Young Cam Jansen and the Dinosaur Game

Young Cam Jansen Mysteries #1

by David A. Adler, Susanna Natti (Illustrator)

A jar full of toy dinosaurs, a game of musical chairs, and a smudge of chocolate cake. Can Cam Jansen put the clues together to solve a birthday party puzzle?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Picture Books, Chapter Books, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Dinosaurs

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[CYIReadBooks (Claire) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Better than Beverly Cleary, in my opinion. The story has a modern atmosphere that is perfect and a lot more relatable for children in this day and age. At the end of the story, there is an interactive Q&A for recall and discussion. I was impressed. Five stars.

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 3 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 15 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really good beginner chapter book for a first-second grade level. I never read a Cam Jansen before and I liked this. It's cute and it's a fun way to solve a mystery. Plus it keeps the reader trying to be aware of the clues that are being given in the story. It helps with Cam saying "click," because then the younger reader knows that something there was probably important.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an excellent mystery.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the chapter length in this book. They were a good enough length to call them chapters but short enough to keep younger children interested. This would be a great book to have in the classroom in order to help kids transition from picture books to chapter books.

[Kiyoko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jennifer "Camera/Cam" Jansen has a photographic memory, and she applies logic and critical thinking to the situation she finds herself in.

This is a series and I am looking forward to reading more. The series teaches kids to look at details and think like a detective. It also relates a moral story, and I hope other books do as well. Books are a great way to allow children to consider model behavior and apply it internally.

On to the narrative!

Robert wins a birthday party game prize of a jar of toy dinosaurs. Robert decides to sell the toy dinosaurs to his friends at school the next day, who are happy to pay for them. Free enterprise at its best, right?

Cam uses her powers of recall and critical thinking to conclude that Robert has cheated at the game to win! She takes aside Eric, the rightful winner, and challenges Robert about the situation.

Thumbs up to Cam for being mature and socially aware enough to confront Robert directly instead of involving adults to do it for her. She tells Eric that he is the true winner of the prize before consulting with the adult hosts of the party, Mr. and Mrs. Bell, which I think is less appropriate. But this is a short story for second graders, so we won't get off into the weeds with too much criticism on that point.

Robert confesses and apologizes and the rightful winner is crowned. Eric demonstrates generosity by distributing the toys evenly with the entire birthday party group for free, no payment required. The story contrasts Robert's selfish and unethical behavior with Eric's generosity, which I think is useful for young readers.

However, this is an impressionable young reading audience and I did not agree with the attitude Cam uses toward Robert when she confronts him.

The children walked around the chairs. But not Cam. She ...looked at the chairs. She counted them. "Click!" Cam went over to the table and looked at the slips of paper.

As Eric walked past, [Cam] whispered to him, "I have something to show you." Eric turned, and the music stopped. Everyone but Eric sat down. He was out of the game. Mr. Bell took one chair away and turned on the music again. When Robert walked past Cam whispered to him, "And I have something to show you." Robert turned, and the music stopped. Everyone but Robert sat down. Robert was out of the game. He told Cam. "You made me lose at musical chairs." Cam said, "And I'll make you lose the dinosaurs, too."

Wow! Vigilantism at it's finest, brought to you by Cam Janson!

Unfortunately, if the story happened exactly as described, Mr. Bell would have easily determined that something went awry with the dino game at the time the winner was called, and Cam's mental recall would not have been necessary.

Consider the facts:

Mr. Bell read the guesses. "180," he read. Then he showed it [the slip] to everyone. "That was my guess," Jane said. Mr. Bell read the guesses one by one. "100...300...1,000...450...200..." Cam said, "200 was my guess." Mr. Bell looked at the next slip of paper. He read, "150." "That was my guess," Eric said. Then Mr. Bell held up the last slip of paper and read, "154." "That's mine," Robert said. "I win."

The children did not put their names on the slips of paper, only their guesses for the number of dinosaurs in the jar. We know this because the illustrations show the slips of paper several times, none with names. Every guess was announced and the children acknowledged whose guess was whose.

So who took credit for the 1,000 dinosaur guess?

Wouldn't Mr. Bell realize that someone put in an extra slip of paper when no one claimed it as their guess? Being an adult, and with the winning guess being right on the money, wouldn't he deduce at that point that some hanky-panky had gone on? There were only seven children present, so it should have been obvious to him.

Perhaps Mr. Bell was frazzled by the party. Seven elementary school kids can certainly feel like seventy some days.

2 stars for plot.
3.5 stars for being a series kids will love to get into.

