It’s been 25 years since The Canary Caper was published, and it’s still such a joy to read! We read the first of the A to Z Mysteries, The Absent Author, in April 2021. When I met the some of the same children again in June, several of them were devouring the rest of the series. I’m now looking forward to introducing the series to a new set of enthusiastic 7- and 8-year-olds!
As I read The Canary Caper, I was struck by many little details. On the one hand, I was upset about the animals in the circus. Of course, this is something we will discuss at my book club–animal rights. On the other hand, I was delighted that Ruth Rose pooh-poohs the idea of becoming a car salesman because she wants to be President! And then, she rubs it in by adding that it’s saleswoman, not salesman. Reading the book with my book club is going to be such a delight!
Alliteration
An activity always accompanies the introduction of the word ‘alliteration’ to my book club! The A to Z Mysteries all have alliterative titles. How many others can we think of? If we had to create an alliterative book title with our own names, how would we do it? And finally, can we take alliteration further to create a tongue twister?
Puzzles
A detective story is really a complex puzzle. The clues are in front of us; we just need to put them together to solve the mystery. This is the perfect way to introduce other puzzles – a code, a word search puzzle, and so much more!
Writing a Simple Detective Story
A detective story is arguably the most satisfying kind of story to read. Using a story worksheet, we’ll try to write a simple detective story of our own.
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