. Bean's reputation is at stake. Her efforts to nab Mr. Whoever-ties-the-rope involve lots of shared speculation and a midnight stakeout with loyal Ivy...but no perp. As always, Barrows' keen understanding of children yields scenarios that are right on the money: Bean cheerfully watches her mother's favorite noir classic and gleans only the details her mother would rather she not have noticed; she sets and resets a kitchen timer four times in order to wake up at midnight. And her nonsolution results in a conclusion that will madden adults but that is wisely, perfectly childlike. Only a stooge couldn't love Ivy and Bean. (Fiction. 6-9) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2014
When a mysterious yellow rope appears in the neighborhood, one end tied around the chimney on Dino's house, the other end sitting on his front lawn, Ivy and Bean investigate whodunit? For those readers dissatisfied with an open ending, adults might nudge them toward the likely culprit. It's no mystery, though, why these cleverly entertaining early chapter books continue to please.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2013
After watching a black-and-white movie featuring a tough-talking private investigator, Bean decides to solve some mysteries. She and Ivy start with The Mystery of What's Under the Cement Rectangle in everyone's front yard (slime and a machine with a dial), then move on to why the mailman always naps in his truck (his baby cries all night long), and, finally, what the Tengs have behind their tall fence (a garden). The other kids on Pancake Court become less impressed with each case, but just in the nick of time a mysterious yellow rope appears, one end tied around the chimney on Dino's house, the other end sitting on his front lawn. Whodunit? No one knows, and on the following nights, someone adds more rope and drapes it further around the street. The intrepid girls are ultimately unable to solve the case but decide they like having a mystery in their midst. Ivy and Bean enjoy imagining that an alien (or a gnome or a rabbit) is behind the rope tricks, as will many young readers. For those kids dissatisfied with the open ending, adults might nudge them toward the likely culpritJake the teenager, whose large shopping bag and slight smile as he walks past Bean's front-lawn office are more than a little mysterious. It's no mystery, though, why these early chapter books continue to please: cleverly entertaining stories, and illustrations to match. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 15, 2013
The intrigue swirls thick 'round Pancake Court. Inspired by a black-and-white movie her mother watches with her even though it's not on the list of 10 movies without mean people, smoking, bad words and tiny clothes, Bean goes into the PI business. Donning an old fedora, in no time she attracts the attention of the other neighborhood children, including best friend Ivy. Bean solves a couple of mysteries--what's under the cement lids in all the lawns, why the letter carrier takes a two-hour nap every day--but the kids are not particularly impressed. Then a real mystery arises: A bright yellow rope appears, tied around Dino's chimney and trailing onto his lawn. Incredibly, each day it lengthens, sprawling around the cul-de-sac and evidently evading the notice of every adult there. Bean's reputation is at stake. Her efforts to nab Mr. Whoever-ties-the-rope involve lots of shared speculation and a midnight stakeout with loyal Ivy...but no perp. As always, Barrows' keen understanding of children yields scenarios that are right on the money: Bean cheerfully watches her mother's favorite noir classic and gleans only the details her mother would rather she not have noticed; she sets and resets a kitchen timer four times in order to wake up at midnight. And her nonsolution results in a conclusion that will madden adults but that is wisely, perfectly childlike. Only a stooge couldn't love Ivy and Bean. (Fiction. 6-9)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.