The Web Files - booktalk: primary - Review

By Margie Palatini; illustrated by Richard Egielski. Hyperion, 2001; 32 pages; $16.99 (K-5).

Ducktective Web and his partner, Bill, are hot on the trail of a hen's pilfered, about-to-be-pickled purple peppers in this deadpan barnyard take-off on the old "Dragnet" show. It's a tough case to solve. Little Boy Blue has an airtight alibi and Jack Horner is in his corner. Can they catch the culprit before all the veggies are gone? Children can chime in on the famed "Dragnet" theme: "DUM-de-dum-dum-DUM."

ACTIVITY: At Van Holten School in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Maren Vitali's second graders worked in pairs picking nursery-rhyme characters--a victim and a suspect--and making "Wanted" posters, each with a picture of the culprit, a summary of the crime, the evidence, and the reward. These flatfeet then wrote and illustrated new mystery installments for Ducktective Web to solve.

JUDY FREEMAN, children's literature consultant and workshop presenter (BKWSSF@aol.com), is the author of several books including More Books Kids Will Sit Still For (Bowker/Greenwood, 1995).

COPYRIGHT 2001 Scholastic, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group