The Great Carnival Caper Ages 8-10

The Great Carnival Caper

By John Speirs

Edition: illustrated

Published by Reader's Digest Kids, 1993

ISBN 0895774534, 9780895774538

32 pages
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4, Ages 8, 9, 10 -A mind-stretching, innovative picture book, reminiscent of the popular "Waldo" books (Little), only on a more complex level. Three children try to find out why the Thirteen Clown Carnival is in chaos. Someone keeps mixing up the rides and causing trouble. Readers solve the mystery by cracking hidden codes, searching through mazes, and solving puzzles. Visual challenges abound, such as finding 25 things wrong with the carnival in one picture, or locating the sideshow performers in a crowd. The detailed, colorful watercolors will keep children puzzling over this book for a long time. Answers are included in the back.
Janet M. Bair, Trumbull Library, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
A series of picture puzzles in which the reader helps three young Puzzle Masters and their dog locate carnival entertainers, animals, and other attractions, decode messages, and find the villain responsible for wreaking havoc with the carnival.

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Chasing Vermeer Ages 11-14

By Blue Balliett

Illustrated by Brett Helquist

Published by Scholastic Press, 2004

ISBN 0439372941, 9780439372947

254 pages

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Art, intrigue, and plenty of twists and turns make this art mystery a great read. Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay set out to find the connection between their teacher (a freewheeling constructivist teacher), the eccentric woman in their neighborhood, the bookstore owner, and an international art thief. Balliett intersperses fascinating information about Johannes Vermeer and his paintings throughout the two friends' quest to solve the mystery—a mystery layered with pentominoes (a mathematical tool consisting of 12 pieces), puzzling clues, and suspicious strangers. Helquist's detailed black-and-white chapter illustrations hold hidden messages, clues related to the pentominoes, and more puzzles. Fans of E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler or Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game will find equal pleasure in this debut by a talented writer. (Fiction. 11, 12, 13, 14)

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Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.

Gr 5-8-Fans of Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game (Dutton, 1978) and E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Turtleback, 1967) will welcome this novel about two classmates determined to solve the mystery of a missing painting. Brainy 12-year-olds Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay attend the University of Chicago Laboratory School where their teacher's unorthodox methods make learning an adventure. When Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears on its way to exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, the two overcome their adolescent awkwardness and let their friendship bloom, pooling their talents to rescue the masterpiece and expose the thief. Many elements play a role in unraveling the secrets surrounding the crime: Calder's set of pentominoes; his encoded correspondence with his friend Tommy about a missing boy named Frog; and Petra's intuitive communing with the woman in the painting, all augmented by the unusual ideas presented in a strange old book that Petra has found. Balliett also provides lots of plot twists and red herrings along the way. Helquist's atmospheric black-and-white illustrations add to the fun, incorporating clues to a secret message, the answer to which can be found on the publisher's Web site. Puzzles, codes, letters, number and wordplay, a bit of danger, a vivid sense of place, and a wealth of quirky characters enrich the exciting, fast-paced story that's sure to be relished by mystery lovers.-Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

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