The Great Paper Caper

Written by Oliver Jeffers

Narrated by Harry Enfield

An exciting picture book, featuring brand new characters from highly-regarded, best-selling, multi-award-winning talent, Oliver Jeffers.

When life in the forest begins to change; when trees mysteriously lose their branches, when whole tree trunks start to disappear, when homes are lost, the only course of action for the forest dwellers is to begin a full scale investigation. Alibis must be proved, clues must be sought but even so, blame is never far from anyone's thoughts.

Who is the perpetrator of this heinous crime? Will justice be done?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9780007571253

Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers is a highly acclaimed talent in picture books. He graduated from The University of Ulster in 2001 with First Class honours and has since exhibited his paintings around the world. His outstanding talent has already been recognised by several high-profile awards, including the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award, the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award and the Irish Children's Book of the Year.

Reviews for The Great Paper Caper

[1avidfan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The illustrations were amusing but the story was rather forced. Trying too hard to be environmentalists. The subterranean homes of all the forest dwellers including the human were clever. I also liked the suspect lineup of the different species of bears. I think more humorous story development would have improved this story,

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The wonderful Oliver Jeffers, illustrator of such books as The Day the Crayons Quit, and author/illustrator of titles like How to Catch a Star, creates an entertaining picture-book mystery and ecological fable in The Great Paper Caper. As the residents of the forest notice that branches have begun to go missing from the trees, they attempt to solve the mystery, accusing each other at first, and then banding together to find the culprit. A local bear, in the meantime, obsesses about becoming a paper airplane-making champion like his forbears...Only the second picture-book mystery that I have read, following upon Graeme Base's marvelous The Eleventh Hour, this engaging tale is less mysterious to the reader - the illustrations make it plain who is chopping off branches - than it is to the characters, who nevertheless enact a detective story in miniature. I enjoyed both story and artwork, and appreciated the approach to justice exhibited in the final section of the book, which involves the culprit offering repentance and making restitution, rather than being punished. The ecological message here - that our choices affect the environment, and therefore also the people around us - is worked seamlessly into a story that never feels preachy. Recommended to all Oliver Jeffers fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books addressing our responsibility to the natural world and to all our fellow creatures.

[vboch1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book for a number of reasons. The first reason I liked it is because of the plot. It is a fun interesting plot where the animals in the forest look for the person who keeps cutting down trees. They first blame each other but they then lead a full on investigation. Even though the reader knows who is stealing the trees it is fun to go along with the animals in the investigation. It is interesting how to come to find who the culprit is and what happens next. Another reason I liked this book is because of the illustrations. There are many pictures on each page which is very interesting because it gives the reader more visual cues and information. I like how on the first page, it shows all of the animals in their homes under the trees. The pictures then show all of the animals' alibis when they figure out it was none of them. I also like the illustrations because in many of the pictures show who the tree thief is so the reader knows all along. Some pages do not even have words on them, but just pictures to help tell the story. I think the big idea of this book is just to entertain the reader and it shows the importance of committing your crimes.

[nkwak1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 I enjoyed reading this book and seeing the underlying meaning that the author portrayed. The plot stood out the most to me because it was meaningful and actually taught readers a lesson. It was well-organized and suspenseful. The readers grew a curiosity as the book went on. It was as if the readers were included in the community that lived in the forest while they were trying to find out the culprit. There was a sense of relief once the culprit was found and then a well-deserved punishment for him. I liked how the author ended the book. He could have ended the book with the bear planting new trees to replace the ones that he cut down but instead he did more by having the community make him a giant paper airplane so that he could win his competition. It goes beyond the simple crime and punishment story and expresses to readers to show compassion for those who may unintentionally do wrong. Another aspect that I enjoyed was how the author pushes readers to think about tough issues. Deforestation is still prevalent to this day. Readers can get a gist of the importance of it through this book. The upset community members indirectly speak for those animals in the forest. The big idea is focused on the conservation of the forest and how to help improve the damage that has already been done.

[matthewbloome · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think it was a very simple story designed to show what a detective story might look like. Either way, it wasn't bad.

[maryparmelee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The illustrations make the book.