Pip Street A Whiskery mystery by Jo Simmons

If you are in need of a really funny book that is very easy to read grab A Whiskery Mystery.  If you enjoy a good mystery and you like to read about young crime solvers grab this book.  If you own a cat - grab this book.  If you need a book to read aloud to your child - grab this book!!

A big thank you must go to Bloomin' books in Carringbah.  The owner Kate Colley found this gem and included it with the parcel she sends us each term.

This book is full of jokes.... Here is the beginning of Chapter two :

"Bobby Cobbler was a little boy, about this big with a sprinkling of freckles and teeth as white as snow (and everywhere that Bobby went, his teeth were sure to go).  He had sharp eyes (but not sharp enough to cut yourself on), and a mind as curious as a kitten's and fifty times as smart."

Bobby's dad sells sweets and when the market dries up the family need to move on so Bobby has spent his whole life moving from one town to another.  Luckily he has his beloved cat, Conkers, to keep him company. As this story begins the family have moved into Pip Street but after just one night Conkers goes missing.

Bobby makes a new friend - his neighbour - a girl called Imelda Alice Marjorie Small "(Which if you write it out, makes I AM Small - and she was)."  Imelda suggests they should make missing cat posters to put up around the street.  Bobby thinks this is a splendid idea but as they race around the street putting up their posters they discover there are missing posters everywhere and nearly all of them are about missing cats.

Bobby and Imelda are now on the trail of a mystery.  There are many possible suspects among their neighbours.  There is a man who writes chalk messages on the footpath, an old lady who blinks a lot and a man who rides a wild mobility scooter.

Even the chapter titles in this book are perfect - A plan is planned, He thought he saw a pussycat, A right Royal snoop around and A street called Pip.

I am excited to discover a second adventure is available - A Crumpety Calamity.

If you enjoy this book - and you will -  you should  also look for the Claude series which have a similar sense of fun.