Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

And maybe that is why I read across so many genres and love reading a good children's, middle grade or young adult book. In fact it was high school before I really became a reader.

Growing up with a dual form of dyslexia I did not read a lot of books when I was younger. I recall knowing the name but had never read an Encyclopedia Brown book until recently. I picked up this book because Barry Lyga made mention of it on his blog. But make sure your young friend knows about Jupiter Jones and Danny Dunn as well. If you only have one message to teach a young friend, Encyclopedia Brown solves mysteries because a) he has skill to keep exercised, b) he cares about the kids who come to him, and c) he has his father's sense of justice and service.

All of these are good and fun and laudable and worthwhile for kids to learn from. Danny Dunn solves mysteries as education. Nancy Drew solves mysteries as an obsession. The Hardy Boys solve mysteries as adventure. It isn't the 'can you solve it, too' mystery aspect, although that's fun enough, it's the attitude: Brown loves-and doesn't fear-a good problem, he wants to help people, he has a good relationship with his family, his friends trust and accept one another while recognizing their individuality, and the underlying sense of justice, both moral and civil, is a valuable lesson to every kid and a valuable refresher course for everyone else's adulthood certification. Give this to the nearest 6-10 year-old (or adult who wants to be 6-10 years old again). This kid here is way too hip to be the Leroy 'Encyclopedia' Brown I grew up with! But like so many kids' books that have been continually reprinted through the ages, to older covers were a lot better than what I'm seeing up there. The books were still pretty fun, though, even if my all-too-honest mom made it clear I was never going to get to actually live them out in real life. When your mom laughs at you, you know right then and there it ain't gonna work. I went so far as to paint my own detective agency sign and everything. I was determined to seek out neighborhood wrongdoings, solve some petty crimes, and maybe even win a few friends in the process. And in my mind, it actually seemed kind of possible. When you're the nerdy kid on your block, and you discover a character who is the smartest kid in school, kind of popular despite that fact, can not only stand up to but often humiliate the local bully, and gets to hang out with the prettiest girl in the school? Yeah, you're gonna wish life imitated art in that case. I could say that I loved the Encyclopedia Brown series as a kid, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate.

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol