The Great Corgiville Kidnapping

Tudor returns to the scene of Corgiville Fair for this rather wordy tale starring dog detective Caleb Corgi. Caleb, who ""had observed an increase in the number of raccoons in town,"" fears the masked intruders will steal the town's prize rooster, Babe. They do, and after some careful maneuvering the canine sleuth manages to rescue the purloined bird in a drawn-out finale. Displaying the wry humor her fans have come to expect, Tudor splashes her narrative with intentional melodrama, zippy puns and clever asides (a pointed reference to Gertrude Stein is just for parents). Yet a plot that wanders in many directions and overly long chunks of text will likely be off-putting to young readers (e.g., the opening paragraph extols Caleb's virtues in a long-winded resume). Tudor's sprawling pictures are abundantly detailed--especially the book's endpapers and Megan's Market, the town grocery store--depicting a buzzing Corgiville filled with nattily attired, anthropomorphic animals. Still, this is not the venerable artist's most memorable work. All ages. (Sept.)