5-Year-Old Boy Books of the Week: Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye; Owly; The Silly Gooses

Here are Johnny Boo's favorites from the past week:

Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye 1: Hamster and Cheese
Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye 2: And Then There Were Gnomes
Author/illustrator: Colleen AF Venable/Stephanie Yue
Publisher: Graphic Universe (April 2010)
Source: Public library


Sasspants is a bookish guinea pig who lives in a pet shop, but when she loses a "G" from her tank, one of the hamsters mistakes her for a PI and insists that she solve a case for him. Hamisher the hamster, who thinks he's a koala (the pet shop owner isn't very good at telling animals apart, and so the snake tank is labeled "Llamas" and the mice tank is labeled "Walruses"), refuses to leave Sasspants alone until she agrees to find out who keeps stealing the pet shop owner's sandwiches. In And Then There Were Gnomes, Hamisher again convinces Sasspants to solve a case for him, but this time they need to find out who the ghost is and where the missing mice are. At the end of each graphic novel, there is a section called "Hamisher Explains": In the first book Hamisher tells us about snakes and in the second one his subject of choice is mice. And because Mr. Venezi, the pet shop owner, gets his animals confused, the last page of each book explains the differences between the real animals and the ones he mistakes them for. Tintin likes these too, although he hasn't been able to get the first one away from his brother yet.

Johnny Boo's note: I like when Sasspants meets that hamster. In the second book I like the title because it's kind of scary.

Find Hamster and Cheese: Amazon, IndieBound
Find And Then There Were Gnomes: Amazon, IndieBound

Owly, Vol. 5: Tiny Tales
Author/illustrator: Andy Runton
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions (October 2008)
Source: Public library

The fifth volume of Owly includes a new Owly adventure and a collection of the first Owly stories from the original mini-comics. There are also two Free Comic Book Day stories, as well as sections on how Owly came to be and how to draw Owly. In this all-ages wordless graphic novel, and in the other Owly volumes, the adorable Owly and his friends show a love of nature and the importance of helping friends in need. Johnny Boo loves it when we read Owly together, but I think he wishes a lightbulb would appear over his own head whenever he gets an idea.

Johnny Boo's note: Owly has no words, but I like it. I like it because it has lots of pictures. I like every picture of Andy Runton.

Find out more about Owly at Watch. Connect. Read.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound

The Silly Gooses
Author/illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Publisher: Blue Sky Press (1997)
Source: Public library

The Silly Gooses is six chapters of silliness. Mr. Goose is not proper and serious like the other geese in his flock. He plays the accordion and wears a jester's hat, and he rests on a beanbag chair instead of in a nest. While all the other geese are ready to be married, Mr. Goose just keeps on being silly. But when another flock of geese appears, one goose (who happens to be riding in a hot air balloon and playing the banjo) catches his eye. They fall in love and get married, and instead of having a cake and throwing a big party, they have a party and throw a big cake (at the proper and serious geese). They eventually have two silly babies who put ketchup and mustard on their ice cream sundaes and hot fudge sauce on their burgers, and they all go on to lead a very silly life. I'm not sure how many times we've read this book this week, but it's been a lot.

Johnny Boo's note: Dav Pilkey – his first name is really funny. I like when the silly goose falls in the water.

Find The Silly Gooses activities

Find the book: Amazon