"Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind" is a humorous and informative introduction to the Black Capped Chickadee. Author Monica Silvie has written a clever pun-filled story that would definitely appear to elementary students and their grown-ups. This type of chickadee has markings that resemble a burglar's mask. Hence, this bird's decision to begin a life of crime, which consists of stealing gold from a vault, (really just seed from a neighborhood bird feeder.) Included at the end are some fascinating facts about chickadees. I plan to recommend this book to my colleague who runs our elementary school's Envirothon club.

This is such a fun and hilarious read! And the content is just too cute to handle!

The artwork is amazing. And we get to learn a lot about chickadees in a fun, engaging way.

Thank you, Kids Can Press, for the advance reading copy.

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind (Hardcover)
by Monica Silvie
Chickadee thinks he is a spy. He is a wonderful at finding so many things. He worked hard to find himself when he did he made a new friend.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chickadee': Criminal Mastermind is a delightful children's book about the chickadee! It tells the story of the a chickadee who believes himself to be a criminal mastermind at stealing gold. The gold turns out to bird food from a feeder and learns that he is not alone in the animal world. It is a really cute story with beautiful illustrations! I also love the facts about chickadees at the end of the story.

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind is an exuberant and whimsical illustrated story for the youngest readers. Due out 7th June 2022 from Kids Can Press, it's 36 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is such a fun little book. The masked "bandit" is a cheeky little house chickadee and the story is told from his perspective. The simple (non-rhyming) text by Monica Silvie will be easy enough for the very youngest readers but will keep 5-7 year olds entertained and engaged also. The illustrations by Elina Ellis are colourful and bright and full of small details which invite a closer look. The drawings are digitally rendered but look like hand drawn pastel/pencil style sketches. Very cute. All of the anthropomorphic animals (friends and food!) are drawn with cute faces and poses.

Five stars. This is a sweet book and will be a favourite for reading time (alone or with a family member). It would also make a super selection for school or public library acquisition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A funny and cute picture book about a little Chickadee that thinks he's a mastermind because he's figured out how to "steal" from the neighborhood bird feeder. I appreciated that the author also included facts about Chickadees for young readers.

This book is adorable. The bird believes itself to be a masked villain, stealing food, until he learns he's just a cute bird eating at a bird feeder. I laughed aloud at his realization. There's some great info about black capped chickadees at the end too!