April Adventure (Calendar Mysteries Series #4)

by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

Overview

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose have hidden Easter eggs for the younger kids to find. Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy have no trouble finding the plastic eggs. But some of the golden eggs disappear! Can the four kids track down the thief?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375861161
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/09/2010
Series:	Calendar Mysteries Series , #4
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	82,896
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.56(h) x 0.21(d)
Lexile:	470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Ron Roy lives in Connecticut with his white puppy, Pal. He is also the author of Random House’s A to Z Mysteries and Capital Mysteries series.

John Steven Gurney has illustrated many books for children, including the entire A to Z Mysteries series and Scholastic’s popular Bailey School Kids series. He lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

For a title that is more fun than one might expect, this book's reading level of 1.8 created uncertainty for this reviewer. It features "the younger siblings of the "A to Z Mysteries—four elementary school kids who are "having a sleepover." When they wake up in the morning, mysterious notes appear on their beds, notes that have apparently been slipped to them during the night. They are to follow the instructions—if they can figure out what the instructions are—and see what happens. According to the notes, plastic Easter eggs have been placed around the school building, the playground, and the park. Most of them are simply plastic eggs, but four of them are real eggs painted gold. It is not that difficult to find the plastic eggs, but the gold ones seem to have been stolen! Who would take eggs? The youngsters go to Mr. Pocket's house to find out what he thinks about it. Mr. Pocket is an elderly and quite knowledgeable neighbor. There is a pair of swans nesting in the park. They flap their wings and hiss when anyone walks by. Mr. Pocket says that they probably have eggs of their own, and the raccoons and snakes living in the park probably threaten the geese and their eggs. When the kids go back to the park, they find the nest and find out who stole the golden eggs! The swans are not safe, so the kids go to the park's caretaker and enlist his help. The swans' nest will have to be moved, and the way it is done is very clever. Adults are more a part of the story (and the solution) than one might expect, but overall the book can be recommend as a high/low selection as well as the ages for whom it's recommended. It is part` of the "Calendar Mysteries" subseries in the larger "A Stepping Stone Book" series. Reviewer: Judy Silverman

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman