Adventure of the Dancing Men. This item is unavailable.Adventure of the Dancing Men

Mr. Cubitt has been finding strange drawings of dancing men all around his estate. He would chalk it up to a prankster, if the drawings didn't upset his wife so much. Can Holmes solve the case before tragedy strikes? Follow the clues with Sherlock Holmes in the adventure of the dancing men! Graphic Planet is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO Group. Grades 3-8.

This entry in the Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes opens with a prototypical scene of Holmes obnoxiously displaying how clever he is—and how much of a dullard Watson is—simply for the sport of it, which will nicely introduce readers to Holmes’ unbounded ego and Watson’s long-suffering resignation to play the sidekick role. The rest of the book revolves around the mystery presented by a series of hieroglyph-like drawings, which becomes a case of murder most foul by the time Holmes susses out the villain. Both Holmes and Watson can at times look a bit like kids playing grown-up, but the artwork, which focuses mainly on tight facial close-ups, lends plenty of personality to the side characters. Goodwin’s adaptation does a fine job of making the story clear through dialogue rather than resorting to the large chunks of narrative text found in many classics adaptations. A solid choice to introduce young readers to the distinctly flavored pleasures of Holmesian whodunits. Steer older kids to Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet. Grades 3-5. --Ian Chipman