This book is very cool. I'm not breaking this one down in the usual way because while it is a mystery with a detective, a case, and clues to find it does not go about it in the usual route. However, I had to add it to my collection of picture book mysteries because it's just such a neat book. Let me explain!
Young Bertie Badgerstone loves to visit his grandfather in the retirement home for elderly magicians and entertainers. Whenever he's there, Grandpa Badger puts on a special magic show just for him. Grandpa was once the world famous Gadzooks the Great, and among other tricks, he could make a rabbit disappear from his hat.
But one day Bertie visits to discover that there will be no magic show that day
Author Graeme Base
because his grandfather's hat, cape, and cane have gone missing. Bertie swears to discover the thief and goes around the retirement home asking questions.
Bertie interviews every resident, only to learn that they are all missing their key magical items as well. A babushka doll, a queen of hearts card, set of five rings, cup&ball set, jar of crackers, three jade bells, a Mystic Sphinx of Sleep, and a magic rope are all missing.
Bertie is unable to find the items and after being accused of theft himself he returns to his grandfather's room. Grandfather is saddened by the lose of his things, but he morns the loss of his best friend, the rabbit Enigma, the most. He and Enigma had traveled the world together, and Grandpa Badger was worried about him.
Hearing this, Enigma crawls out of his hiding place under the bed and admits that he was the thief all along. Enigma was jealous that he never got to be the great magician and had to retire without ever once seeing the spotlight. So he'd stolen the items to create his own show. He'd made a list of where they were with a secret code, but now he's forgotten the code, the key to the code, and doesn't remember where the items are all hidden.
Bertie saves the day by replacing the items with objects he happened to have in his bag, but the mystery goes unsolved.
This left me feeling disappointed. How are you going to have the protagonist state that he'll find the items and then he never does. I was honestly perplexed. But then I turned to the last page of the book and discovered the game.
There is a book inside the back cover of this book. Inside that book is the key the cypher but Enigma created. Decode it using clues inside the illustrations. Then you're able to read notes left all over the beautifully detailed illustrations. The items are hidden in the pictures, as well as Enigma himself.
So Bertie isn't the real detective, the reader is! Talk about sparking a love of mystery in young readers! I can imagine my eight-year-old-self being absolutely obsessed with cracking this code, and finding every clue on every page.
Animals? Mysteries? Secret codes!? Graeme Base was speaking my language.
Unfortunately, as an adult I didn't have time to sit and really decypher the whole code. I did find Enigma in every picture though, that was fun.
I give this book a ten out of ten for pure entertainment. This book may keep an older kid occupied for hours, or even days depending on their attention span. This would be a great book to introduce to a child who enjoys puzzles right before any long care trip or boring adult event.
This book ranges between eighteen and twenty dollars on Amazon. For all the added entertainment it brings with solving the puzzles and searching the wonderful illustrations for clues I think it's worth the price.
Graeme Base is an writer and illustrator of some note. Check out his other works for more of incredible art.
If you liked this review please a comment. I appreciate any feed back.
For extensive information on this book, the see the publication page
Synopsis :
Someone stole a cake from the cake contest - Detective Duck uses his deductive reasoning skills to “quack” the case.After all, the thief left hairs behind so the thief wasn’t a bird.Follow along as he subtracts each suspect one at a time to reveal just who the culprit was.This clever story will have children of all ages giggling at the puns and the play on words
It’s so much more than a picture book . . . This books is specifically designed to be both a fun-to-read story and a launch pad for discussions and learning.Whether read at home or in a classroom we encourage adults to do the activities with their young children in their lives.Free online resources and support at SylvanDellPubhlishing.com
P1: Title page
ACT 1: Introductions
Here is where we learn about the detective and the case. In this story, being a basic picture book mystery, our detective isn't given much of a personality, but that is balanced by the character of the many suspects later on.
P2 - P3:
Duck, the deductive detective, was sitting at his desk when the phone rang with an urgent massage:Someone stole one of the cakes form the cake contest!Detective Duck in on the case!
P4:
When Duck Arrives, Owl, the night watchman, took him to the scene of the crime.All thirteen bakers were already there.Fox was sitting at the chair crying, “Someone stole my beautiful cake!”
“Hoo could have stolen it?” Asked Owl.
P5:
Detective Duck looked at the scene and said “one of these twelve bakers stole that cake!But I’ll quack this case in no time.I’ll find clues that will subtract each suspect until there is just one left.PT
The set up Duck’s superpower is deduction. 13 bakers in the contest, but fox didn’t steal her own cake so their are 12 suspects who might have. Who? Duck states that he will use deduction to figure that out. ACT 2 The Investigation
Dec must use his “special power” to find clues, and weed out suspects.
P6:
“Aha!” Explained Duck, pointing to the remaining cakes.“Look how small the cake is.”
“That’s my cake,” squeaked Mose.“I could not make a bigger cake or it would be too big for me to carry.”
“And that is why you could not have stolen the cake,” explain Duck.
“What,” said Mouse “and because I only like cheesecake.”
P7
12 suspects - 1 mouse = 11 suspects.
Author Brian Rock
PT
P8:
“Now,” said Duck, “What time was the cake stolen?”
“It was taken at sunrise when I went to get breakfast,” said Owl.
P8:
“That means you could not have taken the cake,” said Duck, pointing to Rooster.“I heard you crow at sunrise this morning, so you could not have been here as well.So you’re free to fly the coop.”
“Great,” said Rooster.“I’ve got other things to cock a doodle do.”
11 suspects -rooster = 10 suspects.PT
Because this is a picture book repetition is still important. The kiddos still like the security of the rhyming structure even if the words do not rhyme. So each time duck finds a clue, then eliminates a suspect, and the innocent animal makes a "humor" pun before leaving. Some of these hit better than others.
P9 - P10:
“What about these doors?” Asked Duck, pointing to the double doors at the front of the room.Where they still locked when the cake was stolen?”
“Of course, hoo else would have keys?” Replied Owl.
“Then Elephant is not our thief” said Duck “Since the only way he can fit into this room is through these two doors.”
“That’s because I’m royalty,” said Elephant.“I come from a long line of Tudors.”
10 suspects - 1 elephant = 9 suspects.
PT
P11:
“And what’s this?” Said Duck as he looked closely at the table of cakes.
“It looks like a strand of hair,” said Owl.“And look!There’s some more over by the kitchen!Hoo could have left them?”
P12:
“Certainly not Swan,” said Duck.“Swans have feathers, not hair.So Swan couldn’t be our thief.”
“Of course,” said Swan.“The only thing I’ve ever stolen is the spotlight in Swan Lake.”
9 suspects - 1 swan = 8 suspects.
P13:
“It looks like our thief escaped through the kitchen,” said Duck as he followed the strands of hair across the floor.“It looks dark in there.Have those lights been off all night?”
“Yes,” answered Owl.
“But one of our suspects would never go into a dark room alone, said Duck, “Which is why Horse is free to race home.”
“It’s true,” said Horse.“I’m not a dark horse.”
I didn’t know this about horses.Animal facts are fun!
Pg14
8 suspects - 1 horse = 7 suspects. PT
P15 - P16
“Now let’s set some light on this case,” said Duck as he opened the kitchen doors and turned on the lights.“Look at all those pots and pans hanging from the ceiling.”
“Hoo knew we had so many pots and pans in here?” Asked Owl.
“And not one of them has been knocked off, which means our big antlered friend Moose has to been through here lately.”
“That’s right,” said Moose.“I haven’t been here since I finished my chocolate moose cake.”
7 suspects -1 moose = 6 suspects.
P16 - P17
“Look, there on the floor, observed Duck.
“You mean that spilled flour?” Asked Owl.
“Yes,” replied Duck, “Our thief spilled a bag of flour and dragged his long tail though it.”
“But Pig doesn’t have a long tail, said Duck, “So she couldn’t have hogged the cake.”
“I don’t know why I even entered this contest,” said Pig.“Nothing good ever happens when I’m bakin’.”
6 suspects - 1 pig = 5 Suspects.
P18 - P19
“The trail of flour leads here,” said Owl, pointing to the counter.
“Which means whoever took the cake jumped up here before they left,” explained Duck.
“Bu that’s too high to jump,” said Duck, “If you’re a cow.So Cow is free to moooo-ve along home.”
“I probably shouldn’t mention this,” said Cow, “But my great-grandmother once jumped over the moon.”
5 suspects - 1 cow = 4 suspects.
My daughter has encountered so many stories featuring cows jumping over the moon that she was stunned to learned that cows really can't jump at all. Of course, right after that, Cow has to spoil the lesson with a joke about her great-grandmother.
P20 - P21
“This window must be how he escaped,: said Duck.
“Whoo?” Asked Owl.
“The thief!” Answered Duck.“And he left a handprint on the sill on the way out.”
“This tells me that Tiger could not be our thief,” said Duck, “Because tiger have paws, not hands.”
“And I have claws on my paws,” said Tiger. “That’s why I always bake from scratch.”
The only joke I liked.
P22 - P23
“Look at that window,” said Duck.
“What about it?” Asked Owl.
“That’s a pretty small space to crawl through,” answered Duck, “Especially if you’re a kangaroo.”
Therefore, Kangaroo is free to hop along home.”
“Now I can go clean up,” said Kangaroo.“My Joey’s all doughy.”3 suspects - kangaroo = 2 suspects.
We are so used to mysteries having some trick that my husband was certain that the doughy joey had done the deed. I can't blame him, I suspected Fox, and then Owl . . . both being nocturnal creatures and all. But no, Fox did not steal her own cake, nor was the Nightwatchman a dishonest Owl cop. And the baby roo was clean up until this page.
P24
“Now where does the trail go from here?” Asked Duck, looking out the window.“It’s odd that there are no footprints on the ground,” noticed Owl
“Which means our thief must have swung from tree to tree to get away,” said Duck.
“Which is very difficult to do,” said Duck, “If you‘re a raccoon.”
I copied the typo from this page exactly. It looks like Owl had lines that were deleted but no one bothered to correct Duck's punctuation to make this less jarring. Remember we are writing for read-aloud most of the time. The easier we can make this on parents the more likely they are to buy future books from us.
P25
“Of course I’m the last suspect ruled out,” said Raccoon.“Just because I have mask everyone thinks I’m the thief.”
“That means our thief could only be .. . “
2 suspects - 1 raccoon = the thief.
ACT 3 Summation
P26
“The Monkey!” Said Duck pointing to the thief.“The only questions I have left is, why did you steal it?”
P27
“I couldn’t help it,” said Monkey, as owl grabbed his arm.“It was a banana cream cake!”
I'd honestly hadn't even noticed the monkey on the first page and was surprised at his inclusion. And that's the other thing about mysteries! That surprise ending - it's what mystery junkies like myself crave. Even though we follow along with the clues and try to crack the case, in the end we still want that zeal of surprise. It's the hardest part for me I think. I have to know everything, so hiding bits here and there is difficult.
MY TAKE AWAY
I enjoyed reading and breaking down this book. I found it cute even though I rolled my eyes at the attempts at humor. I doubt the kids would get those puns, and they only made me groan, but other reviewers have said the found them 'laugh out loud funny' so I’m in the minority on that.
I enjoyed how it was a real mystery with leads and clues and suspects. My husband and I actually both jumped to incorrect conclusions so the reveal was still very fun.
I easily found the main mysterytropes that fit my check list. This book a fantastic early introduction in the fun of mysteries for 3 to 5 year olds. It's also an introduction to Math language and a few animal facts what’s not to love?
The grammar was hard.There were a few places were the quotes got confusing. It seems that some of Owl’s lines were taken out but an editor forgot to mend Duck’s dialogue to patch the correction.That and the humor make this a kind of difficult to read at bed time.
Thus the four out of five stars.
BEDTIME BREAKDOWN
My daughter loves this book! We’ve heard her copying the subtraction language while playing with her toys.She’s only two so she doesn’t really understand it.However, I appreciate the introduction of mathematic language into her early vocabulary.This is definitely a book I will be purchasing.
If you enjoyed this book or this breakdown please consider supporting the author, Brian Rock, with a purchase.
I am working on a series of picture books called the Jasmine Smalls Mysteries. The series will be four books about a six year girl named Jasmine Smalls and conducts invertebrate animal investigations.
As I rough draft, and edit this series I've been researching how to write mysteries and how to write about bullies, and viruses and other things. So the next books I will be review will follow successful examples of those themes.
I'll start with what I'm learning about mysteries.
In Act One of every mystery there is an introduction of the detective and an introduction of the crime - not always in that order.
Introduction of the Detective includes:
1. The dec's personality
2. The dec's method for solving cases
3. The dec's superpower. All dec's have a super power. Sherlock's was deduction; Poirot's was discretion, Fletcher had timing and sharp observation, and Columbo had his instincts.
From what I've observed while YA decs have all three of these, picture books are often satisfied with just having one or two of these traits.
The following is a mixture of my own observations, as an avid fan of all this dark and mysterious, as well important clues I've learned reading How to Write a Mystery by the Mystery Writer's of America.
Introduction of the case: The crime or puzzle needs to be clearly stated as a goal to hook the detective's interest, and that of the reader. This is often based on the detective own personality. For example Poirot is not likely to take an interest in a case in a junk yard unless something of value was lost there; Columbo is't likely to help a rich person, unless that rich guy is somehow charitable. The case is the inciting incident that gets the dec involved.
ACT II The Investigation
Having learned how the dec works we get examples of it right away. Is the dec a passive observer or an active investigator? Weather he hunts down clues or is drug into the case through unavoidable circumstance, this is where we see the first example of his methods and his superpower.
We also need, as a rule with mysteries, to have suspects, settings, clues, and culprits.
Suspects - at three unless you're diving right to the villain.
Settings - at least one, but it has to be engaging. It's either counseling or yielding clues. Even in picture books the atmosphere of the setting is important.
Clues - three is best. The first leads down a path; the second is a good clue but in the wrong direction; third solves the case for the dec even if no one else sees it.
Culprits - these can be red herrings or the main baddy himself but someone has to be found out at the end or else the reader feel like their time has been waisted. If it's an innocent sleep walker. Someone has to take the blame.
ACT 3. The Summation
Everyone's favorite part! The gathering suspects, the laying down of clues, the dec showing off their super power. The satisfying ending.
My favorite mysteries are the ones where the reader has a chance to follow the clues and figure things out with the detective. So those are the ones I will be seeking out to review and breakdown. If you have any books to add to my reading list please suggest them in the comments below!
As I learn to lore, hide, and retrieve those clues and weave a satisfying tail, I'll also reading up on how other authors do it so well. Check out my other blog: The Jelly-Bell Book Club to keep up with my findings as I investigate adult and and young adult, and perhaps some Middle Grade mystery novels.
Learn more about my other writing at pbyeary.com or follow me on Twitter at PBandJellyphish
Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base
