Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion

Questioneers Chapter Books #3

by Andrea Beaty, David Roberts (Illustrations)

Iggy Peck is an architect at his very core: When he’s not making houses out of food, his head is up in the clouds, dreaming of design. So he’s totally blown away when Ada Twist’s Aunt Bernice inherits an old house from ice-cream mogul Herbert Sherbert that is filled with countless rooms from all his favorite architectural periods. But something’s not quite right . . . Everyone says the house is haunted, and it seems that a number of priceless antiques—which were supposed to help Aunt Bernice pay for the house’s upkeep—have gone missing. If they can’t find those antiques, Aunt Bernice might lose the house forever. It will take all of Iggy’s knowledge of architecture and the help of the other Questioneers—Rosie Revere, Ada Twist, and Sofia Valdez—to solve the mystery and find the treasure!

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Mystery, Fiction, Juvenile, Audiobook, Stem

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2020

About the author

For more information, visit my website (www.AndreaBeaty.com).

Also, visit www.Questioneers.com for posters, activities, educator resources, and other information about the Questioneer books.

Further, check out Story Time From Space to see Ada Twist and Rosie Revere read at the International Space Station by astronauts! It’s out of this world.

https://storytimefromspace.com/ada-tw...

Reviews

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might lean towards 3.5 stars but I did not love this one as much as Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters. I felt that since Iggy was into Architecture, there would be more about being an architect and what that is like. Instead the story focused on the mystery, which is fine on it's own, but when the reader is expecting something different from the typical mystery well... A little of some types of architecture is discussed but again, not the architecture process.

[CHLOE PARK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iggy is a architecture he built a lot of food houses and towers.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this before you give it to your kids. My 6 year old loves these books. We read the other two in the series and they were great. This one has a 6 year old character that died in the 1918 flu pandemic. Her gravestone is on the property of the mansion. I wished I had know that before I gave it to my daughter to read DURING A PANDEMIC. :(

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen to the end it tells you how to make ice cream

[Aneesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of all over the place... and the backmatter seemed way more advanced than the book itself.

[Danny Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why is Sofia Valdez a Questioneer now? Who knows, who cares, let's just spend half this book dressing up as ghosts and reading old newspaper society columns. Oh, also, the Spanish Flu stuff is eerily prescient!

[Bre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! This is the first chapter
Book in The Questioners series and I will definitely be back for more. Each book is heart warming, with beautiful lessons, great encouragement to pursue your passions, be yourself, and there are wonderful nods to historical figures.

[Meag McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Libro.fm and the publisher for the free ALC!

This was a great listen for early elementary readers who may remember these characters from the picture book counterparts. It's produced with gentle background music that doesn't distract from the story, sound effects that add another layer to the action, and great voices for each character by the narrator. This is #3 in the series and I haven't read the others, but I was still able to follow along fine. Recommended for kids interested in STEM and looking for a mystery with some action!

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iggy Peck is a book about Iggy and his cat.

They go on adventures and find strange things like the haunted mansion. I think this book is a easy reading level because it has really good pictures of the main idea. If you like mystery and adventures then this is the book for you.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea Beaty first introduced readers to her inquisitive Ada, Sofia, Rosie and Iggy in her wonderful picture books and encouraged young readers to explore and create using the scientific method and trial and error as well as to build, design and to stand up for what you believe and for the rights of others to do the same. She then extended characters Ada (scientist), Rosie (engineer), Sofia (social activist) and Iggy (architect) into a chapter book series called The Questioneers. This 3rd installment features Iggy and his love of architecture.

While out exploring and working on his never-ending designing and drawing buildings, a storm chases him onto the porch of an abandoned home dubbed The Mysterious Mansion by townspeople. Coincidentally, his friend Ada’s great-aunt Bernice has just been gifted the supposedly haunted house by the former owner, the inventor of Green Goose ice cream. What follows is a series of adventures and misadventures as the group of four friends and one aunt explore and seek a way to fund restoring the wonderful Arc Deco/Art Nouveau building into a monument to not only the ice cream creator but the architecture and those who have lived and visited the area. Oh, and there may or may not be a ghost or two and maybe a cat with two oddly colored eyes!

