Eaton III, Maxwell. The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Crazy Critter Race (Flying Beaver Brothers #6)March 10th 2015 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Copy from Young Adult Books Central and reviewed there.
Ace and Bub are tired of living in a the half-a-house that their penguin friends built for them, so when they see a flyer for Crazy Critter's race, they enter in order to win the grand prize...a houseboat! The race involves sailing around the Shark Tooth Islands and planting tree seeds. Neither the Beaver Brothers or their competitors, the Roping Racoon Sisters have a lot of time to ask questions before the race starts, but when the seeds start sprouting vicious vines, Ace and Bub start asking questions. Is someone trying to sabotage Crazy Critter's Race, or is he trying to get more houseboats sold?
This graphic novel for beginning readers has a good balance between the pictures and the simple text. The smaller size makes the book easy to hold, and each volume in the series is done in a different color, which can be very helpful when readers are trying to identify which book they still need to read. For reading aloud, adults need to prepare themselves to make lots of sound effects. Since Ace and Bub get involved in lots of action and running around, readers need to be able to intone "broff!", "blobba-lob" and "piff piff piff" with enthusiasm.
Ace and Bub get themselves into some strange situations, but try to do the right thing. There is even a tiny environmental message about invasive species of plants in this one, if adult readers really want to encourage science lessons.
If Krosoczka's Lunch Lady books and Holm's Babymouse ones are always in your young readers' library haul, definitely investigate these go-getting sentient beavers! Spa-loosh!
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