Children's / Mystery
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads
UPDATED REVIEW! Forget encyclopedias! There's Google! This book of ten short see-if-you-can-solve-it mysteries is a great update to (and inspired by) the old favorite, Encyclopedia Brown stories.
Young Geoffrey Brown, nicknamed Google, is self-educated by the internet (using only good sources, of course) and sharp as a tack. When problems pop-up around school, it's almost always the bully Tom Hooligan to blame, which is no surprise, but where's the proof?
Elementary kids (I'd recommend ages 8-10) will enjoy reading these very short stories, each one ending with a question to be answered. Kids think it over (or discuss -- I can see this being a great read-aloud by a teacher or librarian),then turn the page to see how Google solved the mystery. My favorites were "Google Takes the Gold," and "The Case of the High Heel." These stories will appeal especially to the reluctant reader, as it's very easy to read just one or two at a time and set the book aside.
UPDATE: When I first read the book, I had taken issue with a repeated punctuation error, which I brought to the author's attention. I am happy to report that Mr. Taylor has since done a full re-editing of his book and published it both in eBook and print format. I must again give major kudos to Garry Taylor for being appreciative of my constructive criticism and responsive. He told me that he wants it to be correct and said he wants it "to be a book my grandson can be proud of some day." **FEEL GOODS ABOUNDING**
Thank you to Garry Taylor for providing me a free eBook copy of this book in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
What a great idea!! I used to love Encyclopedia Brown when I was a kid; this sounds like a perfect update for the internet age. AND your review has a feel-good story attached! What could be better?
ReplyDeleteTruly! I was really worried about raising my concern, but Garry was wonderfully receptive and cool about it. His grandson will be proud!
DeleteLOL. Shame on you, you punctuation stickler! =) I'm one of those too, although I try to blur my eyes when I come across those issues.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting my almost 8 year old would like this one.
The teacher in me was screaming to teach a lesson, I guess, and what a wonderfully open student! YES, your child will like this -- I even found myself a little smitten when I figured out the mysteries! Fun!
DeleteAwesome. Putting it on the list now.
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