Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase - Hardcover

Whatley, Bruce; Smith, Rosie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006026604X ISBN 13: 9780060266042

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1997

Synopsis

"I was on a case, and I knew just how to begin. I'd follow my nose."

Professor Drake, Detective Donut's friend and world famous archaeologist, is missing! And Donut has to find the professor's important Maltese statue before the notorious thief Goose does. But the detective is so distracted by thoughts of his birthday and a nice (up of hot cocoa, he doesn't notice that the strange bird claiming to be the professor's assistant looks alarmingly like Goose. Or that the oddly wrapped package in his mailbox is the very some size as the precious statue. Will he ever solve the mystery? And will anyone remember his birthday? Never fear--with the help of his faithful partner, Mouse, Detective Donut will crack the case!

Team up with Detective Donut and his clever sidekick, Mouse, for the wildest goose chase ever! A precious statue has been stolen, and the famous archaeologist, Professor Drake, has disappeared— is the villainous Goose behind this plot? It's up to bumbling Detective Donut to find out! Bruce Whatley's hilariously funny illustrations, packed with slapstick gags and witty puns, hold the key to this mystery. Readers will love to follow along with the clues as Detective Donut finally cracks the case.

About this title

About the Author:

Bruce Whatley  is one of Australia's most highly regarded and talented authors and illustrators for children, both here and internationally. Bruce started his working life in advertising as an art director and illustrator and since then he has created over 60 picture books.  Many of his books have won awards both in Australia and overseas, including The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Tails from Grandad’s Attic and Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase. 

Bruce has co-written a number of award-winning books with his wife Rosie Smith (Whatley’s Quest, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase and Little White Dogs Can’t Jump) and his son Ben Smith Whatley (Zoobots).

In 2002 Bruce paired with author Jackie French and illustrated Diary of a Wombat – an iconic picture book that has become an international best-seller with foreign sales to nine territories.  Diary of Wombat was the start of an extraordinary artistic collaboration that sparked the publication of Pete the Sheep, Josephine Wants to Dance, Shaggy Gully Times, Baby Wombat’s Week, Christmas Wombat and Wombat Goes to School. Plus two delightful books about Queen Victoria, being Queen Victoria’s Underpants and Queen Victoria’s Christmas.

 One of the most remarkable aspects of Bruce’s talent is the breadth of his artistic ability, which includes an appealing cartoon style to realistic representations using mediums ranging from coloured pencils, watercolour, acrylic and oils, and more recently, 3D digital software. 

And accompanying that talent is an intellectual depth and curiosity that sees Bruce taking on large and complex projects, such as The Beach They Called Gallipoli, which is being co-created with Jackie French and will be published in 2014 to coincide with the centenary of WW1.

In 2008 Bruce completed his PhD titled Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making. In his thesis Bruce looked at the image making of the non-dominant hand, making the fascinating discovery that in most people the ability to draw lies in the use of the ‘other’ hand.

Bruce Whatley  is one of Australia's most highly regarded and talented authors and illustrators for children, both here and internationally. Bruce started his working life in advertising as an art director and illustrator and since then he has created over 60 picture books.  Many of his books have won awards both in Australia and overseas, including The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Tails from Grandad’s Attic and Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase. 

Bruce has co-written a number of award-winning books with his wife Rosie Smith (Whatley’s Quest, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase and Little White Dogs Can’t Jump) and his son Ben Smith Whatley (Zoobots).

In 2002 Bruce paired with author Jackie French and illustrated Diary of a Wombat – an iconic picture book that has become an international best-seller with foreign sales to nine territories.  Diary of Wombat was the start of an extraordinary artistic collaboration that sparked the publication of Pete the Sheep, Josephine Wants to Dance, Shaggy Gully Times, Baby Wombat’s Week, Christmas Wombat and Wombat Goes to School. Plus two delightful books about Queen Victoria, being Queen Victoria’s Underpants and Queen Victoria’s Christmas.

 One of the most remarkable aspects of Bruce’s talent is the breadth of his artistic ability, which includes an appealing cartoon style to realistic representations using mediums ranging from coloured pencils, watercolour, acrylic and oils, and more recently, 3D digital software. 

And accompanying that talent is an intellectual depth and curiosity that sees Bruce taking on large and complex projects, such as The Beach They Called Gallipoli, which is being co-created with Jackie French and will be published in 2014 to coincide with the centenary of WW1.

In 2008 Bruce completed his PhD titled Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making. In his thesis Bruce looked at the image making of the non-dominant hand, making the fascinating discovery that in most people the ability to draw lies in the use of the ‘other’ hand.

Bruce Whatley and Rosie Smith are the authors of many popular and award-winning books, including Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase and Whatley's Quest. They live with their children, Ben and Ellyn, in Australia.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-4?A wacky whodunit. Detective Donut, a not-too-bright bear, narrates the tale in terse, urgent sentences. The problem is a complicated one, involving a famous archaeologist, a mysterious package shaped like a missing statue, and a masked goose posing as the scientist's assistant. A merry chase results in a solution to the crime. The humorous illustrations fill in all of the details not mentioned in the text. The detective's partner, Mouse, is referred to in the text only once; the pictures, however, show that he plays a far more important role in catching the thief. There are literal jokes and puns galore: when Detective D. arrives at the Professor's house to check things out, "Someone had turned the place upside down." And there, indeed, is a large picture of the detective looking up at the furniture tidily hanging from the ceiling. Funny bits are hidden everywhere; astute readers can find them sooner or later as they puzzle out this droll picture-book story.?Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 006026604X
• ISBN 13: 9780060266042
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Whatley Bruce