Inspector Flytrap (Inspector Flytrap Series #1)

by Tom Angleberger, Cece Bell (Illustrator)

Overview

A funny and clever illustrated early chapter book in the Flytrap Files universe, from New York Times bestselling author Tom Angleberger and Newbery Honor winner Cece Bell!

Meet Inspector Flytrap! He's a Venus flytrap and world-class solver of BIG DEAL mysteries.

Meet Nina the Goat! She's a goat and Inspector Flytrap's trusty assistant—except when she eats the clues!

Together, they're a great mystery-solving duo! Follow along as they decode a secret message, investigate a stinky shoe, and figure out other big and tasty mysteries.


Read all the hilarious chapter book series in the Flytrap Files universe:
Inspector Flytrap
Inspector Flytrap
The President's Mane Is Missing
The Goat Who Chewed Too Much
Didi Dodo, Future Spy
Recipe for Disaster
Robo-Dodo Rumble
Double-O Dodo
DJ Funkyfoot
Butler for Hire!
Give Cheese a Chance
The Show Must Go Oink

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419709654
Publisher:	Amulet Books
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Series:	The Flytrap Files , #1
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	322,303
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Tom Angleberger is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Fake Mustache and Horton Halfpott, both Edgar Award nominees, and the Qwikpick Papers series. He is also the author of the transportation picture book McToad Mows Tiny Island. Tom lives with his wife, Cece Bell, in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Cece Bell is the author of the Newbery Honor Book and Eisner Award winner El Deafo, which received four starred reviews, was named a 2014 best book by Parents magazine, and is a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of Rabbit and Robot, winner of a Geisel Honor. Cece lives with her husband, Tom Angleberger, in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/23/2016
In this uproariously funny illustrated chapter book, the husband-and-wife team of Angleberger and Bell (Crankee Doodle) highlight the outrageous investigations of a Venus flytrap detective—think Inspector Clouseau as carnivorous plant. Inspector Flytrap won’t take just any mystery: it needs to be a “big deal” mystery. Luckily, he gets a few: Lulu Emu at the art museum is curious about a mysterious blob on a da Vinci painting; Koko Dodo’s bakery suddenly stinks; and a rose has been kidnapped from Mimi Kiwi at Snooty la Tooty Gardens. When Inspector Flytrap’s grouchy assistant, Nina the Goat, isn’t eating everything in sight (including evidence) she pushes his flowerpot on a skateboard to the scene of each investigation, however dangerous that may be (“She just shoves me out into the street, right in front of speeding traffic!”). Abundant punning and absurdity, Bell’s equally raucous cartooning, and the trail of destruction that Nina and the inspector leave in their wake make this series opener a “big deal” winner. Book two, Inspector Flytrap in the President’s Mane Is Missing, is available simultaneously. Ages 6–9. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

The direct storytelling makes the episodic structure engaging but accessible, and the repetition both in the narration and the dialogue (“Big deal” is a common utterance, especially by Nina) gives multiple opportunities to practice decoding skills. Black and white illustrations can be found on nearly every spread, helpfully giving context clues to readers while moving the story along. This will snare transitioning readers like Flytrap snags his lunch.

BCCB

"Generous illustrations spilling across the pages humorously set the mean-streets, noirish scene, complete with beat-up office and Bakelite phone, and Bell manages the challenge of giving a potted plant both personality and verve."

The Horn Book

"Angleberger established his aptitude for finding kids’ funny bones with his Origami Yoda series, and he doesn’t hold back in this wacky new series for elementary schoolers... Running gags and gross-out humor will keep readers in stitches, with Nina acting as “straight goat” to the more animated detective—when she is not eating the evidence, that is. Bell’s cartoonish illustrations appear on almost every page, ramping up the laughs."

Booklist

"Angleberger established his aptitude for finding kids’ funny bones with his Origami Yoda series, and he doesn’t hold back in this wacky new series for elementary schoolers... Running gags and gross-out humor will keep readers in stitches, with Nina acting as “straight goat” to the more animated detective—when she is not eating the evidence, that is. Bell’s cartoonish illustrations appear on almost every page, ramping up the laughs."

Booklist

05/01/2016
Gr 2–5—Only Angleberger and Bell could make a Venus flytrap and a goat a viable combination as a mystery-solving duo, as they do in this heavily illustrated new chapter book series. Inspector Flytrap (never "Mister Flytrap," as he often corrects clients) and his goat assistant, Nina, run Flytrap Detective Agency. Flytrap's interested only in solving "BIG DEAL" mysteries, while Nina seems motivated purely by her ravenous appetite—indeed, she has a bad habit of occasionally eating evidence. The potted inspector makes his way about town on a skateboard, pushed by his hungry, sarcastic goat colleague. Each short section focuses on a different mystery (a blob on a da Vinci painting, a stinky shoe on top of a cookie bakery, and a missing rose at Snooty a la Tooty Gardens) that ends with hilarious results. VERDICT This quirky series debut will amuse and intrigue young readers; a series sure to "fly" off the shelves.—Kathy Kirchoefer, Henderson County Public Library, NC

School Library Journal

2016-05-04
Inspector Flytrap is here to solve your "BIG DEAL" mysteries…foolishness in every case file guaranteed.Inspector Flytrap may be a Venus flytrap, but the carnivorous plant is also trying to become the greatest private detective ever grown. Inspector Flytrap lives in a pot and can leave the office only with the help of assistant Nina the Goat, always hungry and frequently unimpressed. She puts the inspector's pot on a skateboard and pushes it around town. Calls come from many of the town's animal denizens, but the inspector spurns small cases. Lulu Emu's request for assistance at the art museum seems important enough to put the inspector on the case—but contrary Nina's fondness for going the wrong way down busy, one-way streets makes for a hair-raising start. At the museum, Lulu takes them to the Top Secret Art Lab, where they are shown the only flower painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted: there's a mysterious yellow glob stuck to the masterwork. Nina tastes it. And after a few simple questions, the intrepid plant detective solves the explosive (and slightly gross) case. Angleberger and Bell team up for a goofy, easy chapter-book series kickoff. The cases (in addition to the Leonardo enigma, there's a case involving a fetid cookie factory and an AWOL rose) are full of silly characters (and solved with silly solutions), and Bell's ample cartoon line drawings pair perfectly.Three cases and lunch! What more could you need? Happily, Volume 2, The President's Mane Is Missing, publishes simultaneously. (Humor. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews