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978-1-954354-36-4
Hardcover
64pp, B&W
6in x 9in
Juvenile Fiction: Readers/Beginner, Graphic Novels
7 to 11
October 2025
$18.99
Trial and Error
(Sawyer the Critter Lawyer)
By Robin Newman
Illustrated by Deborah Zemke
Northern Lights Book Award
Sawyer the lawyer introduces young readers to basic legal concepts, like witnesses, testimony, and evidence through humorous stories as Sawyer helps various animals with their problems. The graphic novel format adds to the fun and accessibility.
Sawyer the ant is the hero of the day in case after case, each one introducing a legal concept in a fun, vivid way. Can a snail beat a speeding ticket? With the right lawyer, justice will be done!
"Sawyer the lawyer proves to be the ant with answers for animals with legal problems.
Brushes with the legal system are always scary, particularly for children, and lawyers get lots of bad press. Here, though, a wee insect with a dedication to seeing that justice is done for her critter clients counters the usual image in a series of pun-ishing cases ranging from a chicken fighting a ticket for jaywalking to a perturbed porker proposing to sue his pen-mate for being too tidy. Along with learning about courtroom procedures and evidence as well as mediation and other legal terms, readers will get eye-opening glimpses of a responsible lawyer at work both in and out of court—gathering facts, preparing presentations, asking clarifying questions, identifying contradictions in witness statements, and helping others understand that the law is simply rules for safe, proper behavior. She cuts a confident if diminutive figure in Zemke’s grayscale panels, and while she makes doughnut-loving, ticket-happy Officer Opossum look fowl in court, her “eggcellent” arguments and solutions leave all her clients, from Piggles the pig on, tickled pink.
A rare portrayal of an often-denigrated profession, replete with puns and positive messages."
— Kirkus
