Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Nana isn't ready for the old folks' home. Instead, she tries on different jobs (hockey referee, backhoe driver) until landing, happily, on detective. Nana's grandchildren Eufala and Bog are more interested in making mischief than solving crime until they help her unravel a mystery. The many quirky text asides and black-and-white illustrations add to an already funny and kid-friendly premise.

Kirkus Reviews

Prone to seeking out odd jobs and getting fired from them, Nana is hired as a police detective in Crispy County. <p>Prone to seeking out odd jobs and getting fired from them, Nana is hired as a police detective in Crispy County. Nearby, her daughter Elaine lacks childcare but doesn't trust Nana to look after her children, Eufala and Bog. A single mother (dad was kidnapped years earlier by an orangutan), Elaine locks the kids inside the house and heads off to work. Escaping easily, the children eventually join forces with Nana to track down a candy thief. This first novel quickly gets bogged down by the intrusive, wordy narration, full of cute asides. Consequently, the characters never come into focus, in text or illustrations. Even an absurd world must make its own kind of cockeyed sense, but this one is full of contradictions. Elaine, ridiculed as overprotective (having fired her babysitter for leaving nail scissors on the floor), blithely leaves the kids unattended all day. The efforts at postmodern humor a la Scieszka occasionally succeed, but can't compensate for affectless characters and a senseless plot, making it all the more puzzling why separate credit is given for the story's "concept." <i>(Fiction. 7-10)</i></p>

School Library Journal (Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Gr 2-4 Eufala and Bog's Nana is no run-of-the-mill grandma. She is a card-carrying deep-sea fisherman, a backhoe operator, and substitute tightrope walker, unbeknownst to her daughter, Elaine. Now, after reading a want ad in the paper"Detective, Must be very sneaky and own various wigs"Nana is ready to take on the job (not that she'd ever admit to being sneaky). Meanwhile, Elaine has just fired the children's 37th babysitter. After being left at home alone, the mischievous siblings escape their house with their skateboards. When they all meet up at the police station, the entire family sets out to find out who stole a case of Yumdums candy from 2500 Devour St. Full of quirky humor and interesting characters, this is a well-developed, fast-paced mystery for early chapter-book readers. The pen-and-ink illustrations on most pages are very funny; especially amusing are the maps of the city that show Nana's route as she "loses" the police station (more than once). Nana, Eufala, and Bog do crack the case but, more importantly, they'll make children crack up with delight. Terry Ann Lawler, Phoenix Public Library, AZ