Friday, June 19, 2015

The Crown Affair by Jeanie Franz Ransom illustrated by Stephen Axelsen*

"(from the files of a hard-boiled detective)"
This is book #2.  Book #1 is called What REALLY Happened to Humpty?
Joe Dumpty, Mother Gooseland's private investigator, has to recover the Jack Hill's crown before Gooseland's Games begins in a few hours.  Otherwise the games will be canceled.
Jack was wearing the crown as he and Jill walked up a hill to fetch a pail of water.  Then a gigantic boom resounded, causing Jack and Jill to tumble down the hill.  They both passed out and when they came to, Jack's crown was gone.  All Jill can remember is seeing a figure dash by them and all Jack Hill can say is, "Jack, Jack, Jack!".
With these sparse clues, Joe Dumpty will have be challenged to solve the case in time.  How manyJacks live in Mother Gooseland anyway??!?
Such a fun book!  Lots of word puns in references to eggs and egg cooking methods.  To appreciate the humor of this book, the reader needs to be familiar with fairy/folk tales and Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.
It was a great opportunity to explain to my sons the different meanings the word "crown" can have.
Great book to introduce the mystery genre.
Loved the map of Mother Gooseland on the end pages.
***Highly, highly recommend (I have a fetish for fractured fairy/folk tales and nursery rhymes!!  See my bookshelf!!)
Strategies: word play, inferring, predicting, connections (T-T)

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