Life in the Far Forest cannot be called calm: not a day goes by without crimes, chases, suspicions and brutal intrigues. Finally, all the books of Anna Starobinets' "Beastly Detective": "The Wolf's Lair", "The Predator's Right", "The Claws of Wrath" and "The Pickpocket" are published under one cover, with "The Pickpocket" coming out for the first time.
Each book is a separate detective story, in which the investigation is conducted by the elderly and experienced detective Badger Senior and his assistant, the daring and desperate Badgercat.
All the heroes of this book series are animals, but they can love and hate, lie and tell the truth to someone's face, trust and despair, betray and save no worse than we, human-like readers. It is only at the end that you can figure out who is a friend and who is an enemy, who is an innocent furry victim and who is a fatal predatory female, who is a hostage and who is an invader, because according to the rules of the genre, the criminal is unknown until the very end. But it is clear to everyone that all the stories are written with humor and irony, and the plots will captivate not only children, but also their parents.
For primary and secondary school age.
Five reasons to join the Beastly Detective universe:
1. Your child will love reading
Yes, this book really "calculates"! So much so that later you have to persuade your reader to fall asleep. The plot is so captivating that the question of whether to read it or not is simply not worth it. Of course, read it and binge-watch it!
2. Training logic and intelligence
On the one hand, Anna Starobinets's brutal investigations are childish by all standards: anthropomorphic characters, the action takes place in the forest. But on the other hand, the detective storyline is built without any allowance for age. Even adult readers remain in the dark about the outcome until the very end. So, like any good detective story, our "Beastly" is an exercise for the mind, for attention, intelligence and logic, if you like.
3. A great way to spend an evening with your kids
Take turns reading, read by roles, laugh together at the author's witty passages, guess together who the criminal is. And yes, adults will also find it interesting, you won't have to pretend or force yourself. As we say at our publishing house, "this book is designed for ages 6 to 99."
4. This is not just a book, but a whole universe!
This may not be a fantasy world, but it is invented and described in great detail and vividly. The animals of the Far Forest go to the "Suchok" bar, drink mujito, use a quack account, do not disdain psychotherapy and fly as economy class migratory storks. Our human world is visible through the realities of the Far Forest, but as if created by children during a game of "tree house", where instead of cakes there are sand balls with dry leaves, and instead of a chandelier there is a grandfather's flashlight. It is curious and informative to explore it, as well as familiar things from an unusual angle.
5. Eternal values
The heroes of "Beastly Detective" are not at all unambiguous, complex, sometimes contradictory. They are almost like people, full of unresolved problems, unsolved internal mysteries and unanswered questions. But the concepts of good and evil in the books about Badger the Elder and Badgercat are quite definite. Neither in the Far and Near Forests, nor in the Far Sparse Forest, will it be possible to get lost in what is good and what is bad.
Recommended reader age: 7+
Author: Anna Starobinets
Artist: Muravski Maria
Year of issue: 2024
Publisher: Abrikobuks
Pages: 528
Dimensions: 180x240 mm
ISBN: 978-5-6040902-5-1