And Then There Were Gnomes: Book 2 (Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye)

A mystery of the ghost in the aisle drives Hamisher to beg Sasspants to solve another mystery. We laugh and laugh at the ridiculous fish, who end up at the center of the ghostbuster story.The Guinea PI series has been a favorite of our family for over a year. This graphic novel series has provided hours of enjoyment for us. Our now seven year old sits in our lap and we read the story to him out loud, while he follows along in the pictures. The content is very kid-appropriate. No violence, very little to be scared of, lots of cute but quirky characters. Yet there are some very real social situations that are illustrated, so that our child learns cultural cues and norms. The narrative is layered and convoluted, making it interesting for adults. The characters are so well written and illustrated that it is easy to find voices for them as we read aloud. All in all, I highly recommend this for anyone five and older that enjoy animals and their personalities.

My daughter (6 years old) loves this series. Only problem is, now she wants a hamster!

My son and I laugh out loud at these hilarious and clever books!

My boys all love Diary of Wimpy Kid. However, there are only so many books in that series. This book was something that came up as similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My boys love this book. I know there are more in the series and I am waiting for a good price so I can buy them.

My daughter adores this series. Please make more.

I thought this little graphic novel was funny. This is the second book in the series, I haven’t read the first book yet. The satire comments and the story were laced with comical moments that had me laughing out loud as Harnisher, the hamster, tried to get Sassypants, the guinea pig, to put on his detective hat and get back to work.Harnisher was just plain funny as he tries to light a fire under his friend Sassypants so he’ll start being a detective again. Living inside Mr. Venezi’s pet shop, Harnisher comes up with some very creative mysteries that Sassypants must solve. He seemed like a great friend and a positive person to be around yet Sassypants was not liking it. Sassypants claims though that he’s not a detective but Harnisher is not listening.When Mr. Venezi’s arrives to open the shop wearing shorts, Harnisher starts in. Determining there’s something peculiar going on, Harnisher tries to enlist the help of Sassypants. Someone needs to help Mr. V recover the rest of his pants! I thought this was really funny as Harnisher’s excitement filled the air.The pet shop owner has mislabeled all the animals and now the mice are disappearing. A group of children come to the shop to purchase pets for themselves and notice the problem which leads to some interesting conversations. Can someone find the missing mice before they all disappear?The illustrations in this graphic novel are super cute and there aren’t a lot of characters in it. I feel that there’s a lot of text to read in this graphic novel yet the text itself is not hard. It’s a fun, creative graphic novel that I enjoyed. I put a hold on the next couple books in this series.

Reason for Reading: Both books 1 & 2 are Cybils '10 nominees and as a panelist for Graphic Novels they are required reading for me.This second story is almost as fun and cute as the first one and it does clear up some information for us. References to book 1 are mentioned so it is best to read them in order. The little hamster, Hamish, whose name is consistently referenced this time around is dying for another mystery for Sasspants to solve and for him to be her trusted sidekick. Only problem is he is driving 'Pants crazy by inventing mysteries all week, his latest one being to get all the hamsters to hide so he can claim they are all missing. Then the mice start to really disappear one by one and it takes some convincing to make Sasspants realize Hamish isn't crying wolf again.Once again it is the personalities that win the read over which specifically focuses on Hamish and Sasspants this time though all the others do get some page time, including my favourite, the goldfish. It is also made clear in this volume that Sasspants is a girl. Halfway through the book she is called "she" and from that point on the words "she" and "her" are used frequently. I had mistakenly taken her for a boy in the first book, but as far as I can remember no mention of her female status was mentioned. Poor Mr. V. the owner has some children in to buy a pet, and they tell him his signs are all wrong thinking it's a big joke when he tells them walruses make nice pets, meaning mice, and when he asks the children what they are really called they jokingly answer alligators and the next day he relabels some of the animal cages with some more funny names. The last pages include an article on a non-fiction topic relevant to the story, this time explaining how mice can get through walls and a last page telling the differences between what Mr. V. re-labeled the animals and what they really are. A delightful comic series that I think will appeal to many ages for its sheer humour, which manages to hit several levels from young to older.