Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | PICTURE BOOK BYR | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The chalks are drawing flowers on the chalkboard, but someone keeps stealing their artwork! Who could the thief be? Fortunately, Sergeant Blue is on the case and determined to solve the crime. It's a fun and funny read-aloud mystery with a colorful cast of characters, from This book just ate my dog! author-illustrator Richard Byrne.
Godwin Books
Author Notes
Richard Byrne is the author and illustrator of This book just ate my dog! , We're in the wrong book! , and This book is out of control! He grew up in Brighton, England, and worked in graphic design before discovering his true passion in children's books.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Googly-eyed chalk sticks of various hues and heights are wondering who keeps stealing the flower artwork they create. Sergeant Blue investigates and produces a suspect lineup of pencil, glue, scissors, ruler, paintbrush, and eraser. The dusty robber flees the scene, creating twirls of mixed colors as all the other chalk pieces give chase. Eraser escapes, so Sergeant Blue creates a sting, having the chalk crew create an enormous rainbow, irresistible to the culprit who confesses that he erases only because he wants them to "draw more stuff." Byrne (This Book Ate My Dog and This Book Is Out of Control), proves that his humor and flawless pacing aren't limited to stories about books. Black-backed illustrations make the multitude of colors pop. VERDICT In addition to being pure fun, the story demonstrates the importance of understanding motives before judging actions. An excellent choice for storytimes and classroom read-alouds.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
When some sticks of color chalk return to the spot where they had drawn flowers, they find the blooms gone. They draw replacement flowers that even a (chalk) fence can't protect from the poacher. Who keeps "stealing" their drawings? (Answer: An eraser.) The book's concept is ingeniously executed--e.g., multicolored squiggles on black pages show how "the chalks chased the robber. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A playful mystery culminates in a gentle message of conflict resolution. The bold palette, knockout type, and the chalk characters' big eyes contribute to the book's striking design, with childlike, colorful, anthropomorphic sticks of chalk against a dark, blackboardlike background, digital lines emulating strokes of chalk. The story begins when the protagonists leave their drawings of flowers behind when their teacher, Mrs. Red, calls them for lunch, and when they return, they're shocked that the drawings have disappeared. They redraw the flowers, and Mrs. Red adds a fence, but it fails to protect the new drawings when the chalks leave for storytime. "Sergeant Blue arrived to investigate" reads the next spread, which depicts a blue, mustachioed chalk and his matching blue police car. Sgt. Blue notes "important evidence," highlighting the width of the areas of absent markings and the presence of dust. He then assembles a lineup of suspects, including, among others, scissors, a ruler, and a chalkboard eraser of just the right width. It also has, as a tiny chalk exclaims, "A DUSTY RED BOTTOM!" A chase ensues to capture the eraser, but the chalks eventually understand that it isn't a thief, it's just fulfilling its natural role when it erases drawings. The happily-ever-after ending shows chalks and eraser playing together in a collaborative culmination of the whodunit tale. Storytime is solved with this addition to the bookcase. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When a set of outraged, colored chalk calls in Sergeant Blue to find out who's been stealing their flower drawings, he quickly gets to the (literal) bottom of the case: that would be the eraser's dusty bottom, to be precise. After a merry chase, the chalks draw a rainbow to snare the fugitive. But the eraser's argument that he's been misunderstood, and that erasing is a good thing because then you can draw more stuff! leads Sergeant Blue to suggest a way for everyone to play together. Byrne sets this mildly metafictional bit of social mediation on, logically enough, black backgrounds, which suggest a chalkboard, and endows his limbless cartoon figures with pop eyes and either brightly colored tracks or, for the eraser, a trailing plume of colored dust. This works well as a natural lead-in to Anna Kang's more developed character study Eraser (2018), which is illustrated by Christopher Weyant.--John Peters Copyright 2018 Booklist
