Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Donald Sobol's 10-year-old savvy sleuth Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown solves 10 cases in this collection (Dutton, 1970). Son of the local police chief, Encyclopedia has a knack for zeroing in on the most minor details, and this, plus his very reasonable charge of 25 cents per day, has the neighborhood kids lining up for his help. Aided by his junior partner, Sally, the prettiest and toughest girl in the fifth grade, Encyclopedia takes on cases of kidnapped pigs, stolen bike wheels, and buried treasure maps. Listeners can try to solve each case during a convenient pause before the solution is announced. Greg Steinbruner's narration is fairly effective as the thoughtful boy detective, but there is little vocal differentiation between the other characters. Some vocabulary and situations are a bit dated, but young fans may still enjoy these mini-mysteries.-Ruth Lorbert, East Woods School, Oyster Bay, NY (c) Copyright 2010. 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.
