Help Encourage Your Kids to Read With This Mysterious Read

The Story

When a small mammal with an oversized ego tries to take over the zoo, just leave it to the big-hearted peacock Plum to save the day

Plum is a peppy, curious and kind purple peacock. He’s extremely proud of his role as a peacock ambassador for the Athensville Zoo and spends every day roaming the zoo to greet and guide the guests.

Unlike the other animals at Athensville, only the peacock ambassadors are able to wander the zoo’s grounds freely–and Itch the ningbing (a small marsupial deriving from Australia) takes notice of this. The mischievous critter believes it’s unfair that the “birdbrains” are free and begins plotting a top-secret plan to escape and takeover as zoo ambassador.

So when the peacock ambassadors are one day coincidentally framed as thieves at the scene of several crimes and locked up in their pen, Plum knows it’s up to him to solve the mystery. Your children can follow Plum on his adventure of cracking the case and discovering who set up the ambassadors.

Help Plum find the culprit of this mysterious case!

What Others Have to Say About Leave It to Plum!

“A bighearted peacock with boundless cheer stars in this lively zoo caper by Phelan. . . . Peacocks have long been official guest ambassadors at the Athensville Zoo . . . but not everyone is happy about the arrangement, especially not a dour, power-hungry marsupial called Itch . . . With occasional grayscale art presented alongside amusingly self-important, cinematically rendered characters, Phelan offers winning animalian antics for chapter book beginners.” – Publishers Weekly

“Plum the peacock . . . and the rest of his flock are charged with welcoming and interacting with the human visitors . . . But trouble is brewing in the form of disgruntled ningbing Itch, a tiny Australian marsupial who seethes about the unfairness of his own captivity . . . The story is a hoot . . . Young readers will relish this splendid hullabaloo at the zoo.” – Booklist

“In this alliterative zoo tale, peppy purple peacock Plum befriends Jeremy, a sad and solitary street kitty, who returns the favor by saving all the peafowl from a frightening fate. . . . The expressive ink-and-wash animal portraits that pack his short chapters of well-paced narrative are done in a fanciful style. . . . A buoyant tale for younger middle grade readers, with a mild dose of danger for spice and an extroverted protagonist on a mission to ‘mingle, guide, delight.’” – School Library Journal