Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog (Encyclopedia Brown, 21) by Donald J. Sobol

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog (Encyclopedia Brown, 21) by Donald J. Sobol

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Library Binding

Reader Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Not Quite Elementary, February 28, 2003 Reviewer: M Allen Greenbaum from California This is number 21 in the popular series by Donald Sobel. Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown, a winning fifth-grader, uses his powers of observation and logic to solve petty crimes and assorted other mysteries in his neighborhood. Aided in some stories by tough, bright Sally Kimball (look out, she hits!), Encyclopedia solves 10 cases here. The stories are formatted similarly: There's a problem (e.g., something is stolen, someone makes a possibly false statement), and Sobel mixes in a few good clues with a lot of dialogue and extraneous information. Brown announces that he has solved the case, and the reader is asked to come up with Brown's solution. Answers are given in the back. Unlike some books in the series, all but two or three of the stories were solvable without special knowledge or assumptions. Our third-grader, who's quite the intellect himself, said that a few of these mini-mysteries were very hard; some of these stories are more appropriate for kids in upper elementary school grades. Each story is about 5-6 pages long; the solutions are about 1 page. The dialogue doesn't always sound very contemporary, at least not for those living in urban California. Close attention to detail will help the young Holmes in your house.