Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol. Jennifer Lloyd. Illustrated by Jacqui Lee. Vancouver, BC: Simply Read Books, 2013. 40 pp., hardcover, $11.95. ISBN 978-1-927018-23-1. Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-8. Review by Jennifer Baetz. **** /4

excerpt:

Murilla found her mop. It was in her bathtub! Oops! The handle fell off.

The mop was old. Murilla needed to buy a new one. She got ready to go to Mango Market.

Murilla is a detective. She never knows when she will have to solve a mystery.

Just in case, she brought her detective backpack.

Murilla Gorilla is back in her follow-up to Murilla Gorilla: Jungle Detective. Author Jennifer Lloyd and illustrator Jacqui Lee continue telling Murilla’s mystery-solving stories with their charming combination of easy-to-read text and beautiful watercolour illustrations.

     Murilla has a leaky roof and wants to clean up the puddles, but her mop (once she finds it in her messy hut!) is broken. She heads to Mango Market to buy a new one, and while she is shopping, Parrot asks her to find his missing parasol. Murilla tries some of the mystery solving tricks she used in Jungle Detective, but she still can’t find the parasol. After getting some advice from a couple of characters readers will recall meeting in the first book of this series, Murilla once again gets a great idea that solves the mystery.

     The Lost Parasol builds on the characters and settings used in Jungle Detective, allowing readers to encounter some familiar faces and places. The story can also stand on its own for readers who are just discovering Murilla. The format of the book, with short chapters and sentences in a balanced page layout, is essentially identical to the first book of the series and once again provides emerging readers with an easy-to-read first chapter book experience.

     Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol is a fantastic follow-up to the first book in this series. Readers, as well as parents, teachers, and librarians, will surely be eagerly awaiting the next installment in Murilla’s mystery solving adventures.

Highly Recommended.

Jennifer Baetz is a Fine Arts Librarian in Saskatoon, SK.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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