[Jorye Harris Perry]

A Mystery/Adventure book about a girl named Jennifer but they call her Cam. Cam is short for Camera. They call her Cam because of her memory. She has a picture in her head of everything she has seen. In this book, Cam and her friend were invited to a birthday party. On the way there her Dad gets lost and cannot remember the address on the invitation, but luckily he has Cam who remembers the address. Once the friends arrive at the party they are given a piece of paper to guess how many dinosaurs are in the jar. If their guess is the closest then they win all the dinosaurs in the jar. As time goes by the birthday girl’s dad comes to announce the number of dinosaurs in the jar. Some of the children discuss their guesses among each other to figure out if they won. The dad begins to pull the slips of paper out of the jar and calls out everyone's guess. One child guessed the correct answer and won the jar. Something doesn’t seem right to Cam so she begins to investigate. Cam soon realizes that one child changed their answer after the correct answer was announced. She brings it to their attention and they confess that they changed their answer. The child then proceeds to tell the adult that they cheated and to get the prize to the real winner.
I would share this mentor text with first and second graders. This is a great mentor text about making a guess, honesty, memory, and sharing. This is a critical age group when it comes to honesty and sharing. Some children really do not like sharing and some refuse to share. It is also hard for some children to be honest. You do not have to be taught how to tell a lie, it just comes out sometimes. But it takes courage to tell the truth at times. This book could lead to a mini discussion on honesty and consequences when you do not tell the truth. This book could also lead to a mini-lesson on memory. There is a memory game at the end of the book that children can participate in. You could also incorporate different memory games that correspond with different subjects such as math, social studies, and science.

[Grace VanKirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennifer Jansen has a photographic memory. That's why people call her Cam. Her special memory helps her dad get her to a birthday party when they forgot the invitation at home and it also helps her solve mysteries. Each chapter tells a different aspect of her friend's birthday party. They eat cake, play guessing games, and musical chairs. Cam's photographic memory helps make sure the actual winner gets the prize and this leads to sharing.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because it is entertaining and it will teach kids a good lesson. Kids will be engaged by Cam's photographic memory because it is unusual. The solving a mystery aspect is engaging as well, especially because it is a mystery that the audience didn't even realize needed solving. Also, the setting of a friend's birthday party is familiar and relatable to kids. Finally, the story shows kids to tell the truth and that sharing is caring.

[Amanda Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars because I like how at the end of the book is gives the reader a memory game. With the memory game, the teacher can ask the students the question to see if they were paying attention.
This book is about a girl named Annie who lost her tooth. Her friends go looking for it in different areas of the classroom. At the end of the story, Annie finds her tooth in her lunch box where she had put it after eating her lunch.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young Cam Jansen and her friend Eric Shelton attend Robin Bell's birthday party. All the guests guessed how many dinosaurs were in a jar, and wrote their guess on a piece of paper. Cam suspects the winner who guessed the exact amount cheated. She follows the clues and proves her suspicions were correct.

[Paige Wrasse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more attainable for my 2nd graders than cam Jansen chapter books. It has an easy to follow story line and after reading this one (quite dramatically) out loud to them, they all wanted to grab one and read the series themselves.

[Paula Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great series about Jennifer (Cam) jansen and her friend Eric. This time they go to a party with a guess how many dinosaur game, but something isn't adding up in the end. Can Cam solve the mystery. I love this series.

[Rhyme Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because, someone was cheating to win the dinosaur game and I like catching my sisters cheating!

[Michelle Farella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long sentences, lots of text on page, short chapters, simple dialogue. Not much inferring from picture.

[J.]

AR 2.5

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly easier version of the Cam Jansen books.

[Jolean O'Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aw! :)
The ending's very touching.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam goes to a birthday party and suspects one of the party goers of having cheated in a dinosaur guessing game. A nice little start to mystery series for small children.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We love the books in the Cam Jansen and Young Cam Jansen series by David A. Adler. They are great beginning chapter books for young readers and they are fun to read aloud. Our girls enjoyed this one and are eager to read more.

[Jessica L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful beginning chapter book that will appeal to all ages. Cam has a photographic memory and thinks someone cheated at the birthday party...is she right?

Themes: birthday party, lying, cheating, friendship, honesty

Students could give an example of a time that they didn't tell the truth and then talk about what happened.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, this solution was staring me and the rest of the readers right in the face, and once again, I didn't get it at all. OK, I partially got it. How does the author continue to defeat me? I'm honestly a bit embarrassed, but he's just that good.

This was a great book. I really loved it!

[Powers Family · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate

[Gage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the deinasour game.gage

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Read-Along Story Time on 2/28/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At a birthday party, the kids have to guess the number of dinosaurs in a jar. But did somebody cheat?

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roburt was cheating, he guessed 10,000 and after the answer was shouted out he put another guess in. L.K.

[Sue Jeffry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read all Young Cam Jensen series books. Thumbs up.

[Ratforce]

You might like reading this girl detective mystery. This is part of a series, so there’s more to read if you like it!

[Sydney McClure · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun book with some mystery to it. The text is not difficult, so middle elementary may be able to read it. Lying and cheating are addressed in the end, which teaches morals to readers.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was easy and fun to read.