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Inspector Hopper
Inspector Hopper (I Can Read Book 2) by Doug Cushman
Inspector Hopper and his perpetually hungry assistant McBugg solve three mysteries for their insect friends.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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55 people want to read
About the author
Doug Cushman
185 books17 followersDoug Cushman has illustrated more than 100 children’s books, 20 or so of which he has also written. Among his many honors, Doug has gained a place on the New York Times Children’s Best Sellers list and on the 2003 Children’s Literature Choice list. He has received a National Cartoonist’s Society Reuben award and a 2004 Christopher Award for his book illustrations.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 28, 2010
How clever! Doug Cushman pushes his limits this time in his new novel! The complicated plot is very difficult to summarize, but I will try.
In the first chapter, "Ladybug Is Missing", there are a series of intricate plots and clues that lead to where Mrs. Ladybug could be. There is a blue stain on the carpet in her house, which implies either a bloody death or a kidnapping. Then, there is a worm that the duo run into, who suspiciously does not know anything because she has been in her house all day. They find a grumpy rat next, who is suspiciously eating a suspicious seed. What type of seed was it? No one knows. After the rat chases them away, they find a blueberry bush. It turned out that Mrs. Ladybug was just a pig, metaphorically speaking, and ate a bunch of blueberries until she couldn't fly home anymore. What a pig! Women these days... At the end, she flew home safely. She turned out not to have been murdered or kidnapped or seen by any creature in the area but has just been an average, fat, blueberry-eating ladybug.
The second chapter is where it got a little more interesting. In "A Boat Disappears", Inspector Hopper and McBugg get a new case where grand theft boat occurred to Skeet, a bloodsucking demon. Inspector and his sidekick reluctantly agree to help Skeet find his boat. The only clue that they found was that Skeet's boat was a leaf. And the only other clue they got was also that there was a trail of leaf pieces which must not have been too important, so I ignored them as I was reading. They came upon Eensy Weensy the spider, who greeted them eagerly as he licked his chops. He said that he would have loved to help if it wasn't for his problem. His problem was that he cannot get back up the suspicious-looking spout. So the crew moved on. They met up with Sally, who was a snail... Suspicious? Probably. Apparently she has been "jogging all morning" (Cushman 36). The curious thing was that she has only jogged three feet! Aha! What a clue. As the three insect friends pretended not to have noticed this curious thing, they met up with Conrad, who was a caterpillar. At this point, I suspect that Cushman intended for the reader to have put together all the pieces of the mystery. I did not yet, until Conrad confessed that HE was the one that saw Skeet's boat. HE was the one who stole it. All the clues built up to this climax. Conrad the caterpillar was the one who CONSUMED Skeet's boat! Well done, Inspector! Another mystery solved.
In the final riveting chapter of Inspector Hopper, Inspector Hopper and McBugg are stranded in a creepy alley crawling with creepy bugs. Disgusting! They walk slowly through the darkness, occasionally seeing the light of the moon, constantly focused on getting home. Their little insect hearts were beating as they came to realize that someone was following them. Eventually, after many clever and unique ways to solve the mystery of who was following them, they figured it out. It was unexpectedly the MOON! That elusive wretch! Seeing the power of the moon, they began to converse with the moon, asking it if it wanted to be a detective with them, to join them in their quest, trying to lure it to their side. After asking the moon, Inspector Hopper answered for it. "Of course. Everyone wants to be a detective. It is a good job" (Cushman 52). Judging by this reply to his own question, we can see that this Inspector Hopper might be an impostor. The real one would never have enforced his own choice on inanimate objects, of course! But this inspector challenged the mighty moon. He called him a wimp under his breath, forcing the moon to be more stealthy and to conspire with them on their quest for vengeance. When a cloud passed in front of the moon, this inspector convinced himself that somehow, the armless moon drew it in front of itself, hiding its light. He said, "That is much better. You are learning fast. We cannot see you now. You will soon be a great [minion for] us. [Mwahahahaha!]" (Cushman 53). When the cloud passed, they saw a rat stealing from unwanted trash, and suddenly, this Inspector was somehow vanquished by the real one who saw the need for justice. The real Inspector chased after the rat. The moon suddenly hid its light once more... only to reemerge victorious. It succeeded in doing the fake inspector's bidding. But the poor, foolish Inspector Hopper did not know of that other inspector's scheme of evil and arrested the rat, obliviously proud of the now-corrupted moon. Cushman led the reader to a cliff-hanger ending, when the moon pursued the detective stealthily, obviously to track them for Inspector's evil doppelganger.
