Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective

Reading this book is like watching a movie. I can't wait to read this with my kid.

'Ace Lacewing' uses the 1930's-40's hard-boiled, clipped, and clever detective narrative most associated with Raymond Chandler to tell the story of trench-coated Ace's search for Queenie Bee, kidnapped somewhere in Motham City. Ace and his bug-amour, Doctor Xerces Blues, a beautiful green-toned butterfly, rush off to rescue Queenie, rather than enjoy a quiet dinner of aphids a la mode. The insect-detective genre is unusual, and therefore should be captivating for the small fry (even those who don't know film noir from a chocolate brownie) exciting, the jokes (generally insect and detective related puns and jokes) are uneven, either clever or just groan-eliciting: "The aphids will have to stew, Sweetheart,' I said. 'Queenie Bee's in a honey of a jam.' Downtown the traffic as crawling, That's what traffic does in Motham. It really crawls.' Biedrzycki introduces assorted (and sometimes sordid) other insect characters, including Sgt. Zito, "a mosquito," a maggot who saw the crime (although, as a maggot, he has no eyes, and reportedly can't give directions because he has no arms or legs), a giant Tiger Beetle who smacks Ace when he gets to close to Queenie, and the usual suspects: Some roaches, a cicado who "molted and flew out the window," Twig ("a walkingstick who "couldn't have run anywhere"), and Smooch, the assassin bug ("No one wanted to get near his kisser." The chase quickens when a bombadier beetle passes gas that knocks out a bee with information that Queenie's being held in ther own factory, the Honeyorks. There's a bit more light scatalogical humor as our heroes sneak into factory by leaping onto some beetles' dung ball. Once inside, Ace figures out ("The clues stuck together in my head like a skip jack beetle") that the kidnapper is Queenie's sister, Princess Pollen, jealous of the Queen's power and position. The skip jack beetle analogy is not clear, but at least the cadence and tone are right. Ace and friends use their knowledge of bugs to escape (with a little help from the ever alert Xerces), and after a long night, sit down for aphids as while "dawn was emerging like a monarch from a chrysalis." Although the film noir motif is fairly common in picture books (the writing template was invented long ago), the story's insects score points for originality, and the book is bug-educational and sufficiently humorous to engage kids' interest. The highlight is the pencil and Adobe photo-shopped illustrations, big and colorful, with scene setting longshots and dramatic closeups, complete with lots of insect-related details that help persuade the reader that he or she is indeed visiting a bug city. The insects look appropriately friendly, suspicious, or menacing, and Biedrzycki does an excellent job of setting a film noir tone, dramatically lit by glow-worms, city lights, and other highlighting techniques. Perhaps best for classrooms with insect study units, although any kid with a penchant for detective stories or bugs will find a lot to e

I am a elementary school teacher with a class of second grade gifted students.I am teaching them the mystery genre and they really enjoyed listening to it and identifying all the bugs in the story.I think that it would be enjoyed at every grade level.The illustrations were great and it had a twist at the end.A super read

My daughter loves this book! Each time we would go to a book store, she would look for this book and spend our whole visit reading it. She loves both bugs and mysteries, so this wrapped it all up in one neat little package. She is an advanced reader and we gave her the book for her 6th birthday earlier this year. It is still a hit! The illustrations are wonderful. The author did an EXCELLENT job of using insect related terms to write the book. We would love it if a whole series of Ace Lacewing made it to the bookshelves!

.. what it is like to live in Motham City: the signs, the personality of different bugs, the food, the transportation. We have had such fun with this book. Each time I read it to someone (even adults) we find some new little something in the drawings -- like the SWAT team that carries fly swatters! What a wonderful sense of humor this man has! I feel like detective Friday when I read this book out loud and like a kid when I'm peering into the city on each page.