Sherlock Chick's First Case

Sherlock Chick

by Robert M. Quackenbush

Look out Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Chick hatched from his egg with a detective’s hat and magnifying glass, and he’s on the case in this adorable, easy-to-follow mystery from Robert Quackenbush.

Within moments of his birth, Sherlock Chick lived up to the name he’d just been given. His parents pointed out the fact that their feed bin was empty and they didn’t know who might have taken their corn. Sherlock follows the trail of corn, questioning animals along the way, until he finds the corn and the culprits. Will Sherlock Chick be able to get that corn back where it belongs?

Genres: Picture Books, Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Animals

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Author/Artist/Educator Robert Quackenbush has written and illustrated over 200 books for young readers including his popular Miss Mallard Mysteries, which have been made into animated films for children's worldwide television programming by Cinar (now Cookie Jar Entertainment) that are showing in 70 countries. His books have won many awards and citations including an Edgar Allen Poe Special Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, a Gradiva Award, and a gold medal from the Holland Society of New York for distinction in art and literature by a member of the society. He is a frequent visiting author at schools and libraries giving programs to instill children with a love of books and reading. These tours have taken him across the US, including Alaska, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. His art is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Interior, the U.S. Air Force Museum, and Norton Simon Museum. For further information, visit his Web site www.rquackenbush.com, which also gives his Facebook and Blog addresses.

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quaint little who-done-it for the beginning reader. They’ll enjoy the bits of humor along the way.

Ages: 4 - 8
Reading Level: 1st - 2nd grades

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.

I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Sherlock Chick's first case began on the day he was born. At once, Emma Hen and Harvey Rooster knew that he was special. With that, his proud parents named him Sherlock. His first words were, "Are you in need of a detective?"

Premise/plot: Sherlock Chick tackles his first case in this newly republished picture book by Robert Quackenbush. Someone has taken the CORN?!?! Can Sherlock follow the clues and solve the mystery?!

My thoughts: I really LOVED this one. It was super fun. I loved the problem-solving at the end of the book. It was a hoot.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice, repetitive story. Didn’t love the helicopter parents.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Chick's parents know he is special right at his hatching. They immediately put him on the case of some missing corn feed.

I really like that this story pauses frequently to ask readers what Sherlock Chick sees, and they can make observations themselves before turning the page to see what Sherlock Chick saw. A splendid introduction to the mystery genre and making observations for littles!

[Kim]

I liked the general storytelling, but the formatting was way off. Why is the font so weirdly placed? I suppose it's because the illustrations needed to be large or you would lose the story. But each illustration was also in a box, so they could have done something different, maybe even make them the size as all of the other early readers. I'm sort of baffled by this one.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book with a ghost eating garbage is top notch in my book. Sherlock Chick good searching for a corn thief. With the help of the other animals and a scarecrow, Sherlock Chick is able to save the day. A cute story, nice illustrations.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/4 stars

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a blast from my past when I saw it at the library, although I miss the classic 80s cover. I'll need to come back to this when kiddo can try to solve the mystery himself.

[Natalie Tate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A chick follows a trail of seeds to discover the "mystery" of the stolen corn. A very mediocre children's book.

[Chad Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherlock Chick tracks down the thieves of his parents food

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I don’t really like it because the crows took the corn. I wish Hulk smashed them.” - Lucy, 4yo

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherlock is born a detective straight out of the egg and sets out to solve his very first mystery right away! His parents' corn keeps going missing and he's out to find the culprit.

[Alyssa]

Cute. Used for PreK storytime.

[Kelly]

It's not often that I like a story but not the illustrations. The story challenges readers to guess what is on the next page. But the illustrations are very rough. Anyone could have drawn them.