The Secret at the Seashore

Original Bobbsey Twins #3

by Laura Lee Hope

Mystery and adventure follow the Bobbsey twins on their trip to Ocean Cliff. While searching for clams and driftwood on the shore, they find a mysterious message in a bottle. Will this clue help them rescue a little girl's father?

Genres: Childrens, Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Adventure, Middle Grade, Juvenile

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Laura Lee Hope is a pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for the Bobbsey Twins and several other series of children's novels. Actual writers taking up the pen of Laura Lee Hope include Edward Stratemeyer, Howard and Lilian Garis, Elizabeth Ward, Harriet (Stratemeyer) Adams, Andrew E. Svenson, June M. Dunn, Grace Grote and Nancy Axelrad.

Laura Lee Hope was first used in 1904 for the debut of the Bobbsey Twins, the principal characters of what was, for many years, the Stratemeyer Syndicate's longest-running series of children's novels. Other series written under this pseudonym include: The Outdoor Girls (23 vols. 1913-1933), The Moving Picture Girls (7 vols. 1914-1916), Bunny Brown (20 vols. 1916-1931), Six Little Bunkers (14 vols. 1918-1930), Make Believe Stories (12 vols. c. 1920-1923), and Blythe Girls (12 vols. 1925-1932).

The first of the 72 books of the Bobbsey Twins series was published in 1904, the last in 1979. The books related the adventures of the children of the middle-class Bobbsey family, which included two sets of mixed-gender fraternal twins: Bert and Nan, who were 12 years old, and Flossie and Freddie, who were six.

Edward Stratemeyer himself is believed to have written the first volume in its original form in 1904. When the original series was brought to its conclusion in 1979, it had reached a total of 72 volumes. At least two abortive attempts to restart the series were launched after this, but in neither effort was the popularity of the original series achieved.

Speculation that Stratemeyer also wrote the second and third volumes of the series is believed to be incorrect; these books are now attributed to Lilian Garis, wife of Howard Garis, who is credited with volumes 4–28 and 41. Elizabeth Ward is credited with volumes 29–35, while Harriet Stratemeyer Adams is credited with 36–38, 39 (with Camilla McClave), 40, 42, 43 (with Andrew Svenson), and 44–48. Volumes 49–52 are attributed to Andrew Svenson, while 53–59, and the 1960s rewrites of 1–4, 7, 11–13, and 17, are attributed to June Dunn. Grace Grote is regarded as the real author of 60–67 and the rewrites of 14 and 18–20, and Nancy Axelrad is credited with 68–72. Of the 1960s rewrites not already mentioned, volumes 5 and 16 are credited to Mary Donahoe, 6 and 25 to Patricia Doll, 8–10 and 15 to Bonnibel Weston, and 24 to Margery Howard.

--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Tory Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great time reliving my childhood! I think when I was int the second and third grades, I went through all the Bobbsey Twins books -- in order, of course.I forgot how many mysteries they solve in one book. The vocabulary is actually rather sophisticated and the characters are not one dimensional as with some modern chidren's series. I think I'll start collecting these for my granddaughter to read.

[Andrea Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure!

[Bryan Frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just finished reading "The Bobbsey Twins In The Country ," which precedes this book , I quickly went on to Book # 3 in the series !! " The Bobbsey Twins At The Seashore " is just as good and fun as the previous book !! These books were written over a hundred years ago , and it does show in the writing !! The edition that I read has eliminated much of the racial stereotypes of the original books !! The first few books could be taken as one long story , or set of adventures . Each book picks up with a sort of " Epilogue " to the previous books conclusion . Having enjoyed these past two novels in the series , I will be beginning to read book # 4 -- " The Bobbsey Twins Mystery At School !! " today !!

[K.S. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my mother was a little girl, she would visit a local shop every Saturday and use her allowance to buy herself a bag of chips, bottle of pop, and a Bobbsey Twins book. She saved them for her daughters and it became the first series either of us read.

Recently, I decided to downsize my life. I released about 2/3 of everything I owned, including several Bobbsey Twins books that I had in my library. They’ll be passed along to my sister’s niece and I hope she enjoys them as much as we all did, even though they are a bit dated. I decided to keep one copy and chose this one, re-reading it for the first time in close to 40 years. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane!

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been trying to get this book for a few years now for my coastal inspired decor. Finally found a copy for $1.00.I read the series as a child and loved it. So last night I sat down to read it and it took a much different angle as an adult.I was uncomfortable with the role of Dinah (the African american maid) and the fact that she had a "seat to herself with the boxes of course".Also as an adult it is funny to see all the marketing plugs for the other books in the series, as you read along.So my childhood memories of the books are now clouded by the reality.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I read it because it was there in the basement when we were stuck for three hours during impending tornado doom, which never happened. It was poorly written and completely unrealistic but when I was a kid, I loved these books.

[Keli Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK I gave this book five stars because that is what I thought of it as a child. I mean how cool would it be to be a twin and have siblings that are twins ( I actually know a family like that) AND to go on adventures.. I found this book at the thrift store and read it as an adult.. it was cute and a kids book.. so I gave it my rating I would have as a kid.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for a childhood favourite. Growing up in the 60s my parents had an old copy of this that I read and re-read. At that time I had never seen the sea; at age seven when I first saw Lake Superior I thought it was the sea, what with the waves and not being able to see the other shore and all! Later in life I met up with the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and learned the difference. This is the book that taught me the word "pasteboard", when Flossie puts little crabs in a pasteboard box. I had no idea what that meant and had to ask my mom. Cardboard. I see. Typically of this sort of summer vacation story, the fathers have to take the train to town to go to work, only appearing at the weekends.

As for the book itself, I only remembered the first third or so. Once again tiresome old Freddie's pets get loose on the train, just like in the Country story. Freddie is still very babyish, though Nan and her twin have matured quite a lot. Fortunately Nan does more in this book than just sew and be ladylike; she and her cousin play tricks on all and sundry, so there's no need of "suspense" this time around. The Bobbseys and their relatives the Minturns (those names!) are still waving their magic money wand over the problems of the working class, though I did like the very natural way the author speaks of the family gathering to pray for anyone lost in the storm. God and prayer are part of their lives, it's not trotted out in an obtrusive "look at me" way at all. The "lost and found" thread had left no tracks on my reader's consciousness, which is odd for a book I read so many times. I certainly remembered Flossie and Freddie's boat adventure, and yet the "little cash girl" and her family vanished.

A good cosy bedtime relaxer.

[Kay Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived on the Bobbsey Twins books right after Dick and Jane showed me how to read!

[Wintermote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable family read with several good mysteries to solve.

[Debbie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Bobbsey Twins book.

The Bobbsey's have had a great time in the country but their Aunt has written and invited them to the seashore for the month of August. How nice to spend you summer this way. My children have not had this advantage. I wish they had. I have cousins down near the ocean and they have invited us down for the day, but we have not taken advantage even of that.

Many adventures, again, await the children. Many things will happen. New friends will be made and some friends from the country will also come and visit the shore and make things more merry.

Here are 2 of my favorite quotes from this book...

""Queer," remarked Nan, as they hurried on. "The two girls I thought the most of in Meadow Brook were poor: Nettie Prentice, and Nellie the little cash girl at the fresh-air camp. Somehow, poor girls seem so real and the talk to you so close--I mean they seem to just speak right out of their eyes and hearts."
"That's what we call sincerity, daughter," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "You see, children who have trials learn to appreciate more keenly than we, who have everything we need. That appreciation shows in their eyes, and so they seem closer to you, as you say."" (location 31 of 1296)

Actually I am going to share 3 quotes as these 2 go together.

""It will be a dreadful storm," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Bobbsey. "We must all go into the sitting room and pray for the sailors."
Everyone in the house assembled in the large sitting room, and Uncle William led the prayers."

""I'm so glad we prayed," said little Flossie to Freddie, when she heard the good news.
"It was Uncle William prayed the loudest," insisted Freddie, believing firmly that to reach heaven a long and loud prayer is always best.
"But we all helped," declared his twin sister, while surely the angels had listened to even the sleepy whisper of the little ones, who had asked help for the poor sailors in their night of peril."

Love the adventures and troubles the kids get into that always work out in the end.
Love the moral story with prayer and Bible reading in each.
Love the family/friends/community that stand together and help each other.
Already started the next book... The Bobbsey Twins at School.

