Cronin, Doreen. 2014. The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken. Simon & Schuster (Atheneum Books). 103pp. $5.99. ISBN 978-1442-496-804. Illustrated by Kevin Cornell.

The weird Blue chicken wasn’t really a chicken, he was a blue jay. The weird blue Chicken had a problem; his house got robbed by the Chickens brother. And when he went to the chicken squad for help they tried to swab his armpit with a q-tip. That was the funniest picture in the whole book! It was also funny when the blue jay did not know his inches from feet! The bird did not get his house back, it broke and he had to build a nest. The story ended when grumpy squirrel who stole all the nuts ate a strawberry. This lets kids know they should try different food because they might like it. I think other kids will like this book, my mom read this book with me. I liked chapter one because it was the shortest chapter, it only had 20 words! (NAJ)

O’Ryan, Ray. 2016. Galaxy Zack: Science Fair Disaster. Simon & Schuster (Little Simon). 120pp. $16.99. ISBN 9781-481-458-771. Illustrated by Jason Kraft.

Zack found some goo on his shoe at a science museum and used it as his science project. The goo he found on his shoe became a monster and tore the gym up. There is nothing I did not like about this book, it was easy to read. We read it all in one day. The chapters were short and the words were big. I liked all the pictures, especially the one where Zack falls at the museum. (NAJ)

Styles, Walker. 2016. Rider Woofson: The Case of the Missing Tiger’s Eye. Simon & Schuster (Little Simon). 119pp. $16.99. ISBN 978-1481-457-385. Illustrated by Ben Whitehouse.

This book was about a stolen statue. Mr. Meow kept the statue in his jewelry store because the museum burned down. The store owner hired 12 monkeys to steal it so he could keep it for himself. My favorite part of this book was when Westie busted through the window and knocked Ziggy’s sandwich. My favorite picture was in the beginning (page 2) where all of the bad guys were lined up. The only thing I did not like about this book was the sleeve covering the book. I think other kids will like this book because it will show them how to dress up like bad guys for Halloween. (NAJ)