Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission (review)

In this sequel to Mr. Chickee's Funny Money (BCCB 12/05), Steven, Richelle, and Russell go on the case when Russell's diminutive dog, Rodney Rodent, disappears into a creepy wall mural. They discover that Rod-Rode's strange utterance before he disappeared—George Clinton's funk refrain "bow-wow-wow-yippee-yo-yippee-yay"—is actually a password that allows people to travel between worlds. Intrepid detectives, they follow Rod-Rode through the portal and unexpectedly find Steven's old friend Mr. Chickee waiting for them. It turns out that Steven's previous-volume misadventures with FBI Agent Fondoo and the quadrillion dollar bill were a test to see if he and his friends would be able to help the Old Souls decipher the prophecies of the Chronicles of Zornea-Hu that will save their dying world. This complicated yet familiar fantasy premise launches the detectives on their adventure, which really begins when Russell finds himself in a land created by his favorite author, a land threatened by a terrible monster. Russell is from first to last a dubious hero; he and Steven are Curtis' goats as the author delivers jab after jab at dimwitted preadolescent boys. From bad puns to bathroom humor to slapstick physical gaffes, Curtis finds the funny bone of the nine-year-old male, and he doesn't stop worrying it until the giggles turn to groans. As with the first in the series, this makes a great shared reading experience for families—it features the kind of relentless but good-hearted teasing that passes between fathers and sons and invokes and parodies music and literature of parents' and grandparents' generations, paving the way for shared memories and knowledge along with the laughs. The ending promises more sequels to come, with Richelle's turn coming up next.