The other day, while sorting borrowed books back into our library basket (again), it struck me: my four daughters are checking out more chapter books than picture books these days. Which means that I am also reading a lot of chapter books—pre-reading for my younger girls, so I can help them find the good ones, but also “pre-reading” for my older girls because (and they know this) I just like to read all the good books first.
As a result, I have read a lot of early and middle grade chapter books. And I confess: I do sometimes reach a point of saturation. I know I’ve reached it when every new book I pick up begins to feel like an oh-so-slightly remixed version of Magic Treehouse (but this time it’s a Magic Canoe) or Harry Potter (“You’re an elf, Carrie!”).
And so it brings me great joy to find a book that feels truly new, even as it echoes older refrains that make it read like a classic. James D. Witmer’s stories strike this balance just right—they feel perfectly suited to readers right now, in this moment, yet they also feel sturdy and timeless.
His newest book, A Nose for Trouble, is the next installment in his Allen Family Mystery series. Though these books are about the whole Allen family, they are told from the perspective of the family pets, which gives the series a fun, unexpected flavor. Witmer has a knack for giving readers just the details we need to inhabit the story of an animal: his dogs experience the world through their sense of smell first, or lean on the qualities of their different breeds to solve the book’s mystery, while the cat and the parrot likewise bring their own particular mannerisms and quirks to the story, which invites readers to see our everyday, ordinary world from a slightly different, somewhat closer to the earth, perspective.
In this new book, the Allens’ dachshund, Max, gets to lead the story, as the unlikely witness of what he believes to be a criminal “smallifying” the neighborhood packages. Though he faces a series of challenges as he tries to solve the mystery, the biggest challenge is one that will feel familiar to many young readers: the struggle of getting people to believe you when you’ve seen or experienced something you can’t quite describe.
In this way, Witmer connects beautifully with both the pet protagonists and the readers following their story. A Nose for Trouble is an adventure, yes, but it isn’t a dose of unadulterated fun: there are some intense moments here, moments that will feel very real to young readers, because in some ways, watching your dad suffer through the pain of a broken leg is way scarier than watching Harry confront Voldemort. But Witmer deals with all of this gently. He knows his readers, and he’s kind to them. He meets them amid the real challenges they face and he shows them a way through.
That is, I think, one of the qualities that makes James D. Witmer one of our family’s favorite authors. His stories are the best kind of quiet—they may not feature epic battles between good and evil, but they meet readers right where they are. They show us the goodness of the world we live in and the wonder of our own ordinary stories.
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Yes, he does. I can’t wait to read this one.
“He knows his readers, and he’s kind to them.” So true. Wonderful review. Thank you, Thea!