The Crown Affair Nursery Rhyme Mystery

I was very excited to discover The Crown Affair (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries) had been published as the sequel to What Really Happened to Humpty? (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries) after 5 years. I think I've been spoiled in finding sequels published so quickly or at all that I have been too demanding that they should come faster or at all. However, this sequel was worth the wait.

The author draws upon the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill for the basis of this mystery. When Jack loses his crown the fate of the Gooseland Games is in jeopardy. Unless the crown is returned, a new winner can't be awarded the crown. Chief Goose is not moving fast enough for Jill, so she calls on Joe Dumpty to find the crown.

He interviews Jack at the hill and it appears that another Jack might have been involved in the crime, however, Joe isn't ruling anyone out, just yet. With help from Spider, Joe begins to track down evidence.

This is a great way to introduce, review, or just entertain children by keeping the characters of the nursery rhymes, but introducing them in new settings. First he visits Jack Sprat and his wife and learn more of their story. Jack B. Nimble sends Joe to Jack Hammer's House (of the House that Jack Built), but Joe Dumpty only finds the fairy tale character Goldie there. She sends him on to Little Jack Horner who needed a crown, but had his work done at the dentist. However, he hints Jack of Beanstalk fame might have been involved. Dumpty and Spider proceed to solve the case so the games can continue.

As a fan of the series I was pleased to see a tease at the end for Dumpty's next case. It appears the cow has jumped over the moon and not been seen since. I only hope it is less than 5 years before we see another Joe Dumpty book.

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

I found another nursery rhyme detective picture book in Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?: And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries written by David Levinthal and John Nickle.

This is one of those wonderful stories both adults and children can appreciate together. The opening line "There are eight million stories in the forest. This is one of them." will draw in the adult readers familiar with the classic mystery movie genre. The nursery crimes will appeal to adult and child alike.

Binky the Frog works in Pinecone's robbery division. As the story begins, he is working on the case of a burglary involving the Bear family. After he works through the Goldilocks’ situation, he moves on Hansel and Gretel. After the first case, we are left wondering, will he side with the witch or the children. With the Hansel and Gretel's situation resolved he hears terrible news from Harry Wolf, Humpty, the lead drummer of All the King's Horses and all the King's Men band was discovered in pieces. As an old friend, Binky feels obliged to take a bus into the city to discover the fate of his friend.

After locating Humpty's killer, Binky takes on the Queen from Snow White and the fate of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.

This is the authors first trip into nursery rhyme crime and I hope it is not the last time we see Binky working his way through nursery rhyme and fairy tale crimes. This is a great way to open up discussions about fairy tales children have read. For older children it is a way to discuss crime and punishment as it relates to fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I used to use fairy tales and nursery rhymes as a great introduction to debates. Was Humpty pushed? Was Little Boy Blue overworked or lazy? Should Goldilocks have been arrested for breaking and entering or just forced to make restitution for her destruction?

This book works better after children have read the original tales. It is harder to understand the fun of the stories if you do not know the original tales.

Detective Blue

In Detective Bluewe discover Little Boy Blue has left the farm to become a detective. Using a comic strip format, Steve Metzger tells of Blue's latest case, finding Miss Muffet. As he explores the mystery, we encounter his first case in the story, the Dish and the Spoon, which he "cleans up" prior to taking on the missing Miss Muffet. He also meets Mary's Lamb and his encounter there is a different take on the lamb's attempt to get into school. Jack Spratt lets Blue know about the missing Miss Muffet and he is on the case. He encounters Bo Peep and Humpty during his inquiry. The Three Blind Mice are little help and Jack Horner sends him to Old King Cole's Castle. Miss Muffet's nursery rhyme provides him with a fairy tale clue and an unexpected twist to the story at the end.

This is a great way to generate interest in reading nursery rhymes to understand the jokes in the book or as a way to review nursery rhymes for children already familiar with the characters. Children will find the dual nursery rhyme/fairy tale identity twist interesting.

I am hoping this is not Detective Blue's only case. I would love to see a series of nursery rhyme mysteries developed around this character.