Starred Review Mr. Penguin, shaped rather like a bulbous beaker, has invested everything he has into becoming a professional adventurer. He's purchased the requisite bow tie and hat, daringly pierced by an arrow, and yesterday he placed an ad for his services in the newspaper. Yet his office phone has remained disappointingly silent. Just as he begins to have second thoughts about his new endeavor, he receives an urgent phone call from museum owner Boudicca Bones requesting his help in finding a hidden treasure within her Museum of Extraordinary Objects. His first adventure! He and his assistant, Colin (a spider), hightail it to the museum, where they're met by Miss Bones and her gigantic brother, Monty, who need the treasure in order to repair their crumbling museum. Maps, clues, and hidden rooms lead to a more perilous adventure than Mr. Penguin dreamed of, and a surprising twist adds a dash of suspense to this otherwise lighthearted and humorous mystery. Smith, whose Claude series carries a similar look and tone, writes for a slightly older audience here. The two-tone illustrations, in orange and black, are comical and elevate Mr. Penguin's antics and worries mely when he can eat his lunch. The short chapters and riotous plot will easily win this series starter fans, especially among Inspector Flytrap devotees.

Aspiring adventurer Mr. Penguin solves his first mystery with the help of an earnest crew in this quirky, sharply illustrated chapter book. When Mr. Penguin receives a frantic phone call from Bouddica Bones, owner of the Museum of Extraordinary Objects, the clumsy, bow tie-clad novice adventurer ejects himself from his office trash bin and dashes to the museum with his companion spider, Colin. The mission is standard expedition fare: find treasure that's been buried in the museum in order to save the dilapidated institution. From this early moment, Smith crafts a Rube Goldberg-style plot, with chapters dangling readers over the next twist in the magical, cavernous museum basement. Bouddica and her brother, Montague, are described comically and drawn as white, and the only character of color, Edith, lives "in the park" with a pigeon named Gordon. While Edith is instrumental in saving the day and is rewarded by Bouddica, Mr. Penguin and Colin are the ones who receive formal praise in the city newspaper, reinforcing dominant race, gender, and class norms. Also irritating is the fact that Antarctica-native Mr. Penguin lives in an igloo. A plot twist and strategic pops of orange among detailed drawings are sure to pull readers along, as chapters are broken up by images and color.For fans of the author's Claude series who are looking for a longer chapter book. (Mystery. 8-12)