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Oct 25, 2011

Bill rated it:

I could say that I loved the Encyclopedia Brown series as a kid, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. I wanted to *be* Encyclopedia Brown. 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. And in my mind, it actually seemed k More...

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2007

Seth rated it:

Give this to the nearest 6-10 year-old (or adult who wants to be 6-10 years old again). 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 valuabl More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2008

Snarky's rated it:

Oh Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown. If only every town's criminal activity involved puns and word problems! Criminals in Idaville are bad at two things: telling lies and getting away with crime. Thanks to a ten year old nerd and his friend Sally.

It's bizarre that despite being the CHIEF OF POLICE, the kid's father brings home work every night and has poor Leroy solve all the town's crime over dinner. I always found that kind of sad (even as a child). Of course my parents are hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 22, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Sobol, J. Donald. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. Yearling: 1985, Print
Genre: Children’s Chapter books
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, Donald Sobol is about a boy who is fascinated in the mysteries that occur in life. His father works for the Police Department and he has the idea to start his own business of investigating client’s mysteries. This story has a few black and white pictures that enable the reader to envision what is occurring in the plot. The book is black and white More...

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Oct 19, 2009

Penn rated it:

Encyclopedia Brown is a book about a young boy named Encyclopedia Brown who has a cop for a dad. But he can solve 35 mysteries faster than his dad can solve 3. This book has more mysteries than any book I’ve ever read. There are more than 30 plot events in this story, because as you can imagine there are a lot of mysteries.

This book was recommended to me by my sister. Once I read the first page I couldn’t stop reading it. While reading this you should have a lot o More...

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May 31, 2009

Talia rated it:

Leroy Brown, (aka Encyclopedia), is the Idaville Police Department’s secret weapon! With Encyclopedia’s help, no case goes unsolved, whether it is finding a bank robber, or helping a boy not get swindled out of his money by the town thug, Bugs Meany. Got 25 cents? Then you can hire Encyclopedia Brown to help you!

I read these books as a kid and could never solve the cases on my own…how happy was I to be able to get 2/3 of the cases in this book (without cheating!) at the ripe old age More...

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Aug 29, 2011

Alex rated it:

A sudden fit of nostalgia prompted me to buy and read this. It took like half an hour. It was pretty fun! I love the old-school vision of America, sorta Tom Sawyer-y, where boys spun eggs for fun and 25 cents was a treasure.

Most of the mysteries are not as mysterious as I remember them. You know how each story ends with "How did Encyclopedia Brown solve the case? Flip to page 80 to find out!" and you gotta figure out what his big clue was? Well, it's generally pretty obviou More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2009

Claire marked it as to-read

Liked these growing up, eons ago - and a friend of mine back then did to (you know who you are!) so I'm pretty sure I heard of them through him.

Found them again with my daughter, and we liked them in theory, but in practice, going to sleep isn't the best time to figure things out.

And one shortcoming of the whole sleep-before-reading-always practice might be the dismissal of reading activities at any other point in the day. Or maybe other kids do still read during the da More...

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Jun 02, 2008

Daniel rated it:

when i was a kid, i ate this stuff up. so great. encyclopedia brown is one smart cookie and his nemesis, bugs meany, is soo bad that when he plays checkers against himself, he cheats! a boy like that can't be trusted and encyclopedia brown does a standout job of keeping bugs' scheming in constant check. well done, encyclopedia brown!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2010

Julie rated it:

The books in this series are fourth grade primers on textual investigation. I was into these books. In each small book of the series, there is presented, a short story such as The Case of the Missing Roller Skates, and then some sort of inconsistency in the whereabouts of the skates. Encyclopedia goes about to locate the skates. In the back each vignette has the reader see if they can find the spot in the story where those skates had rolled under the dentist office couch. No, there was a sligh More...

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Apr 14, 2011

Anna rated it:

Oh man. When I was (more of) a kid, I loved these things. A short story, short enough to read completely during a break in schoolwork or whatever, setting up a mystery that YOU, yes you!, were supposed to solve.
What killed me about these, though, is that the thing that gave the perpetrator away was so... trivial. An arrow was fired wrong when the murderer was a COMPLETE ARROW EXPERT WHAT HOW COULD HE SCREW UP or something. Or, some garlic bread was stolen and THAT GUY IS EATING PARSLEY TO More...

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Dec 28, 2010

Steven rated it:

I read the hell out of some Encyclopedia Brown when I was a young'un. As a child, they were great stories of a clever and principled boy detective. As an adult looking back at the series, they seem more an indictment of blathering, idiotic police work and the decimation of civil liberties. What kind of fucking moron is Encyclopedia's dad, the police chief who can't solve any crime without the help of his ten-year-old kid? And how the hell can he be arresting people based on the non-forensic More...

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Feb 11, 2012

Amy rated it:

Found this at the library last week and I had to bring it home with me. No doubt the Encyclopedia Brown books inspired my love for reading mysteries. I remember reading this as a kid and I couldn't get ANY of the answers right. Even as an adult, I only solved 5 out of the 9 cases in this book! :( So sad... I am happy to see these books reprinted so that a whole new generation can use their noodle to solve these fun mysteries/riddles. However, I doubt any of the kids who will read them now More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Tracy rated it:

Encyclopedia (LeRoy) Brown was not the average ten year old boy. He uses his head which was full of facts to help his father, the Chief of Police, solve some of his most difficult cases at the dinner table. In Idaville, no criminal had escaped arrest for the past year due to Encyclopedia, the best detective. Donald Sobol's first book has ten different mysteries for the young reader. Each mystery, solved by Encyclopedia Brown. Sobol even includes the solutions to the mysteries, so the reader More...

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Jan 20, 2010

Andrew rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Nov 26, 2011

Needleroozer rated it:

I just remembered that I read this book as a kid. I was trying to figure out what books to get a kid for Christmas and looked up this one. The description mentioned a Civil War sword and I knew for sure that I had read this particular Encyclopedia Brown book. Encyclopedia solved the mystery because of an inscription on the sword and something to do with the first battle and the second battle. It's all rather fuzzy, but I do remember it vagulely.

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Jul 28, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

I wasn't a huge mystery fan as a child, but I loved the Encyclopedia Brown series. I recently reread the first book in the series (although it doesn't really matter which book you start with-from what I remember, Sobol gives Brown's background in every book) and found it to be just as fun as I remember. It's not even hugely dated, which sometimes disappoints me when I reread a childhood favorite. Not great literature, that's for sure, but they are fun choices for beginning mystery fans or More...

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Sep 14, 2009

Arthur rated it:

A fantastic mystery book that puts you in the story. This is a great book were it twists your mind as it adds tiny clues that relate to real life. I really like that in the beginning of every book in the series it adds the address of Encyclopedia(Real name is Leroy) and how much it costs to solve a case which Leroy does in the summer. They call him Encyopedia because he has read a ton of books. I love this book.

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Apr 25, 2009

Scilla rated it:

I decided to read this book because the Wellesley Alum Mag had an article about an course on mysteries. This book was the only book on the reading list I had not read. It is a children's book, and was fun to read. The format is a series of ten episodes. The setting is described with all the clues along with the decision or arrest. The solution to how Encyclopedia Brown made his decision is given at the back of the book.

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Aug 03, 2011

Stephen rated it:

The premise is straightforward: Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown is the ten-year-old son of the chief of the Idaville Police Department. Because he is very bright and because he reads a lot of books and because he is a keen and critical observer, he has all the skills necessary to solve crimes. So he opens his own detective agency and charges clients "twenty five cents plus expenses" to solve crimes and other mysteries. There are, to date, 26 volumes in the series, the most re... (

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 15, 2009

Jen rated it:

This was my favourite series when I was a young child. These detective stories ask the young reader to try and solve the crime, the answers are provided at the back of the book. I love that the stories are set in a simpler time of baseball games, bicycles and lemonade stands. The whole town knew who the bad kid was (Bugs Meany) and they steered clear of him (he was often the "criminal" in the cases.)

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Jan 16, 2009

Sabrina rated it:

Any Encyclopedia Brown book is awesome. These are good for 3rd or 4th graders, especially those who love mysteries. The stories are fun and intriguing, and that Encylcopedia Brown boy is just so smart! They are hard to figure out, but you will love trying! The plots are very well-thought out and I have always enjoyed reading them!

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May 22, 2009

Princely rated it:

There's a reason why this never went out of print. The book was great for me as a kid- I owned all of the books in the collection, and learned something new each time I re-read them.

Hey, if I see a copy lying around today, I'll drop whatever I'm doing and try to read it.

It's great for kids who want (or need) to sharpen up critical thinking skills, and to read something entertaining without being condesending.

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Dec 09, 2008

Bryan rated it:

I think read about 13 of this book because I wanted to win the libery read contest. Apart from all of that Ilike this book, it was entreataining to read about this book being like sherlock holmes but without watson. This kid was smart and was the dectective of his neighborhood and solve misteries really well.

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Nov 03, 2011

Carolee rated it:

I LOVED these when I was a kid! Our teacher would read them to us until he explained how he solved the mystery, would give the kids a chance to figure it out and if someone got it right they got a candy! Whooooo Hoooooo, nothing like winning a piece of penny candy (when it still WAS penny candy) in 2nd grade!

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Feb 05, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Nick got a set of the first four books as a Christmas gift. He had a lot of fun listening to the stories, which are interesting and varied, and even managed to spot a few solutions. As a former child nerd, I approve of the smartest kid in school being the hero. Idaville criminals seem to be pretty bad liars, though.

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Jan 21, 2011

Sally rated it:

I remember reading Encyclopedia Brown for the first time as a kid and loving it. I loved trying to solve the mysteries. I loved that they were short so you could put them down if you needed to. I think this series started my appreciation of a good mystery. I still love them and I'm so excited that my kids love them too.

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Nov 20, 2010

Sarah rated it:

My kids loved these stories. They do emphasize logic and problem solving which is good. I just found them a little boring or maybe it was just the reader of the audio book that was boring... hard to tell. My kids asked to get the next one. I haven't put myself out to find it yet. So many other things to read!

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Aug 23, 2010

Romaskruse rated it:

Loved this book even if I'm not exactly the age it was intended for. Very fun and I am now reading it to the kids. Even Ryan enjoys listening to me read and at the end of each chapter we all try to solve the mystery together before turning to the solution at the back of the book. A fun way to spend family time.

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Feb 08, 2012

Maya rated it:

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake by Donald Sobol wasn't a very good book. It was a mystery book with cooking recipes in it. If I could change anything of the book I would take the recipes out. I did enjoy the mysteries though. They really got you thinking. The book is probobly for 4-8 year olds. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book.

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