What Really Happened to Humpty? (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries)
is one of the best nursery rhyme adaptations I have read yet.
Humpty has fallen. Police Chief Mother Goose has given Humpty’s brother Joe Dumpty until 5PM to find evidence of a crime or she plans to write it up as an accidental fall. Joe is convinced his brother’s fall has something to do with his recently acquired position as neighborhood watchman. As Joe proceeds to interview witnesses and potential suspects he becomes even more convinced his brother’s fall was no accident.
Those familiar with nursery rhymes and fairy tales will appreciate the blend of characters in this tale and perhaps even start to put the plot together before the culprits are revealed to the reader. In this version Humpty does recover due to modern technology and medical knowledge gained from Jack’s broken crown. Joe Dumpty makes a wonderful fairytale detective for young readers. I wish I had this book when I was doing fairy tale trials with my fourth grade students.
My main disappointment is while the end of the story hints that Joe may have more stories to tell, it does not appear that anything has been published since 2009. I would love to see more Joe Dumpty books on the market. Updated the Crown Affair debuted in February of 2015.
A sequel has been released The Crown Affair for anyone who is interested in Feb of 2015. I have a copy on reserve at the library and hope to do a review soon.
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