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Goofballs #1
The Crazy Case of Missing Thunder
";Everyone wants to be a Goofball in this little town, and readers will want to follow their cases in the future. That #1 on the spine ensures that there will be many more adventures from these goofy friends."; €”Kirkus Reviews ";Targeting readers who like a lot of humor with their mysteries, Abbott includes a great deal of wordplay and slapstick, and stretches the goofball joke to its limit (Jeff’s dog even barks, ";Goof! Goof!";). Madden’s cartoons add to the fun, and Abbott’s clipped, dialogue-driven text is accessible for beginning readers and creates just the hint of a noir atmosphere."; €”Publishers Weekly ";The plot moves along quickly from clue to clue, enabling readers to test their own powers of deduction. . . . Bold black, white, and gray illustrations appear on almost every spread. Illustrations also suggest the multiracial make-up of the Goofballs. The humor consists o
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
7 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Tony Abbott
210 books404 followersTony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl.
Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.
Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.
Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.
Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.
Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.
Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
April 15, 2012
A boy who shoves french fries up his nose. Another boy parading in underwear outside wearing his pants on his head like bunny ears. Girls twisting off the top of cheese crackers and poke-a-dotting their faces with the gooey middle. Hmmm. I'm thinking... is this another Captain Underpants? Nope, it's the one and only goofballs. Jeff, Brian, Mara, and Kelly are detectives who have one thing in common - goofiness. When rich boy Randall Crandall loses his beloved pony, the four set-out to solve the mystery.
This series is similar to Nate the Great, Jigsaw Jones, or Cam Jansen. Jeff uses a notebook and words are repeated that help the beginning reader. There are silly puns such as "leaf" me alone or "water" you doing, wordplays such as "keep your plants on" or "The Magic School Bug", and sayings such as "You're a poet and you know it" or "the butler did it". The language is simple and some of the more difficult words defined.
Early readers are hard to find and good ones are even harder. It is tricky and challenging not to bore the reader when writing with a limited vocabulary and using repetition as a reading aid. Abbott tries something a little different here with all the puns and wordplays that is refreshing. Kids will like the jokes and silliness. What I think is lacking in this book is character depth. I can't really picture Jeff, the narrator, in my head. I don't know how old he is or what he's like. I do know he tries to pay attention to details, because he writes clues in his notebook. But this seems more like a writing technique to help the reader understand the language than get to know Jeff. He only writes facts. Abbott starts out by having Jeff tell us what makes a good private eye: A private eye has to notice everything... A private eye has to ask questions, but this gets dropped by the last third of the book. I think he should have sprinkled more of this throughout the story, such as a private eye has a sense of humor or a private eye must not show what they are thinking. Something to give us more of a feel for the character, Jeff. Or maybe that is too much like Nate the Great who uses the phrase, "I, Nate the Great..."
I love rip-roaring unforgettable characters. Who doesn't? Junie B. Jones is mouthy, self-centered, and mean. Marty Mcguire is a don't-mess-with-me tomboy who has no problem kissing a frog and is NOT gonna wear a dress, not matter what her mom says. The Cat-in-the-Hat is a flamboyant, fun, troublemaker. Ling & Ting are forgetful and hyper. So while this story is fun and silly I didn't find Jeff memorable. I did find Brian however. Anyone who runs around with underwear on their head is pretty unforgettable. Maybe the problem lies in the first person point of view of Jeff. I am not sure. I will definitely be buying this series for our library.
This series is similar to Nate the Great, Jigsaw Jones, or Cam Jansen. Jeff uses a notebook and words are repeated that help the beginning reader. There are silly puns such as "leaf" me alone or "water" you doing, wordplays such as "keep your plants on" or "The Magic School Bug", and sayings such as "You're a poet and you know it" or "the butler did it". The language is simple and some of the more difficult words defined.
Early readers are hard to find and good ones are even harder. It is tricky and challenging not to bore the reader when writing with a limited vocabulary and using repetition as a reading aid. Abbott tries something a little different here with all the puns and wordplays that is refreshing. Kids will like the jokes and silliness. What I think is lacking in this book is character depth. I can't really picture Jeff, the narrator, in my head. I don't know how old he is or what he's like. I do know he tries to pay attention to details, because he writes clues in his notebook. But this seems more like a writing technique to help the reader understand the language than get to know Jeff. He only writes facts. Abbott starts out by having Jeff tell us what makes a good private eye: A private eye has to notice everything... A private eye has to ask questions, but this gets dropped by the last third of the book. I think he should have sprinkled more of this throughout the story, such as a private eye has a sense of humor or a private eye must not show what they are thinking. Something to give us more of a feel for the character, Jeff. Or maybe that is too much like Nate the Great who uses the phrase, "I, Nate the Great..."
I love rip-roaring unforgettable characters. Who doesn't? Junie B. Jones is mouthy, self-centered, and mean. Marty Mcguire is a don't-mess-with-me tomboy who has no problem kissing a frog and is NOT gonna wear a dress, not matter what her mom says. The Cat-in-the-Hat is a flamboyant, fun, troublemaker. Ling & Ting are forgetful and hyper. So while this story is fun and silly I didn't find Jeff memorable. I did find Brian however. Anyone who runs around with underwear on their head is pretty unforgettable. Maybe the problem lies in the first person point of view of Jeff. I am not sure. I will definitely be buying this series for our library.
June 16, 2012
I enjoyed this early mystery. I thought the jokes were funny in a little kid way, the story was predictable, but cute, and the characters seems like fun to hang out with (if a little shallow). Great recommendation for early chapter readers.
January 11, 2012
Jeff, Mara, Kelly, and Brian have been solving mysteries together for a long time, in their own goofy way. Now a horse has gone missing and is will take all of their detective and goofy skills combined to discover what happened. Perfect for those just starting to read chapter books. Reviewer 1
April 25, 2012
A fun new mystery series by popular author of the Secrets of Droon series. Beginning chapter book readers will have fun getting to know these new characters.
April 4, 2012
A multicultural quartet of goof-loving kids who have been solving mysteries since the first grade team up to tackle the case of a missing pony named Thunder. Silly fun for grades 2-4.
July 16, 2025
This book was definitely aimed at younger readers, which is probably why it didn't resonate with me and I didn't enjoy it much. The same probably goes for anyone older than 5th grade. Teenagers may get bored and put the book down, unfinished, to do something more exciting. They also might not touch it at all, and say something like, "That's a baby book! I'm not gonna read that!" The main character felt a little shallow, disappointing for me as someone who loves deep character development. The mystery is quite simple, as the book would be ideal for fluent readers who wish to read longer chapter books. 3rd graders can probably read this short chapter book/novel on their own comfortably, and younger kids would probably enjoy it as a read-aloud. In summary, while personally this book was not a great fit for me due to its low reading level and incredibly simple premise/conflict as well as an undeveloped main character, I'm sure that younger kids would find it an absolute delight.
January 10, 2022
The first book in this Inbetween (chapter book) series has these four young detectives already in action, with flashbacks to their first case. The two girls and two boys are a diverse cast of pranksters and supposed detectives. Their detecting, at least in this case, takes a rather backwards approach as they finger a suspect before they even have a case to solve but with lots of puns, gross-out humor, and amusing high-jinks they are sure to keep young readers new to the genre engaged. Not really my type of story but I can see this having an audience in the target readership.
March 7, 2020
Four 4th graders solve crimes together while making jokes and puns and partaking in general goofiness! Good mystery, good mix of kids, and most importantly, they visit the library to research their cases! #librarian #biased
November 27, 2018
Luisa: my favorite part is that the horse had the name Thunder and he is afraid of thunder.
January 19, 2019
Not as much of a mystery as a silly book with...Goofballs. This is a likable combination.
March 2, 2019
סדרה חמודה. מחכה שיתרגמו עוד ספרים בסדרה.
November 1, 2019
I liked this book because I liked how the kid was being a goofball. However at some time it got a little boring because there was no action which made it feel babyish.
May 5, 2022
Fun book following four young sleuths out to solve a mystery. I read it to my six year olds and it was appropriate. Enjoy!
October 11, 2017
- I read this with Gnome, and we had conflicting opinions. I thought the book was fun and quirky, and I would have read more of the series. Gnome didn't like it. She thought it was silly and boring.
- For an intermediate book, I think this is a great one to read with the kids. It was quick and entertaining, and there are illustrations throughout. A fun group of kids solve a little mystery. It is something I would have loved doing with my friends when I was 11.
- I laughed a couple times, but Gnome didn't as much. It just wasn't for her, but I thought the story was kinda funny and cute.
- For an intermediate book, I think this is a great one to read with the kids. It was quick and entertaining, and there are illustrations throughout. A fun group of kids solve a little mystery. It is something I would have loved doing with my friends when I was 11.
- I laughed a couple times, but Gnome didn't as much. It just wasn't for her, but I thought the story was kinda funny and cute.
September 10, 2014
Tony Abbott has written a lot of beginning chapter books for the Gr. 1-3 age range but this is the first time I have got around to reading any of his work. The first book in the Goofballs mystery series is just what one expects from a well-written piece in this genre. I enjoyed the characters, story and humour. This is a fun group of kids who have a unique detective agency, different from the usual. The first book in a series like this usually is about how everyone meets and how they got started detecting. I really like how Abbott dumps us right into the middle of these kids' lives. They've already solved a case, are famous in their town, are wanting another case to work on and get that call when we first meet them, an established group with a past. The only thing that bothered me was a bit of behaviour which was rather risky: going to meet a strange man way out in the boondocks. Now mom does come along but I'm thinking this is not a good idea even if mom should happen to have a taser in her pocket. But she doesn't and she then decides to stay in the car and let the kids go in the huge mansion in the middle of nowhere all by themselves. Not exactly a swift move for mom, but otherwise an entertaining mystery for this age group.
July 22, 2012
This book is the first in one of two new series out this year by Tony Abbott. Like everything else I have read by him it is a great read. Though this one is aimed at a younger audience than many of his other books I have read, he does a great job of writing for that audience and creating a story and characters young readers will love and hopefully get many more stories about.
The Goofballs are Jeff Bunter, Brian Rooney, Kelly Smitts and Mara Lubin, and they have garnered a fair bit of fame in the town after solving the case of the Pizza Disaster. Now they get a mysterious call by a Randall Crandall summoning them for a new case to one of the richest neighborhoods in town. They soon find out things are not always as they appear or in this case, as they sound over the phone. But there is a case and the Goofballs are on it. Can they find the missing Thunder? Read and find out.
Read the review and with links to other reviews of books by the authors on my blog Book Reviews and More. And also an author profile and interview with Tony Abbott.
The Goofballs are Jeff Bunter, Brian Rooney, Kelly Smitts and Mara Lubin, and they have garnered a fair bit of fame in the town after solving the case of the Pizza Disaster. Now they get a mysterious call by a Randall Crandall summoning them for a new case to one of the richest neighborhoods in town. They soon find out things are not always as they appear or in this case, as they sound over the phone. But there is a case and the Goofballs are on it. Can they find the missing Thunder? Read and find out.
Read the review and with links to other reviews of books by the authors on my blog Book Reviews and More. And also an author profile and interview with Tony Abbott.
October 11, 2012
In the first volume of this silly series about four young friends who solve mysteries together in their suburban hometown, the Goofballs try to recover their friend Randall’s missing pony. The text is simple and on the same level as other early chapter book serials such as Junie B. Jones or Cam Jansen.
Though Kirkus calls the inclusion of characters of color a “welcome touch,” readers won’t find much other than tokenism. Cover and interior illustrations make it obvious that Brian Rooney is African-American; they are less clear on Mara Lubin’s race, and there is little consistency from illustration to illustration on what her skin tone is. In any case, the text makes no mention of either character’s race (not even through clues such as names) and Jeff, portrayed as the white boy in the group, narrates the story.
Though Kirkus calls the inclusion of characters of color a “welcome touch,” readers won’t find much other than tokenism. Cover and interior illustrations make it obvious that Brian Rooney is African-American; they are less clear on Mara Lubin’s race, and there is little consistency from illustration to illustration on what her skin tone is. In any case, the text makes no mention of either character’s race (not even through clues such as names) and Jeff, portrayed as the white boy in the group, narrates the story.
March 21, 2013
The first in a series about a group of kids who form the Goofball Private Eyes. Together the four of them look for clues and solve mysteries. Yes, they do have a dog who sometimes sniffs things out although I haven't read of him talking or getting Scooby-snacks yet. They have just come off their biggest case yet by solving the mystery of the missing pizza when they get a call from the richest person in town about a new case. When they arrive, they find out that his pony went missing that morning and the Goofballs are on the case!
It's another cute book by Tony Abbott. Lots of fast paced action with humor liberally thrown in for the 7-9yr old set. My 7yr old has declared that this is his favorite author ever and he must read everything by him and by extension, so must I.
It gets 5 stars from my 7yr old and I'm passing it along for him. *big grin*
It's another cute book by Tony Abbott. Lots of fast paced action with humor liberally thrown in for the 7-9yr old set. My 7yr old has declared that this is his favorite author ever and he must read everything by him and by extension, so must I.
It gets 5 stars from my 7yr old and I'm passing it along for him. *big grin*
January 19, 2016
I read this book to a group of kiddos I watch, ages 2, 4, and 6. While the 2 year old got bored with the lack of photos, my 4 and 6 year old could not get enough of this book. Every time I ended a chapter the children would beg for me to read another one, and we ended up finishing the book in one day! The book was goofy and made the kids laugh the entire time, and the kids could not get enough of the pictures. The silly book was perfect for a younger audience and actually a pretty good book to read out loud. I'd say kids might get bored of this book past the age of 10, but until then let them laugh on with this adorable book. The mystery is a bit dull though, and I do not see any huge lessons being implemented, but instead is a good book for a laugh.
February 2, 2024
What do a thunderstorm in the morning, a library tulip garden, and a bag of potting soil have to do with the next case? They are a foreshadowing of clues to come! Randall Crandall calls the Goofballs in hopes that they can find his flower-loving horse, Thunder. At first, it seems that Joey Myers, the first-grade snack thief, is the prime suspect, but when flowers turn up missing or, rather, eaten all over town, the detectives must look farther afield. As the clues pile up, the Goofballs realize just who or what took Thunder away from his comfy stable.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
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December 30, 2020I grabbed this from the library for my Storytime graduate, and I wanted to pre-read it before I gave it to her mom. I liked it well enough. This reading level (it says ages 7-9) can be pretty basic and sometimes a little dry, but that's kind of just the territory. I thought this was cute. I've always liked detective stories in kids' books and I liked the way they solved the mystery, that it wasn't an actual crime or anything, and that the main character's mother drove them to meet their client. Touches like that are nice. Read the rest on my blog.
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August 16, 2012 This is the first in a series. The Goofballs are Jeff Bunter, Brian Rooney, Kelly Smitts and Mara Lubin, and they have garnered a fair bit of fame in the town after solving the case of the Pizza Disaster. Now they get a mysterious call by a Randall Crandall summoning them for a new case to one of the richest neighborhoods in town. They soon find out things are not always as they appear or in this case, as they sound over the phone. But there is a case and the Goofballs are on it. Can they find the missing thunder?
December 22, 2013
This is a new earlier chapter book series that will be great for kids who are just beginning to independently read chapter books.
This new series follows 4 friends who pride themselves on not only being detectives, but being "Goofball" detectives. As a result, we have one silly detective story. Young kids will enjoy the silly humor, while still working to try and solve the mystery.
Short chapters will make this a good introduction to chapter book reader. More difficult than Henry and Mudge, but easier than those long, thick chapter books. Great illustrations will also help the reader!
This new series follows 4 friends who pride themselves on not only being detectives, but being "Goofball" detectives. As a result, we have one silly detective story. Young kids will enjoy the silly humor, while still working to try and solve the mystery.
Short chapters will make this a good introduction to chapter book reader. More difficult than Henry and Mudge, but easier than those long, thick chapter books. Great illustrations will also help the reader!
July 29, 2012
My kids and I read this book together in a day. A quick and entertaining read aloud. The Goofballs reminded me a lot of the Goonies (Yes, from the movie) though not as intense. I'm curious to see what the other books in the series will be like. On a more practical level, the book is a good introduction to note-taking. Lead Goofball, Jeff, writes down clues in his notebook (modeling the use of keywords for recall).
September 29, 2013
A bit of a groaner joke filledbook, but early chaoterbook readers would probably enjoy it. The print is larger and double soaced so it looks like a longer book than what it is, so it willmake early readers feel like they are reading something longer,which I've found most enjoy. Late first and early second grade woukd probably enjoy it the most.
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September 9, 2016Genre, type,
authors other work
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Reading Experience
tone, feeling, kind of story
pace
characters
setting
language
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additional info learned
Take Away
why read it
other books
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authors other work
buzz
Reading Experience
tone, feeling, kind of story
pace
characters
setting
language
details/descriptions
additional info learned
Take Away
why read it
other books
share with...
April 22, 2013
I've just started reading this book with the kids at night. It's silly, fun and makes the kids laugh non-stop. I thought I could update what page I was one? Well we just finished chapter 2, onto chapter 3 tomorrow.
April 20, 2013
Thunder is missing. Only the Goofballs can follow the trail of clue to find the missing pony.
The clownish behavior of the child detectives make this easy reader appropriate for K-1st grade. The simplistic plot probably won't be appealing to second graders.
The clownish behavior of the child detectives make this easy reader appropriate for K-1st grade. The simplistic plot probably won't be appealing to second graders.
September 11, 2014
This book would be a great stepping stone for kids who would like Encyclopedia Brown, but aren't ready for his books yet.
The Goofballs are a group of four kids in elementary school who like to solve mysteries. They have solved a few cases before and this time they get called on a case.
The Goofballs are a group of four kids in elementary school who like to solve mysteries. They have solved a few cases before and this time they get called on a case.
April 26, 2016
A fun quick mystery story with lots of puns and jokes. Overall a silly story but I thought the writing quality was exceptional and I liked the fact that the kid detectives go to the library so frequently.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews