The Deductive Detective by Brian Rock and Illustrated by Sherry Rogers. Ages 4 – 8 (2.5 year old son loves it). Sylvan Dell Publishing. March 2013. 32 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1607186137. Fiction. $17.95 (On Amazon for $14.00)
Quick Summary: Someone has stolen a cake from the cake baking contest! Fortunately, Detective Duck is on the case and he’s working fast to find the thief. Using his incredible super power of deductive reasoning — he is able to figure out who did it and bring the culprit to justice.
Our Experience Reading this Book: We highly, highly recommend The Deductive Detective. It is a lot of fun. We’ve read it everyday, several times a day, for the past two weeks and we really enjoy it. It’s an easy book to like no matter how many times we reread it. The jokes, the story line, and the pacing make it a great book.
Like a lot of kids I know, my son memorizes books. He’s memorized most of The Deductive Detective along with the subtraction facts included in this book. (All the subtraction facts in this book are in increments of one as each suspect is ruled out one by one.) The biggest surprise about this book is hearing my son complete simple subtraction sentences like: “11 suspects – 1 rooster is 10 suspects.”
What a cool and easy-going way to memorize subtraction facts even if he doesn’t grasp the underlying meaning yet.
This book also sparked a lot of discussion between me, my son, and my husband. Every time Detective Duck rules out a particular suspect, I ask a lot of questions that leads my son to ask even more questions. (Why don’t swans have fur? Why doesn’t a pig have a long tail? How do you bake from scratch?) It makes for very lively family dinner conversations. Which is so cool. It’s amazing watching my son be able to actively participate in a conversation — not just tell a story or repeat something that happened — but really be able to converse about something.
I should probably warn you: there are lots of puns in The Deductive Detective. I realize that puns are a very controversial subject and they invoke a great variety of emotions in all people. We happen to love them.
This is one of those books that we’ll be reading for years. We read it now, when my son is two, because it’s a fun story with jokes and great illustrations. We’ll keep reading it as he gets older to talk more with him about deductive reasoning and reinforce simple subtraction.
There’s an educational section in the back of the book with lots of great questions. For example, “If you’re eating breakfast, what time of day do you think it is?” I asked my son this question and this sparked a great conversation with him about the difference between breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
This book has sparked the most interesting conversations between us of all the picture books we’ve read so far. I love this book and am very happy with how much my son has learned from us reading this book together.
Where Obtained: I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Author/Illustrator Website:
- Brian Rock’s Website: http://www.brianrock.net/
- Sherry Rogers’s Website: http://www.sherry-rogers.com/
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Interview with Brian Rock:
Some of my Favorite Reviews and Interviews of The Deductive Detective:
- https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/brian-rock/deductive-detective/
- http://book4children.blogspot.com/2013/03/review-and-author-interview-deductive.html (with a great interview!)
- http://www.readerkidz.com/2013/03/27/the-deductive-detective-by-brian-rock/
- http://bergersbookreviews.com/2013/03/25/the-deductive-detective/
- http://www.hazelnutt.com/picture-book-author-interview-15-brian-rock (Interview with Brian Rock)
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I sure hope Detective Duck “quacks’ this case! I’d hate to have my cake stolen from the contest!
Looks like the best kind of silly fun. Can’t wait to read it!
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I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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haha! This looks like a great one! Math and puns and ducks and a mystery to solve! What more could you ask for?! I’ll have to check this one out!
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A magnifying glass and a deerstalker cap will complete the experience.
🙂 Rhythm would look especially fashionable in one. I think it would suit her.
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Hmmmm. I don’t know that we want to be giving the Mom Person any weird ideas. She might go for that one.
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This sounds like a fantastic book! I like puns when they’re well done, and it sounds as if that’s the case here. I also love the interview. I’m always interested in learning more about people’s writing processes.
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Thank you!
I was impressed with Brian’s answers and like Galway Kinnell’s quote, “Laughter is our stuttering in a language we can’t yet speak.” I hadn’t heard that before.
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