When Pipsie's new friend Frannie the caterpillar goes missing, Pipsie puts on her detective cap and goes searching for clues. - (Baker & Taylor)

Pipsie loves everything wild—from dragonflies to oceans to tall, tall trees. She also loves solving mysteries. That’s why she’s a nature detective! When she and her turtle, Alfred, notice that their new friend, Frannie the caterpillar, has vanished, Pipsie is on the case. She grabs her magnifying glass, goes to her tree-house headquarters, and begins to search for clues. It’s time to make this mystery history!

Bursting with personality, this engaging story introduces a spunky new girl detective, a scooter-driving turtle who loves to eat, and a string of simple scientific clues that will keep kids turning the pages until the mystery is solved. Two pages of nature fun facts at the end of the story offer even more information for young nature detectives.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

Pipsie and her talking turtle, Alfred, become friends with a blue-eyed, dimpled caterpillar named Frannie, who turns into a monarch butterfly. The cutesy, condescending tone of the text makes it difficult to distinguish the factual from the fantastic, and the soft lines and pastel tones of Bishop's illustrations feel antithetical to the excitement DeDonato tries to elicit. "Fun Facts" are appended.

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-Gr 1—Pipsie is a nature-loving girl, who, accompanied by her sidekick Alfred Z. Turtle, befriends a baby caterpillar named Frannie. When Frannie mysteriously disappears, Pipsie zealously relies on her keen detective skills to find her. From a chewed-up milkweed leaf to dangly chrysalis to monarch butterfly, Pipsie and Alfred eventually reunite with their friend, who is now blessed with newfound wings. Due to a job well done, mystery successfully becomes history. While some readers may already know what happens to the missing caterpillar before the story even begins, there's solid information about metamorphosis to be gleaned from the fictional narrative. Additional fun facts are presented at the end of the book. Bishop's bright, cheerful illustrations capture Pipsie's earnest joy in her scientific quest. This is further enhanced by her silly sidekick, Alfred Turtle, who is more interested in gulping down clues for lunch than getting the job done. DeDonato has Pipsie follow some essential steps for scientific inquiry: firsthand inspection for clues followed by consultation with an expert in the field (the zoo man with the badge). The ideal follow-up lesson would be a similar hunt for caterpillars and/or other natural wonders. VERDICT A cute, acceptable choice to pair with nonfiction books on the life cycle of a butterfly.—Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY