Book Review: Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs by Donald J. Sobol

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: 9 good mysteries with logical solutions

Cons: One impossible case; weak characters

The Bottom Line:

Match wits with genius

Even now as an adult

I'm no match for him

I'm Still No Match for Encyclopedia Brown

Back in the day, I was a die hard Encyclopedia Brown fan.  I recently discovered that, not only are the old book still in print, but new books are being written about him.  Curious, I picked up one of the newest, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs.  It brought smiles to my face as I was once again stumped.

For those not familiar with the series, Encyclopedia Brown is a 10-year-old who is incredibly smart (hence his nick name).  His father is the chief of police in Idaville.  While he occasionally helps his dad with an especially difficult case, most of this book is devoted to helping his friends in the neighborhood.  Each book in the series presents 10 cases.  We get all the facts along side Encyclopedia.  Each chapter ends with him making some kind of announcement stating that he's solve the case.  Our job as the reader is to catch the criminal's mistake that gave them away.  But if you missed it, there is a one page solution in the back of the book that explains what tipped Encyclopedia off.  The tip off is usually some obscure fact that proves they lied, although occasionally they contradicted a fact given earlier in the story.  And that's all I will say so as not to spoil the solutions to any of the stories here.

I was surprised to see most of the opening chapter hasn't changed from when I read them as a kid.  In fact, I could probably have quoted it from memory.  But the stories are all new.  The first chapter features him helping his father capture a jewel thief.  From there, he spends the rest of the book helping the neighborhood kids.  He saves them from investing in a pill that stops water leaks.  He identifies the author of an essay.  He stops several thefts.  And, yes, he still has a couple of run ins with Bugs Meany, the most appropriately named bully in kid lit history.

As a kid, I always tried to solve the mystery without flipping to the solution in the back.  And I was thrilled if I did that once a book.  I am proud to announce that as an adult...I solved two of them without Encyclopedia's help.  I was on the right track with a few of the others, and if I had given myself the time to think about it, I probably would have gotten them.  The rest?  I was stumped pure and simple.  Only one of the solutions was so obscure to not really be fair, however.  The others were so obvious I felt stupid for not seeing them.

I must say, the book wasn't quite how I remembered the series, however.  I thought the characters were more developed than presented here.  That might have been the case.  But it could also be that they just seemed more developed to the 10-year-old who originally read them.

I was also surprised at how short the chapters were.  Each one was between 5 and 6 pages, including one pencil illustration per chapter.  Frankly, there is hardly time for much character development with the limited space to tell a story.

But despite those changes, I must admit I still had a ball reading Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs.  I smiled quite often watching the smartest 10-year-old in the world snare criminals of all stripes in their evil deeds.