WHO PEA’D THE BED? (The Fairy Tale Bureau of Investigation by S.D. BrownMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
There are some great names of characters in this children’s book. We find Elfie Sherlocks, the Chief Investigator, Owlexa, the source of lots of information, Jerome Gnome and Freddy Firefly the rookie Ant, or Agent-In-Training. They are all members of the F.T.B.I. or the Fairy Tale Bureau of Investigation, who are tasked to discover who ruined the pea crop of the Legumia kingdom, as well as who pea’d the princess’s bed.
The investigation follows a winding and amusing path with lots of curious twists and turns. There are plenty of compelling moments to hold the attention of readers in the 8 to 11 year olds bracket. It would be great fun for a parent or grandparent to read it with the younger child. This is just to make sure that they got the jokes constantly quoted by the mischievous Freddy Firefly. Unfortunately, my own grandchildren are just a little too old for that experience with me.
The illustrations throughout the story are brilliant and help it to race along. The author has a lot of teaching experience and it tells; both in the way she includes plenty of educational but fascinating facts and figures at the end, as well as many more of Freddy’s jokes. In the past I have read several of S.D. Brown’s crime stories for adults, about gemstones and minerals and have always enjoyed them. Speaking as a retired teacher there were a few arguable, punctuation issues that I saw, but nothing to spoil this charming and hilarious kids book. Recommended.
