Monday, May 9, 2011

Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case by Donald L. Sobel

Synopsis

Since 1963, when Dutton published the first book in the series, Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective , the brainy crime-stopper has been a favorite character among middle-grade readers. Now, for the first time in twenty-five years, Dutton is pleased to present a brand-new Encyclopedia Brown mystery. Following the classic formula, the book presents ten separate mysteries, complete with answers that allow the reader to solve the cases along with the Boy Detective. Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case will be a flagship for the backlist titles, which Puffin will reissue in paperback on the same list with new cover art.

My thoughts:
I thought that I had read some Encyclopedia Brown books in elementary school, but if I did I must not remember them very well.  My preconceived notion of what the book was going to be was that the whole book was going to be one mystery that Leroy, aka Encyclopedia Brown was going to solve.  Instead this audio book contained ten mysteries that Brown is able to solve using the knowledge he has from being the most read person in Idaville.  The twenty five cent price to work a case dated the book to me, even though this is supposed to be a new book to revive the series.

My children really enjoyed listening to this.  After each case when the narrator would announce that Encyclopedia had solved it and the solution was about to be announced we would pause the CD and each person would make their guess of who the criminal was and why they thought so.  Many times they were not correct, but it got them thinking and using reasoning skills which I think are important to practice.

I think I will be looking for more Encyclopedia Brown books at the library since this one seemed to be a hit with my older children.

Product Details

Pub. Date: September 2008
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Format: Paperback , 96pp
Age Range: 6 to 8
Series: Encyclopedia Brown Series
ISBN-13: 9780142411674
ISBN: 0142411671

1 comment:

  1. Love Encyclopedia Brown, one of my favorite character from childhood.

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