Twins and a missing turtle face an entertaining, informative adventure.

Great for fans of Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot, Victoria J. Coe’s Fenway and Hattie series.

PICTURE BOOKS The Case of the Missing Turtle Dave Cole | Common Deer Press 120p, trade paper, $8.99, ISBN 978-1-988-76189-3

Cole (author of The Math Kids series) delivers a fun-filled adventure rich with educational elements in the first of his Emily and Sam series. Twins Emily and Sam Hilbert, out on a bike ride one day, discover a fascinating box turtle hidden in the grass—and decide, in classic curious kid fashion, to adopt the turtle as a member of their family. With that goal in mind, they set out to learn everything turtle-related via the local children’s zoo and their favorite zookeeper, Amira: what they eat, their favorite activities, and what kind of habitat they need to survive.

Soon, the twins have a cozy set up for their new turtle, who they’ve aptly named Chomper (after his penchant for wholeheartedly attacking lettuce), and adult readers will appreciate the engineering that goes into their turtle pen: using knowledge from a science fair project, Sam suggests they construct a table chart to determine the best shape for the enclosure, and the pair settle on a square to give Chomper the most space to conduct his turtle hijinks. And hijinks do ensue, as the next morning Chomper’s gone missing and the twins suspect their friend, Mateo, who’s “always wanted” a box turtle, of stealing him, setting in motion a botched nighttime rescue mission that ends in disaster.

Chomper eventually makes a reappearance, of course, but the wealth of this tale is in the educational tidbits Cole scatters throughout. Zookeeper Amira briefs the kids on turtle protection facts, readers will learn why garter snakes are important (and that they can climb trees), and Cole rounds out the book with a review of the Common Core math lessons peppered throughout. Mitchell’s black and white illustrations elevate the fun factor, splashing Chomper’s hilarious facial expressions and Mateo’s pet snake shenanigans across the pages—and painting a comic picture of Emily and Sam working together to save their pet.

Cover: A | Design & typography: A | Illustrations: A Editing: A | Marketing copy: A