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An Archie and Reddie Book #1

I Really Dig Pizza!: A Mystery!

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Elephant & Piggie meets Narwhal and Jelly in this hilarious new early-reader graphic novel series about Archie & Reddie, two fox friends who have wild fun! In this first book, Archie finds a cheesy treat in the forest and tries to keep it a secret—until Reddie comes along, ready to solve an irresistible mystery!

When Archie stumbles upon a gift-wrapped pizza in the forest, he wonders who would possibly leave a perfectly good treat just lying around? So he does the only sensible thing and buries it so he can dig it up later for dinner! But with tummy rumbling, Archie discovers Reddie is trying to solve a mystery. It seems she's found a pile of dirt and wants to get to the bottom of it! Will Archie attempt to derail her investigation? You bet! But will he also ultimately fess up and share the cheesy goodness with Reddie? And who left that present in the forest anyway? It's all a mystery, and you'll have to read to find out what happens!

80 pages, Hardcover

Published September 14, 2021

2 people are currently reading
74 people want to read

About the author

Candy James

15 books8 followers
Candy James is the pseudonym of husband-and-wife creative duo Candy and James Robertson, originally from Hong Kong and New Zealand. They met in high school art class and now live on a hill in the forest just outside Australia's premier gold-rush city, Ballarat. Their award-winning toy designs have been stocked everywhere from one-star-rated eBay sellers to fancy museums like the MoMA. Their work has been featured alongside Hello Kitty, Hot Wheels, and even on wedding and birthday cakes. They are product designers, branding specialists, and graphic designers with a love of manga, animation, and mid-century design. When they are not making funny books for children, they can usually be found hiking, gardening, cooking, or teaching their doggy a new trick. Visit them at candyjames.com.

Much like Winnie-the-Pooh, before Archie & Reddie became characters in a book, they started out as two beloved stuffed animals that belonged to the creators' daughter. Candy and James provided their voices and performed all sorts of stories to help their child grow, overcome challenges, and simply have fun. Now that she's a bit older, Candy and James felt like it was finally time to share their stories with the world.

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5 stars
72 (35%)
4 stars
62 (30%)
3 stars
54 (26%)
2 stars
14 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
Profile Image for Jon Nakapalau.
6,522 reviews1,026 followers
February 9, 2022
SO DO I! But first there is a mystery to solve; a mystery that might not be as mysterious to one of the 'solvers' as it may seem to be! Really nice book that gave me a break from other books I am reading. Cute animal buddy books always take me back to my Frog and Toad days.
1,000 reviews2 followers
July 14, 2022
Take 2 hilarious foxes, a gift-wrapped pizza in the woods, and a mound of dirt that showed up out of nowhere and you've got a mystery!

I Really Dig Pizza! is the first entry in the Archie & Reddie book series by the husband and wife team of Candy James. Candy is the illustrator. James is the writer. Together, this duo craft a very funny graphic novel for younger readers.

I chose this book for two reasons. 1: I thought Archie & Reddie were cats and 2: it involves pizza and who doesn't love pizza?! As for thinking Archie & Reddie were felines, it turns out that they are foxes. I got that right away with Reddie with her white tipped tail and pointed ears. But Archie is all fluffy and white. For a minute I thought he might be a sheep dog. But thanks to reading the 'About the Authors' in the back of the book, I learned that the two characters are actually based on a pair of fox stuffed animals that are beloved toys of their daughter. In fact, it's thanks to their daughter that Candy James started creating these books!

So far there are 4 entries in the Archie & Reddie series and I think they will all be great reads for those aged 4-8. The vocabulary for this book is full of repetitive words, many of which are visual cues. Plus, the dialogue between Archie & Reddie is just so witty and comical. If you want to get the young readers in your life reading early, these graphic novels would be great introductions to genre!

Lots of fun and lots of laughs that the kiddos and the adults helping them with difficult words will enjoy!
Profile Image for skcocnaH.
2,097 reviews7 followers
February 13, 2022
This was cute enough, but it really bothered me that Archie never fessed up to stealing the pizza.
Profile Image for Sirah.
3,054 reviews27 followers
October 13, 2023
Archie finds a pizza, and since Archie loves pizza, he buries it for later. But when he's hungry, he returns to find that Reddie is on the trail of a mysterious pile of dirt. Could Reddie be wrong about the clues? Archie hopes so!

