A Case for Buffy

August 1, 2018

Gr 1-3-The adorable crime-solving duo returns to deduce the whereabouts of Detective Buffy's mom. By focusing on Buffy's origin story, Nilsson deepens the series, which has already covered such meaningful themes as intergenerational friendship and bullying. This volume gently explores concepts like trauma, as when Buffy remembers the stressful circumstances under which she was separated from her entire family. There are a few loaded asides from Gordon that reinforce harmful forms of real-world bias ("Maybe mice could leave their families and think no more about them. You couldn't assume that everyone was like a completely ordinary toad"). This detracts from an otherwise thoughtfully crafted plot in which Gordon and Buffy learn from their younger sidekicks and Gordon acknowledges his own power. Spee's illustrations skillfully capture tender scenes along with spots of chuckle-worthy moments. VERDICT The charming pastoral setting, Gordon's wry antics, and Buffy's heartfelt journey will provide much comfort to fans of the series, especially on rainy days or before bed.-Della Farrell, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2018
A very personal case for the detectives of the sweet little police station in the forest.Detective Buffy (a young mouse) and Detective Gordon (an old toad) handle nice, small cases like lost scarves and naughty, littering children in their forest district. When two students from the local kindergarten, a baby toad and a baby mouse, come to train as "small police," they mention their mothers so often that Buffy becomes sad. She doesn't remember hers. Detective Gordon encourages her to write poetry to remember, and her verse leads to memories of her past. The four head out to Cave Island to discover what happened to Buffy's newly remembered mother and siblings. The island is across a mountain and, of course, a bit of water--and there is a fox there to deal with...will he eat the police? Nilsson's fourth case for kind, wise (and tired) Detective Gordon and his cake-loving mouse protégée is no less charming than its predecessors. Marshall's deft, homey translation and Spee's colorful, plentiful illustrations of anthropomorphic animals give the book the feel of a classic you just hadn't discovered until now. A good choice for family reading time or newly minted readers of chapters.A gentle, mothercentric mystery that couldn't be less threatening and a fine addition to the series. (Mystery. 6-10)

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