Fun book with ties to historical figures and architecture. Back matter includes an easy ice cream recipe and an explanation of the science that goes into making it, definitions of the two featured architectural forms, and a brief biography of Ida B Wells who is mentioned as a visitor to the Mysterious Mansion in its glory days.

Target age: grades 2-4
Profanity: none
Sexual content: none
Violence: none
Representation: Iggy and Rosie are Caucasian, Sofia is Mexican American, Ada and her aunt are Black

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS My kids and I have enjoyed the Questioneeers series and I was saving this one for October given the spooky, maybe-haunted mansion aspect. I agree with the reviewers who said this book is a little all-over-the-place. While I appreciate that the kids learned about some different architectural styles (we read another book a few days later that mentioned Art Deco and they jumped right in with "hey, we read about that in Iggy Peck!"), it was definitely a bummer that Iggy doesn't really design or build anything himself in this book. I also feel like an educational opportunity was missed by not explaining how the various mechanical devices in the mansion (meant to do spooky things to frighten people away) were created or how, exactly, they operated. Finally, the tone is also kind of uneven. On one hand, there's some of the signature humor for the series. On the other, this story is actually surprisingly sad as the family who owned the mansion had tragedy befall them during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic when the wife and daughter both die and the father becomes so heartbroken he takes some drastic measures to cope. This came out of nowhere and caught me off-guard, so I wanted to point this out in my review especially given the recent COVID pandemic where children might be especially sensitive to such topics. On the whole, it was still a good read, it just felt more of a history and mystery than STEM and I didn't feel it was as well-developed as some of the others in the series.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childrens First Chapter Book. I have read several of the picture books featuring these characters, but this is my first foray into the chapter book series. Iggy is an architect, and he often loses track of time because he's observing or drawing the buildings around him. He is quite surprised one day when he ends up at the town's mysterious mansion because his friends are there! His friend Ada Twist's aunt Bernice just inherited the mansion unexpectedly. Bernice is a lover of the town's history, so she is excited to see inside the house that once belonged to ice-cream mogul Herbert Sherbert. But if she can't find a way to afford the needed repairs she may need to sell the house to Ms. Weatherbee for redevelopment.

This book was fun on audiobook- a lot of music added in for mood (and the mood was suspenseful). I did read in other reviews that the print book is illustrated, which makes sense since there is so much discussion of the features of the house. As it was, the audiobook was a little hard to follow because of all of the names of architectural movements. Also, just to note, this book mentions the 1918 pandemic several times The former mansion owner's wife and daughter died during the pandemic

[Pam Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iggy Peck and his friends are known as The Questioneers because they have questions about everything, lots of them. During a storm, he shelters at the Mysterious Mansion, rumored to be haunted. As an architect, he is fascinated by the mix of styles but it's still spooky. Fortunately his friend Ada Twist and her great aunt Bernice arrive to give him a ride home. Bernice has been gifted the house by the lawyers of its former owner, extraordinary ice cream maker Herbert Sherbert, because she is has done the most to share the history of their town Blue River Creek as owner of a shop filled with artifacts from its past. Iggy and his friends must now work together using their curiosity and STEM skills to find the antique furniture that once filled the mansion in order to make Bernice's dream of opening it to the public come true. The Questioneers inspire and challenge readers to follow their own unique interests.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great early chapter book series, The Questioneers, that really captures the readers' attention and keeps you asking, "What's going to happen next?" If you've read the chapter books by Andrea Beaty you have a good understanding of each of the characters that appear in this series but even if you haven't there is enough in the book so that you appreciate them and their role in the group dynamic. Because Iggy Peck who is the architect is the main character in this story, aside from a good story you also learn something about architecture, specifically art nouveau and art deco. Books that entertain and teach are that much more enjoyable to me as a reader and I suspect to others as well.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great installment in the Questioneers chapter books series! In this book Iggy stumbles across a mysterious mansion at the same time as Ada's Aunt Bernice realizes she has inherited the possibly haunted house. I love the quirkiness of the house and its rich history as well as the treasure hunt of sorts that unfolds in search of some missing furniture. I feel like I want a follow up to this book as I am sure there are more secrets on the grounds (maybe something tucked away in the groundskeeper's cottage or more to the cat statues and graves; also, where is that ice cream recipe? etc.). This was a very fun read! BTW, I read this with my 5yo and she only gave it 4 stars "because people died."

