Detective Blue

In Detective Bluewe discover Little Boy Blue has left the farm to become a detective. Using a comic strip format, Steve Metzger tells of Blue's latest case, finding Miss Muffet. As he explores the mystery, we encounter his first case in the story, the Dish and the Spoon, which he "cleans up" prior to taking on the missing Miss Muffet. He also meets Mary's Lamb and his encounter there is a different take on the lamb's attempt to get into school. Jack Spratt lets Blue know about the missing Miss Muffet and he is on the case. He encounters Bo Peep and Humpty during his inquiry. The Three Blind Mice are little help and Jack Horner sends him to Old King Cole's Castle. Miss Muffet's nursery rhyme provides him with a fairy tale clue and an unexpected twist to the story at the end.

This is a great way to generate interest in reading nursery rhymes to understand the jokes in the book or as a way to review nursery rhymes for children already familiar with the characters. Children will find the dual nursery rhyme/fairy tale identity twist interesting.

I am hoping this is not Detective Blue's only case. I would love to see a series of nursery rhyme mysteries developed around this character.