Creepy Crawly Crime

by Aaron Reynolds, Neil Numberman (Illustrator)

Overview

Have you ever had one of those moments? You know—you're trying to find a stolen diamond pencil box for your beautiful butterfly customer, your mosquito witness won't give you any information, and your clumsy scorpion assistant has just tampered with your only bit of evidence?

Joey Fly has those moments a lot. In fact, he's probably having one right now. But that won't stop him from solving the mystery in Creepy Crawly Crime, his fantastic first graphic novel!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805087864
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	04/14/2009
Series:	Joey Fly, Private Eye Series , #1
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	429,113
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

AARON REYNOLDS hates spiders, but he loves bugs and books. He has written several books for kids, including Chicks and Salsa. Aaron lives near Chicago with his family.

NEIL NUMBERMAN is okay with flies and ladybugs, but he's deathly afraid of cockroaches. He graduated from the MFA illustration program at the School of Visual Arts and lives in Manhattan.

Editorial Reviews

“In this first installment of the Joey Fly, Private Eye series, Reynolds (Buffalo Wings) and Numberman, who makes a wowser of a debut, marry the film noir spoof to the graphic novel, and the result has the sweet smell of success written all over it.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“This playful pun-a-minute comic-book mystery is sure to charm. Numberman provides detailed backgrounds set in cool blues and warm sepia tones to create a visually engaging landscape smacking of noir-lite. Included at the end is a list of items that young detectives must then page back through the art to find. An auspicious series kick-off.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The plot, characters, and setting in this graphic novel are all inspired from the novels of hardboiled-detective legends Hammett and Chandler, but Reynolds expertly injects a buggy layer of hilarious high jinks. Numberman takes it one step further by using the dark color schemes most associated with film noir combined with clean, detailed art. Kids will get caught in the web of this classic mystery cleverly disguised as a simple bug's tale.” —Booklist

“Simple, whimsical drawings and humorous dialogue give the book child appeal.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

In this first installment of the Joey Fly, Private Eye series, Reynolds (Buffalo Wings) and Numberman, who makes a wowser of a debut, marry the film noir spoof to the graphic novel, and the result has the sweet smell of success written all over it. The mystery takes readers to the big insect city, where most of the inhabitants are "normal everyday bugs just trying to put three feet in front of the others." But there are always a few rotten arthropods in the barrel, and keeping them in line is Joey Fly, a detective with a fedora, a sense of justice masquerading as cynicism, a flair for similes and really, really big eyes. Joey, clearly an adult, is given a sidekick, an impetuous but eager scorpion named Sammy Stingtail. The crime does get solved-it involves a stolen diamond pencil box-but like the best noirs, the particulars take a backseat to the irresistible interplay of moody visuals (Numberman wryly replicates the chiaroscuro mis-en-scène of Depression-era cinema) and hard-boiled patois ("The facts were starting to line up like centipedes at a shoe sale"). Ages 8-up. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

Life in Bug City isn't easy, especially if your name is Fly—Joey Fly, Private Eye. When a smart mouthed kid scorpion named Sammy Stingtail shows up demanding to be hired as Joey's assistant, it turns out to be just the start of a real tough day for Joey. Sammy is one of the clumsiest scorpions around. He demolishes most of Joey's office while trying to clean it; as a result, it doesn't look very professional when a beautiful butterfly named Delilah shows up in need of a private eye to find her diamond pencil box. Still, Joey gets the case. He spends the day combing the crime scene, dealing with a shrewish mosquito suspect, and trying to keep Sammy from accidentally destroying of all the evidence. As the day toils on, bug suspects mount, Sammy gets on Joey's nerves, and Delilah ends up firing Joey! Can Joey still solve the case and show that a good private eye always gets his bug? Reynolds and Numberman craft a fun graphic novel that's equal parts Humphrey Bogart and A Bug's Life. Joey's first-person narration is full of funny film noir cliches (e.g., "Crime sticks to this city like a one-winged fly on a fifty-cent swatter." "The air was more tense than an alley cat at a flea market."). This humor will keep kids—and parents—laughing. Overall, this is a funny new addition to the growing list of animal detective books. Reviewer: Michael Jung

Children's Literature - Michael Jung

Gr 4-6

Hardboiled insect detective Joey Fly and his assistant, a young scorpion named Sammy Stingtail, search for a missing diamond pencil box belonging to Delilah, a femme fatale swallowtail butterfly. Simple, whimsical drawings and humorous dialogue give the book child appeal. The illustrations' gray and sepia tones reference film noir, but this may be lost on younger readers, many of whom probably prefer more color in their comics. The clever writing doesn't keep the story from lagging at times: the case of a missing pencil box, in the end, can't sustain the most gripping narrative. Unique and witty, but not essential.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

What detective wouldn't benefit from being a fly on the wall? Well, Joey Fly, a cool Sam Spade-esque private eye clad in trench coat and fedora, is just that insect. After hiring the surly Sammy Stingtail, a bumbling scorpion who's all thumbs-er, make that tail-he finds a case knocking at their door. Delilah, a beautiful butterfly, believes that her best friend, a ladybug named Gloria, has stolen her diamond pencil box. As the two gumshoes set out to crack the case, they encounter an imaginative cadre of insect witnesses. Joey Fly tries his best to be the suave sleuth, but is often comically kept on his toes by his hot-tempered young assistant. This playful pun-a-minute comic-book mystery is sure to charm. Numberman provides detailed backgrounds set in cool blues and warm sepia tones to create a visually engaging landscape smacking of noir-lite. Included at the end is a list of items that young detectives must then page back through the art to find. An auspicious series kick-off. (Graphic novel. 7 & up)

Kirkus Reviews