That concluded the book. I hope that the sequel will be better than this one, faster and more intellectual. I really got confused, like I was watching Inception.
In the first chapter, "Ladybug Is Missing", there are a series of intricate plots and clues that lead to where Mrs. Ladybug could be. There is a blue stain on the carpet in her house, which implies either a bloody death or a kidnapping. Then, there is a worm that the duo run into, who suspiciously does not know anything because she has been in her house all day. They find a grumpy rat next, who is suspiciously eating a suspicious seed. What type of seed was it? No one knows. After the rat chases them away, they find a blueberry bush. It turned out that Mrs. Ladybug was just a pig, metaphorically speaking, and ate a bunch of blueberries until she couldn't fly home anymore. What a pig! Women these days... At the end, she flew home safely. She turned out not to have been murdered or kidnapped or seen by any creature in the area but has just been an average, fat, blueberry-eating ladybug.
The second chapter is where it got a little more interesting. In "A Boat Disappears", Inspector Hopper and McBugg get a new case where grand theft boat occurred to Skeet, a bloodsucking demon. Inspector and his sidekick reluctantly agree to help Skeet find his boat. The only clue that they found was that Skeet's boat was a leaf. And the only other clue they got was also that there was a trail of leaf pieces which must not have been too important, so I ignored them as I was reading. They came upon Eensy Weensy the spider, who greeted them eagerly as he licked his chops. He said that he would have loved to help if it wasn't for his problem. His problem was that he cannot get back up the suspicious-looking spout. So the crew moved on. They met up with Sally, who was a snail... Suspicious? Probably. Apparently she has been "jogging all morning" (Cushman 36). The curious thing was that she has only jogged three feet! Aha! What a clue. As the three insect friends pretended not to have noticed this curious thing, they met up with Conrad, who was a caterpillar. At this point, I suspect that Cushman intended for the reader to have put together all the pieces of the mystery. I did not yet, until Conrad confessed that HE was the one that saw Skeet's boat. HE was the one who stole it. All the clues built up to this climax. Conrad the caterpillar was the one who CONSUMED Skeet's boat! Well done, Inspector! Another mystery solved.
In the final riveting chapter of Inspector Hopper, Inspector Hopper and McBugg are stranded in a creepy alley crawling with creepy bugs. Disgusting! They walk slowly through the darkness, occasionally seeing the light of the moon, constantly focused on getting home. Their little insect hearts were beating as they came to realize that someone was following them. Eventually, after many clever and unique ways to solve the mystery of who was following them, they figured it out. It was unexpectedly the MOON! That elusive wretch! Seeing the power of the moon, they began to converse with the moon, asking it if it wanted to be a detective with them, to join them in their quest, trying to lure it to their side. After asking the moon, Inspector Hopper answered for it. "Of course. Everyone wants to be a detective. It is a good job" (Cushman 52). Judging by this reply to his own question, we can see that this Inspector Hopper might be an impostor. The real one would never have enforced his own choice on inanimate objects, of course! But this inspector challenged the mighty moon. He called him a wimp under his breath, forcing the moon to be more stealthy and to conspire with them on their quest for vengeance. When a cloud passed in front of the moon, this inspector convinced himself that somehow, the armless moon drew it in front of itself, hiding its light. He said, "That is much better. You are learning fast. We cannot see you now. You will soon be a great [minion for] us. [Mwahahahaha!]" (Cushman 53). When the cloud passed, they saw a rat stealing from unwanted trash, and suddenly, this Inspector was somehow vanquished by the real one who saw the need for justice. The real Inspector chased after the rat. The moon suddenly hid its light once more... only to reemerge victorious. It succeeded in doing the fake inspector's bidding. But the poor, foolish Inspector Hopper did not know of that other inspector's scheme of evil and arrested the rat, obliviously proud of the now-corrupted moon. Cushman led the reader to a cliff-hanger ending, when the moon pursued the detective stealthily, obviously to track them for Inspector's evil doppelganger.
That concluded the book. I hope that the sequel will be better than this one, faster and more intellectual. I really got confused, like I was watching Inception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2017
Yo this was my favorite book as a kid :')
September 23, 2020
Cute story (even though the bugs think and act like humans).
Insects are presented positively, which I appreciate. Grasshopper, ladybug (fly away home), mosquito, spider (Eensy Weensy), ... all should be familiar to kids.
Insects are presented positively, which I appreciate. Grasshopper, ladybug (fly away home), mosquito, spider (Eensy Weensy), ... all should be familiar to kids.