This book is too funny! There are subtle hints of honesty and perseverance and generosity threaded through this story, but mostly it's a fun adventure with a delightful ending. Pretty sure I need the rest of this series immediately.
Profile Image for Melissa.
1,061 reviews5 followers
May 15, 2022
Adorable beginning reader graphic novel. Must be sure library has all of them. Loved the author note at the end too.
3,188 reviews18 followers
Read
June 23, 2022
Clever title. I liked the story, but I would give it to more advanced beginning readers because there's lots of multisyllabic words. I think some of them could be sounded out (shelter, digger, bigger). Yeah, I mean, cute, but I wouldn't give it to a very early reader.
Profile Image for Ellon.
4,661 reviews
June 23, 2022
This was cute but my least favorite of the three I've read so far. It really irked me that Archie never fessed up to stealing the pizza.
Profile Image for Gaby Meares.
898 reviews39 followers
February 1, 2022
Thank you to Australian Children's Book Council for a review copy of this book. Please find my review at readtime.com.au.
Profile Image for Jessica F.
850 reviews37 followers
June 8, 2022
Another dynamic duo sure to delight Elephant & Piggie fans! I love these two characters' strikingly different personalities. This first Archie & Reddie adventure features a strong plot with an actual storyline (not just a generous helping of humor), adorable and eye-catching illustrations, and an excellent font for young readers. Although the text is repetitious and primarily composed of decodable words and sight words, it doesn't come across like a boring Bob book.
Profile Image for Liz.
2,230 reviews26 followers
December 2, 2021
Archie finds a delicious treat and buries it to save it for later snacking. Just as Archie is getting ready to dig up the treat, Reddie comes asking about the mysterious pile of dirt. I wish Archie actually apologized for misleading Reddie but still cute and fun and pizza!
Profile Image for Yentl ♥.
355 reviews7 followers
May 11, 2022
I love this so much!!! Archie finds a pizza with a bow on top and decides to bury it under some dirt. Reddie comes along and starts investigating a mysterious pile of dirt. Archie doesn't want Reddie to know what lies under the pile, but Reddie is getting close to discovering the pizza. Read it to find out what happens next! This is such a silly and fun story series! I can't wait to read them all!
Profile Image for Brantley  Towns .
55 reviews1 follower
May 16, 2022
I Really Dig Pizza it is a very, very good book. I do not have a favorite part of the book because the whole book is my favorite. I love this book! If I had to pick a favorite part it would be when Reddie has clues.
Profile Image for Bethe.
6,935 reviews69 followers
March 10, 2022
What to do with a found pizza? If you are a fluffy white fox you dig a hole and plop it in. Not sure the fluffy white animal is a a fox but fans of Elephant and Piggie won’t mind.
Profile Image for Emma.
3,348 reviews460 followers
September 15, 2021
What could be luckier than finding a gift-wrapped pizza in the forest? Archie certainly doesn't know. Thrilled with his luck, the quick-thinking fox grabs a nearby digger and buries the pizza to keep it safe until dinner.

Unfortunately right when Archie is ready to dig in, Reddie announces that she is solving a mystery. A mystery involving a new pile of dirt and digger tracks.

Reddie is undeterred by Archie's efforts to derail the investigation. But will following the clues end with a solved mystery and a shared dinner? And who lost the pizza in the first place in I Really Dig Pizza! (2021) by Candy James.

I Really Dig Pizza! is the first book in a new early reader series by the wife-and-husband team of Candy (illustrator) and James (author). The characters are inspired by their daughter's real life plush toys which saw her through many adventures.

This book straddles the line between early reader and graphic novel. The story includes full-page and double page spreads as well as smaller (comic book style) panels to showcase different scenes and add motion to the illustrations. The page design and a color palette featuring orange, yellow , white, and peach add interest to the book and give I Really Dig Pizza! a unique feel. The color scheme is also a fun reference to the fact that both characters are foxes although I admit Archie looks more feline to me.

The text in the story is all dialog presented in speech bubbles (white for Archie and orange for Reddie) making the style reminiscent to Willem's Elephant and Piggie series. While there is some conflict in the story as Archie tries to distract Reddie from her investigation, all is resolved by the end when (spoiler) readers learn that Reddie had bought the pizza for Archie only to lose it before she could add a gift card.

Panels with Archie asking readers questions and breaking the fourth wall of the story to draw them in add an interactive element to this book as do Archie's attempted diversions as he explains to Reddie that the digger noises must be a storm, the digger tracks are actually snake tracks, and so on.

I Really Dig Pizza! is a fun early reader with fast friends and plenty of humor sure to garner a few laughs from young readers.

*An advance e-copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
2 reviews
January 4, 2022
My daughter and I had lots of laughs reading this! It's very cute and the two characters are cheeky and mischievous. She is at an age where i read aloud to her but i can see this book being suitable for a range of ages and those early readers learning to read medium length books. The graphic novel style design is great for holding attention. We can't wait to read the rest of the series!
Profile Image for Jo.
427 reviews3 followers
July 31, 2022
This book was super random 😂

I have neutral feelings - didn't love it & didn't hate it.

It was cute though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews

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