Trial of Cardigan Jones »

Tim Egan is the author and illustrator of several offbeat and humorous tales for children. Born in New Jersey, Tim moved to California to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He still lives in southern California with his wife, Ann, and their two sons. To learn more about Tim Egan, visit his Web site at www.timegan.com.

Cardigan the moose was new in town. When Mrs. Brown’s fresh apple pie goes missing, witnesses come forward to place Cardigan at the scene of the crime. Finding himself on trial, Cardigan insists to judge and jury that he didn’t take the pie — he just wanted to smell it. No one believes him. But despite his assurances, he can’t explain what happened to the pie, either . . . or can he?

Publishers Weekly

Egan's (Serious Farm) eponymous hero, a sweater-wearing moose, is new in town. After he stops to smell an apple pie on Mrs. Brown's window sill, he finds himself accused of theft when it goes missing. Cardigan proclaims his innocence, but "noticing that he had pie crust on his shirt, [the police] arrested him." The suspect is hauled before a judge, subjected to the confident assertions of witnesses ("That moose right there," says a rabbit neighbor of Mrs. Brown, pointing at the appalled Cardigan, "He stole it"), and pretty much convicted on the spot ("He's a troublemaker," says a gopher, even before Cardigan takes the stand). Egan plays the proceedings with a characteristically straight face. His deadpan prose plus his tight, almost claustrophobic framings and grim-faced accusers add up to a taut courtroom drama. He plants clues to the mystery's solution, and the sage judge, picking up on them, suspects where the real blame lay. ("Everyone immediately felt terrible for being so rotten to Cardigan," Egan notes.) Grown-ups may detect a Law and Order spoof at work, but youngsters should find much food for thought in the story's message about the importance of presumed innocence. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.