By Doreen Cronin
Four tiny chicks who fancy themselves crime-fighters take on their first case: a big, round, shiny green thing in the backyard that's terrifying the neighborhood squirrel.
Dirt, Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie are the Chicken Squad, and they solve mysteries whether anyone asked them to or not. When a squirrel comes tearing into the coop babbling about something big and round and scary in the yard, the chicks take the case, even though their only witness is too panicked to say what shape a shape even is. What follows is a very small investigation into a very silly threat.
For the Bad Guys fan at the younger end who wants the animal-crew-on-a-case feeling in a shorter, gentler book. The chicks bicker and boast and jump to wild conclusions exactly like a real crew of goofballs, the mystery is bite-sized, and the pictures carry a lot of the story so a newer reader never feels stranded. It's the start of a series, and it reads aloud beautifully if you want to share the first one.