Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Ten-year-old amateur detective Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown is at it again. In this collection by Donald Sobol (Dutton, 2010), he solves ten crimes, from petty theft to insurance fraud. Each story typically culminates with the crook slipping up and giving away a key piece of information that allows Encyclopedia to solve the crime. There is a brief pause before the solution is revealed so that budding sleuths have time to figure out the answer on their own. Listeners will enjoy playing detective, but may grow weary when every case has the exact same conclusion: Encyclopedia reveals the guilty party and he (and it's always a he) confesses to the illicit deed. Another downside to this collection is the decidedly old-fashioned flavor that may seem corny and dated to listeners. Greg Steinbruner's narration is lackluster. His tone is flat, the pace seems to lag slightly, and he doesn't do much to differentiate character voices.-Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public, Rochester, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Young mystery fans can join Encyclopedia Brown in solving ten new cases, from "The Case of the Stolen Stamps" and "The Case of the Scrambled Eggs" to "The Case of Mrs. Washington's Diary." The mysteries' solutions and how Encyclopedia came to them are provided at the end of the book. Black-and-white line drawings accent the stories. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Cranking out the cases for his brainy, perpetually ten-year-old sleuth since 1963, Sobol dishes up ten morefrom stolen cookies and rare stamps to faked photos (see title) and a bogus 18th-century diary. Though the plots are as formulaic as they come, that's partly the point, and the easy language and frequent pen-and-ink illustrations provide an enduring draw for fledgling readers; the entertainment value in winkling out the telling clue without having to turn to the solutions in the back is evergreen. There's usually an artful joke or two to catch, too ("This time it was Flash Borden who came running up. Flash was in fifth grade, like Encyclopedia. His real name was Gordon. He had left Gordon Borden behind in kindergarten. Flash, he had decided, suited him better"--ba-da-boom!), plus some clever wordplay. Interchangeable the volumes may be, but young Brown remains a model for budding detectives everywhere. How pleasing to have a new clutch of mysteries for the rising generation thereof. (Crime fiction. 8-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
