Detective Gordon
1 primary work • 5 total works
Book 5
Illustrated in full color and packed with character and humor, this is a new whodunnit mystery in the award-winning Detective Gordon series, fun to read alone or aloud.
A Case with a Bang is the final book in the series of funny detective stories for early readers set in a friendly forest in which two determinedly fair police—retired-toad Gordon and the indefatigable mouse Buffy—solve the mystery and stop regularly to eat cake.
Night brings a humming, scraping sound in the woods. Someone has wrecked the badger's trash can. Later, three large creatures are spotted up on the mountain.
Detective Buffy discovers this seemingly small case really is a dangerous mystery—she comes back from her first investigation flat as a gingerbread, rolled over by something huge and terrifying.
Back at the station, retired Detective Gordon is training a new young police assistant, and the cakes have run out in the forest bakery!
While all the animals cower at the police station, Buffy remembers Gordon’s stories about trolls. Is it possible they do exist? Taking Gordon’s advice about how everyone thinks differently, she finds a way to communicate with the giant creatures—perhaps not so terrifying after all.
The book leaves readers with a memorable Gordon message: Everyone thinks differently, strangers are welcome, cakes for everybody!
This final installment in the award-winning Detective Gordon series is a multi-layered philosophical story about good detective work involving all, kindness to newcomers and doing the right thing.
Winner of multiple awards and accolades, Detective Gordon is a mystery series with depth—perfect for reading alone for emerging readers, wonderful for reading aloud together as a chapter book.
Ulf Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish children’s writer, who wrote more than 100 books for all ages. He is the winner of numerous awards including the August Prize, the Astrid Lindgren Prize and the Swedish Academy’s Children’s Book Prize. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages and made into feature films, opera, radio, plays and other forms – even postage stamps.
Gitte Spee is a renowned artist from the academy of fine art and design in the Netherlands and St Martins School of Art in London. A leading children’s book illustrator, she has also written numerous books, published and translated around the world.
Translated from the Swedish edition by Julia Marshall.
Read all the Detective Gordon series:
Detective Gordon: The First Case
Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case
Detective Gordon: A Case in Any Case
Detective Gordon: A Case for Buffy
Praise for Detective Gordon: A Case with a Bang
"[J]ust as charming, gentle, wry, and entertaining as the rest of the series and anything that was created by A.A. Milne or Kenneth Grahame."—Kirkus Reviews
"Nilsson excels at writing imaginative, gently amusing adventures, laced with unpretentious bits of wisdom."—Booklist
"A warm-hearted tale that readers will want to immerse themselves in. Instant classics, this series would make for perfect classroom read-alouds and a just-right match for chapter book readers."—School Library Journal
"Simple, colorful illustrations are adorable, the creatures and their evident emotions are captivating.”—Youth Services Book Review
"Full of humour, wit and a dash of philosophical whimsy. . . once you've read one you'll want to devour them all!"—Readings, Australia
Praise for Detective Gordon: The First Case
"KLA-DUNK! Another winner."—starred, Kirkus Reviews
"A must-have for chapter book collections."—starred, School Library Journal
"Full of warm humour and wisdom...with a feather-light touch."—Best Books of 2015, Horn Book
"A wonderful choice for independent reading."—starred, Booklist
An award-winning illustrated detective story set in a friendly forest and first in the acclaimed series for beginning readers.
Detective Gordon—a mystery-solving toad who loves cake—has his very first case. Someone’s stealing nuts from the forest, and it’s up to Detective Gordon to catch the thief! Unfortunately, solving this crime means standing in the snow and waiting for a long time... If only he had an assistant—someone small, fast, and clever—to help solve this terrible case. Then Detective Gordon would be able to go back to doing what he’s best at: thinking, eating cakes, drinking tea, and stamping important papers.
A perfect first chapter book for children aged five and up by one of Sweden’s top children’s writers. This much-loved junior fiction series is illustrated in full color throughout and packed full of character and humor. Winner of multiple awards and accolades, Detective Gordon is a fun whodunnit mystery series to read alone or aloud.
Translated from the Swedish edition by Julia Marshall.
Read all the Detective Gordon series:
Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case
Detective Gordon: A Case in Any Case
Detective Gordon: A Case for Buffy
Praise for Detective Gordon: The First Case:
“KLA-DUNK! Another winner.” Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A must-have for chapter book collections.” School Library Journal, starred review
“Full of warm humour and wisdom…with a feather-light touch.” Best Books of 2015, Horn Book
“A wonderful choice for independent reading.” Booklist, starred review
Gordon is on vacation, and Buffy is the sole detective at the small police station in the forest. It is not easy for a police officer to be alone. Especially when there are strange noises outside the station at night. Buffy decides to seek out Gordon in his little cottage by the lake to ask for help. After all, two police think twice as well as one. Two police are twice as brave!
The detective lay in bed with his eyes closed. But he couldn't sleep. He was thinking. He always thought best in bed. Especially with his eyes closed.
Something is going on in the forest: one of the animals is saying nasty things about the other forest creatures. But no one dares make a statement to the police. Who is the culprit?
Detective Gordon and his assistant Buffy must investigate! But this is a complicated case. The two police officers split the workload: Buffy questions the suspects, while Gordon stays in bed to think.
Once the investigation is over, Detective Gordon plans to go fishing and eat all the cakes he wants to. And maybe then Buffy will be appointed Police Chief! But that won't happen unless this case can be solved...
Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case is a warm and humor-filled follow-up to the well-reviewed Detective Gordon: The First Case.
The final story in this big-hearted series takes on the most important case ever investigated in Detective Gordon's forest—where is Buffy's mother? Gordon faces his old nemesis, the fox, in an investigation that leads to the edges of the forest.