When Glenda Feathers hears there are diamond thieves in town, the concerned chicken immediately rushes to warn her friends Harry and Lola, who run the Diamond Dog Diner. After all, Lola always wears her diamonds to work... And so begins a zany adventure in which Glenda convinces her friends to hide the diamonds in some eggs, eventually ending up a kidnapping victim when the thieves come to believe that she might have laid those eggs, diamonds and all...

Madcap mystery meets the story of the goose who laid the golden egg in this tale from author/illustrator Eileen Christelow, creator of the popular Five Little Monkeys picture-book series. Chosen as a Reading Rainbow book, The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner is a book I only discovered by accident, while seeking out its sequel, Glenda Feathers Casts a Spell, for my perennial "witchy witches" project. Deciding to read this first book before turning to that subsequent story, I went into it with no preconceptions. On the whole I thought it was a bit of silly fun—not really my style, in terms of story or artwork, but probably very entertaining for the right audience. For those who first encountered it on the Reading Rainbow program, I imagine it also has a wealth of nostalgic appeal. ( )

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