As well, the illustrations are stunning - I want a print of the one of Total wearing Timmy's mum's dress and carrying her handbag! There's a refreshingly strong portrayal of many of the adults involved - I love Timmy's mother, who's tolerant but only up to a certain point, and thought the way his new teacher handled him was brilliant. I enjoyed watching Molly Moskins's attempts to get Timmy to notice her as a girl rather than as a suspect. In addition to the comedy, though, the central Timmy/Total relationship, and Timmy's loneliness as he lacks any friends his own age apart from Rollo, who he's not particularly nice to, make it surprisingly poignant at times. In this case, Timmy Failure, the rather optimistic/completely deluded - delete according to how generous you are - boy detective and his sidekick Total the bear provide huge laughs as they try to solve the case. So put the pair together and you were always likely to get good results. There is also something really wonderful about polar bear sidekicks. It's one reason why I love Faith, narrator of Have a Little Faith by Candy Harper and Keep the Faith, so much. There is something incredibly enchanting about a protagonist with complete confidence in themselves. Can Timmy come out ahead of his evil nemesis?

This book is nothing short of a historical record of his life as an investigator, helped (or perhaps hindered) by his polar bear partner Total and grade-obsessed friend Rollo, and always wary of his rival Corrina Corrina. Timmy Failure is the CEO of Total Failure, the best detective agency in town. (Even for those of us significantly older than the target audience!) Summary: Funny, brilliantly illustrated, and surprisingly poignant at times, this is a great read.

Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis