Stephan Pastis, the former lawyer-turned-cartoonist behind the daily comic strip “Pearls before Swine,” (which runs in 650 newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times) recently made his first foray into long-form chapter books with “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made”). While it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Pastis’ irreverent sense of humor that the heavily illustrated whodunit is crammed with sly inside jokes, clueless characters and a hulking polar bear sidekick motivated by chicken nuggets and Rice Krispies Treats. What may come as a surprise is that his first book, which focuses on the misadventures of an 11-year-old detective, is geared toward the younger reader.
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