[Liz Losada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was so good. It was very descriptive and I loved all the details on it. My favorite part was when Bert swam out and helped the person in the ocean and when the police came Bert and the person who was in the water who Bert saved, Bert and all his siblings thought it was Garry, a suspect the Bobbseys and the polices were looking for, and they took the man who was in the water drowning to the police station and before they knew it he ran off but they caught him and took him back to the police station and questioned him because they all thought it was Garry(the suspect) and did end up being Garry. The part that I liked also was they went to the carnival and met this girl named Cindy and Bert asked what her last name was and when she told them her last name they recognized her last name because when the took a helicopter to ocean cliff their pilot was friends with Cindy's dad. When Cindy was talking with the Bobbsey twins she told them about how when her dad was flying a helicopter and it crashed on an island, he's been their for months an he misses her. They all said a sorry for her and her mom and said hopefully he will be found soon. One day when they were all at the beach the were playing in the water, a glass bottle with a letter a ponded on the seashore and they opened it up and was a letter about the IAC(International Airplane Company), they all thought that's where Cindy's dad works. They called the IAC and sad that they will report about and research about it but their sure its not them. At the end the IAC calls the Bobbseys mom and asks to talk to the kids. They said that they had found a person stranded on an island and is going to look on every island for the person. It ends up being Cindy's dad and they are all happy. After they got Cindy's dad off the island, they all meet up at Cindy's house.
This was probably the best story I've ever read.(sorry if some parts are wrong in the story explaining)

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I vaguely remember owning a few Bobbsey Twins books, and reading them over & over. I always thought it would be very cool to have a twin, and was glad that Rob Boeyenga, my cousin & best buddy growing up, was often mistaken as such. But he didn't live at my house, so it would have been a lot better if he was my brother. Anyway, this is the cover I remember, although it sure wasn't the audiobook I listened to. I guess books were available on LPs--I remember we had a 78-RPM recording of 'Treasure Island', which we listened to over & over as kids. Loved it!

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bobbsey Twins Secret at the Seashore (Original Bobbsey Twins #3) by Laura Lee Hope (Whitman 1954)(Fiction - Children's). How can you not love the Bobbsey Twins? This is the third of the twins' adventures that I read as an early reader in the 1960's. The gentle resolutions to the twins' latest dilemmas were always a comfort to a small boy. In this volume, the twins' current adventure takes place during summer vacation. My rating: 7/10, finished 1/1/1965.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/2010: I started reading this to Sarah (it's one I used to read at my grandma's house in MN!) and the second night she said it gave her bad dreams. Hmmm.. Might be a little soon. :)
7/2011: Sarah finished this one off, too. She will inhale any chapter book that is laying around! ;) She loves the Bobbsey twins just as much as she loves the Boxcar children!

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read every Bobbsey Twins adventures I could get my hands on from the age of 9 through 11. Summers were wonderful and I could borrow from the library and read these books. I could borrow 8 books every 2 weeks. Soon, I needed more than that and had to fight the librarian for more books. Now, I can do 8 books in a day.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I loved this one. The Bobbsey Twins felt very real in this story - not so goody goody as they can sometimes be. The practical joke war between boys and girls was fabulous. (some very good ideas there....hmmm....)

Good adventure, good story all around. This is a favorite in this series! Highly recommended.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a lot of the Bobbsey Twins books as a kid. They do not have the same appeal as an adult. Their adventures are not very fascinating. These books take some criticism because they have a black maid. If anything I would say the books are outdated, but they were written in the early 1900's. The family almost seems too perfect.

[Darby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a week or more at my Grandparents during the summer. They had all the Bobbsey Twin books and many Nancy Drew books. So I would lay in my Grandmother's garden and read. I remember enjoy all of the adventure of the Bobbsey Twins.

[Darby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a week or more at my Grandparents during the summer. They had all the Bobbsey Twin books and many Nancy Drew books. So I would lay in my Grandmother's garden and read. I remember enjoy all of the adventure of the Bobbsey Twins.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these books as a child but then discovered that they had been re-released so I bought them "for my grandchildren" but discovered why I enjoyed them when I was young. It brought back many fond memories.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. Yes, it is old-fashioned. Yes, there isn't much of a plot. It is just a simple story about some kids on vacation. If you enjoy cute, youthful stories of long ago, you will enjoy this story.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a pleasure to read. i loved it. some old-time societal constructs that are laughable today made manifest: gender, race, etc. also, the author inserts himself/herself. it was a glimpse at yesteryear.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mrs. Miller, my third grade teacher, was the sweetest lady in the world. She would ready aloud to us from The Bobbsey Twins, spiking my interest to continue the series. Very amusing at age 8.

[Smacisaac]

Again not sure which ones I read but my mom had them from childhood and I know I read a bunch.

[Ss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like mysteries.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books! I read them over and over as a kid. I like that the kids are normal and human while still being wholesome and good.
I own this exact edition which was published in 1940.

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bobbsey Twins were my favorite when I was 10. My Nanny gave me hers and I rented them from libraries as well!

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another one she loved, but I wasn't too crazy about.

[Shannon Rickert · Rating 5 out of 5]

these are good reads im heading to the 4th one