9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A Great Introduction to Mystery Genre for Children,
This review is from: Richard Scarry's The Great Pie Robbery and Other Mysteries (Hardcover)
Sam and Dudley are two detectives, and this trio of stories about them will introduction children to the genre of crime mysteries. In the first, they track down the no-goods who robbed Ma Dog's pie bakery; in the second they solve the mystery of who has been stealing groceries from Grocer Dog's store. In the third they cleverly trap the bandits who have stolen Mrs. Pig's wedding pearls.
Through careful sleuthing, with some slapstick humor and exciting action, the two detectives solve the three mysteries in a methodical way, finding and following clues and exemplifying the importance of being aware of one's surroundings. Unlike most of the Richard Scarry books I have seen so far, while the illustrations are very interesting and detailed, the story is actually carried by the text, making this book a better read-aloud than (for example) Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
This is a perfect crime story for young children. The villains are one-dimensional crooks who masquerade as regular citizens -- evil enough to provide suspense in the conflict between them and the detectives, but not so evil that they will frighten readers. The detectives are intelligent and likable, and their methods and disguises are quite funny.
Most of the old Richard Scarry books have become collectibles, making them expensive to acquire. This one was republished in 2008 and is again widely available.