Down in the Dumps #1: The Mystery Box

Description

The Secret Life of Pets meets The Bad Guys in DOWN IN THE DUMPS, an all-new, highly illustrated early chapter book series about three unlikely friends-a rotten banana, a broken tea pot, and a crusty blob of gum-and their adventures together in the local town landfill. To Nana, there isn't a better, more beautiful home for a mushy, moldy banana than the Westerfield Waste Transfer & Recycling Center! Nana loves living at the dump! She welcomes every new piece of trash with a hardy hug and happy hello. And in The Mystery Box, the first adventure in the Down in the Dumps series, when a Teddy Tedd Ted doll still perfectly wrapped in his gift box arrives, Nana realizes that not everyone is ready to be thrown away. Will Nana and her friends be able to navigate the many dangers of the dump to help Teddy Tedd Ted find his way home The Mystery Box is the first book in the Down in the Dumps series from beloved author-illustrator Wes Hargis. It will have even the most reluctant readers taking out the trash for more adventures! HarperChapters build confident readers one chapter at a time! With short, fast-paced books, art on every page, and milestone markers at the end of every chapter, they're the perfect next step for fans of I Can Read!

Wes Hargis wanted to be a professional dirt miner when he grew up. Unstable market prices for dirt led him to pursue his second love, and he has been an illustrator for more than twenty years. Mr. Hargis lives with his family (and his dirt) in Arizona.

"Gross-out gags are certainly the draw to this early chapter book, which offers three points of access: boxed-off narrative text tells the story in straightforward prose, dialogue bubbles bring action and drama, and visual cues offer opportunities for recall and prediction. Loose lines and dynamic composition keep an energetic pace, and the dump's denizens manage to be strangely offputting and yet weirdly adorable. While Ted finds his happy ending outside the trash heap, readers will want to follow Nana back to Westerfield for more smelly adventures." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books