The Case of the Climbing Cat (High-Rise Private Eyes Series #2)

by Cynthia Rylant, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Overview

Deep in the heart of the city. . .

Miss Nancy saw somebody run off with her binoculars. . .Where did the thief go? And will she get her binoculars back?

This sounds like a case for the High-Rise Private Eyes—Case #002, to be exact, The Case of the Climbing Cat

Because no mystery is too mysterious, no puzzle to puzzling, no crime too criminal, no trouble too troubling for ace detectives and very best friends Bunny Brown and Jack Jones.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064443074
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/07/2001
Series:	I Can Read Book 2 Series , #2
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	734,746
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.19(d)
Lexile:	510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Cynthia Rylant is a Newbery Medalist and the author of many acclaimed books for young people. She's well known for her popular characters for early readers, including Mr. Putter & Tabby and Henry & Mudge. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. cynthiarylant.com

G. Brian Karas has written and illustrated several award-winning children's books, including On Earth and Home on the Bayou: A Cowboy's Story, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book. The picture books he has illustrated include Are You Going to Be Good?, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book written by Cari Best. Mr. Karas lives in Rhinebeck, New York.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 3-William DuFris, the voice of TV's "Bob the Builder," narrates Cynthia Rylant's amusing easy-reader mystery (Greenwillow, 2000) featuring detectives Bunny Brown, a rabbit, and Jack Jones, a raccoon, who live in a high-rise apartment. The narration is well done, faithfully following the text, with voices changes to identify the four different characters. Simple yet relevant sound effects enhance listening enjoyment. One side of the cassette has page-turn signals. Several words integral to the story exceed the average language proficiency of primary students, such as professional, aviary, incredible, and specimen. These words learned in context will help to expand the vocabulary of young listeners. The book's illustrations by G. Brian Karas add to the mystery's enjoyment. A good choice for school and public libraries, especially for first and second graders and those learning English as a second language.-Sherrie Davidson, Lyn Knoll Elementary School, Aurora, CO Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The six and up crowd has a new series to look forward to this fall. Acclaimes Newberry Medal-award winner Cynthia Rylant has just introduced her first two High Rise Private Eyes stories. These are compact little books...with delightful G. Brian Karas illustrations on every page...Rylant adds interest to the stories with good characterization and feisty dialogue between the two detectives—something that's hard to do with few words and a fairly restricted vocabulary.
—The Christian Science Monitor

Karen Carden

This versatile Newbery Medalist has crafted another winning series for young readers, this one for kids who are ready for books that are a little longer than the stories in her perennially popular Henry and Mudge series. The High-Rise Private Eyes are two big-city sophisticates, Bunny Brown, a stylish and brilliant female rabbit, and Jack Jones, a rather timid but inquisitive raccoon. The two are best friends who live in separate apartments in the same high-rise building, and together they specialize in solving minor crimes in their neighborhood. In this book, the second in the series, Bunny and Jack track down a bird-watching cat who has made off with monogrammed binoculars belonging to their neighbor Miss Nancy, a delightful goose who gives piano lessons on her grand piano and grows yellow roses on her balcony. The winsome animal creatures are brought to life with Karas's (The Seals on the Bus, p. 633, etc.) pastel illustrations done in acrylic, gouache, and pencil, in a style similar to that of Marc Brown. Teachers will like the format of this series, with clever integration of different types of writing: the words of the title on an index card, the contents page on a legal pad, lists of clues, and a letter from the detective duo on the inside back cover flap. Bunny and Jack solve their first case in The High-Rise Private Eyes: The Case of the Missing Monkey (not reviewed), with more cases in the works. The series will help fill the demand for easy mysteries that are accessible to young readers in the early grades and funny, too. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews