Betty's Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure by Travis Nichols

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In 2015 I reviewed and loved the idiom filled picture book Fowl Play by Travis Nichols. With humor and wonderful language, the animals of the Gumshoe Zoo worked together to solve the mystery of the broken window at Mr. Hound's store. Now, in Betty's Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure, the Gumshoe Zoo is back with a new mystery to solve!
Early one morning, Betty the baker discovers that (almost) all of the delights in her bakery have been burgled! Her first call is to the Gumshoe Zoo. Working through the alphabet, Nichols packs every page with alliteration - and great vocabulary. The detectives of the Gumshoe Zoo (including Quentin, the goat, who is curiously cutting up the smelly durian fruit...) examine the crime scene, searching for the "gluttonous gobbler of gluten-y goods." They quickly notice that the, "fully fed, fiendish foe" bypassed the "kale crumpets" and all the cash in the register! Steve, the monkey, stumbles "upon a simple solution to this scandal," suggesting they, "trace the teeth tracks in this torn tart." I don't want to give too much away,  but I think Betty the Baker may be taking Ambien . . .

Betty's Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure wraps up with the Gumshoe Zoo reading about their success in the paper then, turning to page two where there is an article on the crime of the century! Nichols leaves readers with a clue to the next case for the Gumshoe Zoo, asking, "can the world's greatest detectives solve this mystery of inconceivably hyperbolic hysteria?" Nichols also includes back matter that gives a great definition of alliteration as well as some interesting details on real animal eating habits.



Source: Review Copy

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