Encyclopedia Brown Book Series - BETTER

When I was growing up in the 80's, I remember being introduced to a young detective by the name of Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown. He ran his own detective agency out of his garage and was so smart he even solved crimes for his dad, the Chief of Police. His stories were short and each had vital clues given to help the reader solve his mystery. Once you thought you had it figured out, you could flip to the back of the book and read the solution.

With a son of my own that is very fond of reading, I was shopping for Christmas present about a year and a half ago and came across a box set of the series in reprint. I was instantly taken back to the joy of my youth reading these stories. I was even lucky enough to watch the HBO series of the same name. I instantly purchased the set and couldn't wait to relive this whole experience through my son.

So what happened? He opened the gift rather indifferently and the books sat on his shelf for about a year. The one day when he was all finished reading the last of the Club Penguin books and the Scooby Doo books, I suggested he give one of the Encyclopedia Brown books a try. Again, indifferently he indulged me. Once he started reading though, this kid was as hooked as it gets.

A few months later, he is through 12 books in the series and I now have a few more on order. He absolutely loves the style of the books and seems to have really taken to the mystery genre. Admittedly, I did have to explain to him what an encyclopedia is (or should I say was?) to give Leroy's nickname some context but that was fun too. As a child born with the internet, he had no frame of reference for things like reference books!

I think after we get through all of these books (twenty-something in all), he will be moving on to A to Z Mysteries at his own request. I couldn't be more thrilled that something from my own childhood could be bringing such joy to my own son.

If you want to encourage your young 1st to 4th grade child to start reading more, I would highly recommend the Encyclopedia Brown Series from Donald J. Sobol. (My son even did a special school project on Sobol, now his favorite author!).

For sheer entertainment value, as well as bridging the gap between 2 childhoods 30 years apart, Encyclopedia Brown gets a BETTER.