Leave It to Plum! (Plum the Peacock)

Gr 3-7--In this alliterative zoo tale, peppy purple peacock Plum befriends Jeremy, a sad and solitary street kitty, who returns the favor by saving all the peafowl from a frightening fate. It seems that nefarious ningbing Itch, a mouselike marsupial aiming to get the feathered flock ejected, has concocted a scheme to frame the flightless fowl for a series of theft, and then dispatch them via an "accident" on the zoo's closed-off elevated monorail. Fortunately, Plum manages to send a signal that brings his feline ally racing to the rescue in the nick of time. And being grateful, as well as the most beneficent of birds, Plum goes on to hook Jeremy up with lonely new zookeeper Lizzie. Perhaps Phelan can be forgiven for portraying the tails of both peacocks and peahens with the same calligraphic swirls, as the expressive ink-and-wash animal portraits that pack his short chapters of well-paced narrative are done in a fanciful style. Progressing readers weaned on similarly sited anthropomorphic shenanigans like Diane Redfield Massie's Baby beebee bird or Philip Stead's Amos McGee tales will find their suspicions that it really is all happening at the zoo further confirmed. VERDICT A buoyant tale for younger middle grade readers, with a mild dose of danger for spice and an extroverted protagonist on a mission to "mingle, guide, delight."--John Edward Peters

A bighearted peacock with boundless cheer stars in this lively zoo caper by Phelan (Knights vs. Dinosaurs). Free-range peacocks have long been official guest ambassadors at the Athensville Zoo, seeking to "Mingle! Guide! Delight!" But not everyone is happy about the arrangement, especially not a dour, power-hungry marsupial called Itch, a ningbing with an inflated sense of his own smarts. Fed up with being caged while others roam free, Itch plots to frame the pea-fowl for a manufactured crime spree with the help of some wily, sticky-fingered squirrels. When the plan results in entrapment, a "peppy, purple peacock" named Plum plays detective to gain their release, and in the process, his sleuthing sees him standing up to bullies and growing in social awareness. Luckily, the congenial protagonist is also able to draw on the help of new friends, including a lonely street cat and an introverted new zookeeper, and by book's end, everyone is better off than they were at the start, including the series starter's villain. With occasional grayscale art presented alongside amusingly self-important, cinematically rendered characters, Phelan offers winning animalian antics for chapter book beginners. Ages 8-12. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (June)

"Plum the peacock . . . and the rest of his flock are charged with welcoming and interacting with the human visitors . . . But trouble is brewing in the form of disgruntled ningbing Itch, a tiny Australian marsupial who seethes about the unfairness of his own captivity . . . The story is a hoot . . . Young readers will relish this splendid hullabaloo at the zoo." — Booklist

"Plum the peacock is content with his life at Athensville Zoo . . . [but] Itch the ningbing has had it with all the peacocks strutting around, mingle-guide-delighting visitors. With the help of some devious squirrels, he enacts a brilliantly evil plan to overthrow the birds' reign. . . . Both accessible and goofy, with a cast of amusingly quirky characters and a surprising amount of emotional weight. . . . An instant hit with kids who like to root for the underdog (cat? bird?)." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The peacocks at the Athensville zoo have the privilege of roaming the premises, welcoming visitors with their impressive fantails with instructions to 'Mingle! Guide! Delight!' Jealous ningbing Itch, a resident of the Small and Unusual Mammal Pavilion, decides that he has had enough of the free-ranging peacocks . . . [and] frames the peacocks for a series of small thefts. . . . A heavily illustrated novel . . . has the visual presentation, lively characters, and fast plot that make for a friendly experience for early-chapter-book readers." — Horn Book Magazine