A Case of NOT Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due! Sophie Johnson, Unicorn Expert, Is A Detective Genius by Morag Hood

MY NAME IS SOPHIE JOHNSON AND I AM A DETECTIVE GENIUS.

Having established her bona fides on unicorn-keeping, Sophie Johnson has a new area of expertise (according to her), crime solving. She's got the Sherlock cap and cape and the magnifying glass and she's read lots of books! And like her idol, Sherlock, she has a sidekick, her dog Bella.

THIS IS MY ASSISTANT BELLA. SHE'S NOT A VERY GOOD ASSISTANT, ACTUALLY. I AM DEFINITELY SMARTER.

And for Sophie the case is afoot! Her toy lion's tail is missing. She gets busy putting up flyers proclaiming the dastardly crime and posting a reward. She detains and grills all her dolls and toy animals, but they are all mum, lips sealed! It's a difficult case! But Bella has an acute sense of smell and sniffs out an important bit of evidence--the missing lion appendage. Sophie, however, is too busy interrogating her stuffed suspects to notice.

She is also too absorbed to notice the thieves outside the window, spying on her. While Sophie lectures on crime-stopping, Bella sets a trap for the robbers, rigging a string of pots and pans over the door to intercept the crooks as they enter. Sophie, however, is unaware of the on-going home invasion, focusing on her lecture to her glassy-eyed students, while Bella subdues and ties up the culprits and the policemen arrive to make the arrest.

"BELLA IS NO HELP, NO HELP AT ALL!" Sophie tells her listeners.

Bella receives a well-deserved blue-ribboned VERY GOOD DOG AWARD. Sophie is still oblivious.

"IT'S A GOOD THING I'M HERE. CRIME WOULD BE EVERYWHERE!"

There's plenty of activity going on right under Sophie's nose in the humorous illustrations of artist Ella Okstad, in Morag Hood's third book in her series, Sophie Johnson, Unicorn Expert, Is a Detective Genius (Aladdin Books). While continuing to rehearse her own press release, the would-be heroine fails to notice as her loyal sidekick hound collars the crooks in this story of Sophie Johnson and her self-proclaimed expertise and genius. Of course, the joke is on Sophie and young listeners will love collecting the evidence for her in this one. The first book in this series is Sophie Johnson, Unicorn Expert..