October 15, 2025
I like this book because I like detective books. And I like the grasshopper he looks very cute. And I think that every one can read it
March 15, 2011
This is a great book of short mystery stories for children. We really enjoy the various children's mystery books written by Doug Cushman - they are fun to read and help encourage children to read. The stories are not really linked, so they can easily be read all at once or split up. The second tale is funny, with a few references to the children's poem about the "eensy weensy spider." We will certainly look for more books by Doug Cushman at our local library.
April 22, 2020
An I Can Read Book-Level 2
3 short stories contained in this book. Simple tales following the grasshopper detective and his beetle assistant. They go about helping the other bugs with their unsolved mysteries. Sweet illustrations.
3 short stories contained in this book. Simple tales following the grasshopper detective and his beetle assistant. They go about helping the other bugs with their unsolved mysteries. Sweet illustrations.
June 14, 2019
The bugs solved 3 mysteries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 27, 2020
Still excellent. Lexile 450, best for Gr 1-2.
May 10, 2015
Although this book uses pretty basic language, I think this book is a transitional book. It is fairly long and contains chapters. This book still focuses pretty heavily on repetition though.I thought this book had a cute and easy to follow storyline. I think that children will find the mystery in this book to be appealing and fun to read.
This book could be used in the classroom when children are studying about insects. The students could read through this book and compare the different insects in the book to the same insects in real life to see their similarities and differences. This would also be a good book to introduce the genre of mystery books to students because this book has an easy to follow mystery incorperated in it. The book could be used to teach about the elements of a mystery as well, including how something is wrong and how some investigating must be done to make it right.
This would be a good independent reading book for a student who is interested in insects or for a student who enjoys having mystery books read to them and wants to start reading them independently. I also think this book would be a good book to help children transition into reading chapter books.
This book could be used in the classroom when children are studying about insects. The students could read through this book and compare the different insects in the book to the same insects in real life to see their similarities and differences. This would also be a good book to introduce the genre of mystery books to students because this book has an easy to follow mystery incorperated in it. The book could be used to teach about the elements of a mystery as well, including how something is wrong and how some investigating must be done to make it right.
This would be a good independent reading book for a student who is interested in insects or for a student who enjoys having mystery books read to them and wants to start reading them independently. I also think this book would be a good book to help children transition into reading chapter books.
June 27, 2013
If you read this book by yourself, you'll think it's quite goofy. But, when you read it with a child, something magical happens. Every one of my four children has fallen in love with this book. I don't know if it's the first experience with a mystery or the whimsical nature of the crime scene, but I have been amazed as I have watched them all fall for this book. I think 4 out of 4 kids proves it is a reading winner.
May 24, 2008
This is a great book for second-graders. They should be able to read this book independently. It has two characters that act as detectives who solve mysteries. Though it may teach students a certain persuasion about law enforcement, it might also encourage students to predict what will happen next, something that's rare in these texts.
March 12, 2011
Doug Cushman might be joining Cynthia Rylant as one of the few authors that can create interesting characters and plots within the easy reader format. Inspector Hopper contains 3 chapter stories about a grasshopper private eye (err...bug), his always hungry sidekick McBugg. If we came across a copy of this, or the sequel, I'd buy them in an instant. I wish he'd write more.
February 4, 2016
A cute series of stories of Inspector Hopper (a grasshopper) and is sidekick McBugg (beetle?) solving little mysteries in the bug world. Asher (5 y.o.) read it all to himself and enjoyed them.
Nice illustrations to go with the stories.
Nice illustrations to go with the stories.
August 23, 2007
My 5 year-old laughed his head off at this book, then patiently sat down and worked his way through sounding out the words he didn't know so HE could read it.
July 26, 2016
RL 150. A detective grasshopper finds a missing ladybug, tracks down a delicious leaf boat, and rely on the full moon for help cracking a case.
November 21, 2008
What a fun series for the very young reader! Talmage loves both of these 'hopper' books.
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May 18, 2009JEAR2-Cus
October 6, 2011
Mommy says: My 6yo seems to like this book, but I gotta tell you, these I Can Readers are a pain to read aloud!
February 29, 2012
Great mysteries--the stories have enough complexity to keep the reader guessing, and the text is simple enough for early readers to succeed!
February 28, 2014
Kind of cute.
April 13, 2016
Inspector Hopper is an adorable grasshopper who solves bug mysteries in this two part early reader/early chapter book set. A great early read for mystery solvers!
February 9, 2008
Rebekah really loves this Grasshopper Detective. I am SO glad she likes mysteries!!
October 5, 2010
Very cute book!!
July 7, 2016
Read with Naomi.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews