Juniper Kai: Super Spy

The opening sentence, “Juniper Kai was born to be a spy”, introduces the reader to a delightful character who is determined to discover why her parents have suddenly become secretive. With her repertoire of spying skills and her innovative collection of spying equipment and disguises, Juniper is ready to investigate. The curious audience will be drawn into tracking and analyzing the clues with Juniper to uncover the solution to her mission.

Laura Gehl, author of several popular books, including One Big Pair of Underwear, My Pillow Keeps Moving and the “Peep and Egg” series, provides young readers with an exciting and engaging adventure involving spying. The measured pacing of the story allows for the introduction of a variety of spy gadgets, such as a spy camera, night-vision-goggles, wigs, a code-breaking wheel and a spy-de-light that will fascinate any young sleuth. The limited text and short sentence structure will appeal to beginning readers. More difficult spy-related words, such as “decrypt” or “perimeter alarm”, are in coloured type which encourages questions and discussion.

The descriptive, colourful illustrations by Canadian illustrator Alexandria Neonakis highlight the relationship between picture and words in a picture book. The single page and double-page spreads allow the audience to carefully examine clues and spy gear and may lead to making inferences in the investigation. Readers will connect to the fun visual depictions of Juniper and her parents.

Parents and teachers will enjoy sharing Juniper Kai: Super Spy as a read-aloud. Using both the text and the visual clues, young listeners can make predictions as to what the secret might be, leading to some interesting discussion about the surprise ending.