Ducktective Quack and the Cake Crime Wave by Claire Freedman and Mike Byrne - reviewed by Damian Harvey

I love a picture book that will appeal to older readers (and listeners) and Ducktective Quack and the Cake Crime Wave will do just that. Claire Freedman's rhyming text works well and keeps the story moving along nicely and is perfectly complimented by Mike Byrne's detailed, witty illustrations which give the reader plenty to look at.

There's a thief in town - someone has been steeling cakes and doughnuts from the cafe's - and it's up to Ducktective Quack to get to the bottom of it. What makes this book work well is the fact that the reader is encouraged to get involved and help Ducktective Quack in her investigations by spotting the clues.

At the Police Station there is already a board full of evidence and clues that Ducktective Quack has gathered but as the book progresses, the reader is presented with more clues and red herrings hidden on every page. Along with the clues are little notes to encourage the reader to think about what they have seen as they try to find out who is responsible for the cake crime wave.

The first reading of this book (and solving of the crime) will undoubtedly provide children with the most entertainment, however, the text is good enough to stand many re reads and each page is so full of detail that children will undoubtedly enjoy going over it time and time again.  

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MONSTERSAURUS by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort - reviewed by Damian Harvey

The creative partnership of Claire Freedman and Ben Cort hardly needs any introduction for buyers of picture books – they being the force behind the hugely popular ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ and others in the series. With ‘MONSTERSAURUS’ though, there’s not a pair of pants in sight and for that reason the book may easily be missed which I think would be a shame as it’s lots of fun.

The hero of this story is a young inventor called Monty. “Monty LOVES inventing. BUT things don’t always work” and lots of his inventions go wrong. When Monty finds a book that has instructions on how to create a monster friend he can’t wait to give it a go. He drops the ingredients into his machine and “WHOOSH!” out comes a disgusting slobbery “Bogablog!”. Not to be put off, Monty tries again and “POOF!” out comes a “Dust Monster”. When the two monsters start to fight, it’s up to Monty to put things right. He grabs his book one more time and “KAPOW!” out comes a “big, bad MONSTERSAURUS.”

As always, Claire Freedman’s rhyming text works well and is great to read out loud, while Ben Cort’s bright, colourful spreads add to the fun - making this a real monster of a book to share with little monsters everywhere; and one that will stand a good few revisits at bed time or in the classroom.

Reviewed by Damian Harvey

www.damianharvey.co.uk

Twitter @damianjharvey

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