The Adventures of Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill – Case #2: Mineral Mischief by Renee Hand

Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill are back with another mystery to solve in Mineral Mischief  by award-winning author Renee Hand.

Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill are called in to investigate when Maple Moo’s rare and expensive mineral goes missing. The most famous detectives in Acorn Valley, they go about questioning the suspects, determined to find the culprit.

I was thrilled when Renee contacted me about touring the second book in her animal detective series. I had already read and reviewed the first book in this series,The Great Pie Catastrophe, and I’ve been a fan of her Crypto-Capers series for years.

Mineral Mischief  combines an engaging story with factual information about rocks and minerals to create a story your children will enjoy. What I like best about this book is that the facts are woven into the storyline in a perfect way so that the reader gains the information without feeling like he’s sitting through a science class.

Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill have a wonderful relationship, so they make great partners, even when they don’t see eye-to-eye on how to handle things. The book actually opens with a bullying scene. This is a timely subject for our children, and I was glad the author worked it into the storyline. She also manages to tie in the opening scene with the ending so the reader is satisfied at the conclusion of the story.

The illustrations provided by Jake Karwoski are a wonderful complement to the text. Also included is a Did You Know? page, terms to identify rocks and minerals, a few experiments, and a picture of The Rock Cycle.

All learning should be this fun!

Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

• Publisher:North Star Press
• ISBN-10:087839415X
• ISBN-13: 978-0878394159
• SRP:  $9.95

The author paid me to promote her book with a virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book. This fee did not include a review. This review includes my honest opinion, for which I received no type of monetary compenasation.

The Adventures of Joe-Joe Nut & Biscuit Bill, Case #1: The Great Pie Catastrophe by Renee Hand

Renee Hand, the creative mastermind behind The Crypto-Capers, has just released the first book in her new children’s detective series, The Adventures of Joe-Joe Nut & Biscuit Bill. This series, which is aimed at children in early elementary grades, is about animal detectives Joe-Joe Nut (squirrel) and Biscuit Bill (duck), who solve crimes in Acorn Valley. 

In Case #1: The Great Pie Catastrophe, Miss Cluck’s Blueberry Pie that she planned to enter into a contest at the 42nd Annual Pie Festival has been stolen. Joe-Joe and Nut and Biscuit Bill are called in to investigate and the hunt soon begins as they follow different sets of animal tracks to uncover clues. Will Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill find the culprit before the judging begins?

I was so excited to receive this book in the mail. I’m a big fan of The Crypto-Capers, so I had high hopes for Hand’s new series. I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Young readers are encouraged to use their deduction and reasoning skills to solve the crime alongside the two detectives. They are immediately drawn in by the storyline and the book’s quirky characters.

As with human detectives who work alongside each other, Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill talk about things other than the case, like Joe-Joe Nut’s inability to cook. Moments like these bring humor to the story and make these characters fun to follow around.

While I love the front cover on this book, I think the back cover is even better, with the potential suspects lined up against a wall as if they were in a police line-up. Also included are some animal facts and a quick quiz that asks readers to identify which animal the tracks on page 41 belong to.

If the rest of the books in this series are as fun and educational as The Great Pie Catastrophe, the author will have another winning series on her hands. I can’t wait for Book 2!

Readers can visit the Joe-Joe Nut Series portion of the author’s website for some free coloring pages.

Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

• Publisher:  North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.
• ISBN-10:  0-87839-351-X
• ISBN-13:  978-0-87839-351-0
• SRP:  $9.95*

* Also available in a Kindle edition.

Bookmark & Share