Timmy Failure: MIstakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

I have mixed feelings about this book. I listened to it, and it would be much better read. In the middle of listening, I went to Amazon for a preview so I could check out the illustrations. They are critical. As I was reading/listening, I kept making connections between Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. Timmy is almost a Calvin clone, with his polar bear, Total, taking the place of Hobbes. 

Timmy has his own detective agency and big plans to make a fortune from it. He is clever in his own way. All you have to do is pay attention to his vocabulary and wild imagination to figure this out. When he finally gets tricked into doing research and schoolwork by his new teacher, we see that he is very capable. However, as a detective, he is ineptness incarnate. Of course, it's this ineptness that provides much, but certainly not all, of the humour. 

Timmy may be an incompetent bumbling hero, but as annoying as he can be, he is loveable.  He lives with his single parent mom who struggles to make ends meet. It is obvious that she loves him and does the best she can for him, even, when necessary, closing down his detective business. 

While I am sure that Timmy will capture the hearts of many of our students here at Dickens, he just hasn't grabbed mine. I struggled with how dumb and egocentric Timmy comes across. Sure it's hilarious, but I am not a particular fan of dumb, self absorbed boy books.