The Crown Affair (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries) - Hardcover

Ransom, Jeanie Franz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1580895522 ISBN 13: 9781580895521

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2015

Synopsis

Full of puns and fractured fairy tale characters you know and love, this rollicking sequel to What REALLY Happened to Humpty? will engross you in yet another Joe Dumpty, Private Eye mystery. 

Jack (Jill’s other half) fell down the Hill and had his crown stolen. The Mother Gooseland Games are coming up, and that crown is the grand prize, so detective Dumpty is on the clock! It’s up to P. I. Joe Dumpty to round up the usual suspects and track down the culprit before it's too late. He's hot on the case, but will he recover the crown in time? 

Kids and adults alike will love this laugh-out-loud read-aloud.

About this title

About the Author

Jeanie Franz Ransom has written several books for children, including What Parents Do When You're Not Home (Peachtree), Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales (Magination Press), and Grandma U (Peachtree). When Jeanie isn't writing, visiting schools, or speaking at conferences, she's working with kids at her part-time counseling job, or making lattes at the local Starbucks. Jeanie lives with her family near St. Louis, Missouri.

Stephen Axelsen has illustrated numerous children’s books in his native Australia, including The Piccolo and Annabelle (Oxford University Press) series, which he also wrote. He lives on the east coast of Australia.

Reviews

K-Gr 2—In this sequel to What Really Happened to Humpty? (Charlesbridge, 2009), Detective Joe Dumpty is back on another case. Jack and Jill, as everyone knows, went up a hill, but as Jack fell down and broke his crown, someone went and snatched it! All that Joe Dumpty knows for sure is that one of Mother Gooseland's many Jacks is the culprit, and he rounds up the usual suspects to determine which of them is guilty. Ransom does a decent job introducing new characters and locations in Mother Gooseland, but the story does not have the same drive as the first one. The play on nursery rhymes is still clever, but the many puns involving eggs are overdone. The case itself is also not as interesting as its predecessor, with fewer clues to follow along as Joe Humpty mostly just goes from Jack to Jack until he finds the guilty person. Missteps aside, the illustrations are a step up from those in the previous book, as colors pop a bit more and outlines are sharper, creating a much better experience. VERDICT There will always be room for more fractured fairy tales, so consider this one if the first case is popular.—Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and lost his crown . . .
 
            And that’s where I come in.
            Who am I? I’m Joe Dumpty, Private Investigator.

Edition details

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1580895522
• ISBN 13: 9781580895521
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Axelsen Stephen
• Number of pages: 40