[Leigh Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story sets a fun mystery with spooky elements about an old mansion in town which is supposedly haunted. The characters end up exploring and solving the mystery in their own quirky way. This book mentions the First World War and the shortages that came with it, death via the Spanish flu epidemic, and the women’s suffrage movement. All pretty heavy topics, but it touches on them lightly and only has facts in the back about the suffrage movement. It also talks about vaccines and how “helpful” they are and how they “cured” a lot of illnesses which can be debated. What started out fun, ended up feeling like a political ambush.

[T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an adorable little mystery aimed for early elementary readers. The audio book is a full production audio and it is so well done, I jumped at some of the sound effects in the story. It may be distracting for some readers though who don't want to here the reader say "Beep beep" while there is an actual car horn sound behind the reader voice. There is plenty of bonus material to make this a history and science read for kids. Perfect for fans of the original picture books.

Received through the Libro.FM ALC program. Thank you!

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read the others in the series so I don't really remember them that well but this one just seemed different.
It starts off with a very Scooby Doo vibe. It took a long time for me to get into the book but I really enjoyed the second half and the resolution. It's definitely a celebration of architecture but there is a lot of other homages in the book (ice cream/science, women's voting rights, etc.) to the point where it suffers a bit from having too much going on.
Still a decent middle grade book though.

[The Book Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Aunt Bernice inherits a mansion formerly owned by the town's icecream maker, it seems she will have to sell it rather than repair it. Iggy and his friends solve the mystery of the 'haunted' house and the mysterious owner and it all works out so that Bernice can keep the house.

The audio includes background sound effects and the 'factual information' on art deco etc design. While Iggy is an architecht, this book focused more on interior design than architechture.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little spooky tale that is only loosely having to do with architecture. I wasn’t a fan of how the girls just trespassed inside the house without permission, and hearing the child died of the Spanish flu was a bit much for younger children. Also, there are a few times colors are pointed out- she was wearing a red scarf-but it’s green. I understand wanting to just pick one color, but then don’t state in the text it’s a different color.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little beginner mystery book! It does have “spooky” elements but those are kept light and are eventually explained. Wished it went into a little bit more detail about the architecture like the other questioner books do on other topics, but was still informative and educational. As other reviewers mention, book does talk about the Spanish flu pandemic and how people died from it, but this wasn’t a huge part of the book and the book also talks about advances in modern science/medicine.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviews from my kids:

E (Age 7) - “the beginning and middle we’re a little spooky so I give them 3-stars. The end was good. The mystery was fun. It was like a long puzzle, but without pieces. I give that 5-stars.”

A (Age 5) - “I didn’t think it was spooky. 5-stars”

Me - great series of books. Fun, clever, educational with a bunch of great role model characters.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This an engaging chapter book series, and the mystery involving Iggy and friends is not different. However, the audio performance is lacking, trotting out stereotypical speech patterns for characters that lack authenticity and are slightly cringeworthy. Definitely skip the audio and hand the print version of this to kids.

Thanks to Libro.fm for providing an audio to preview.

[AMY · Rating 4 out of 5]

128 pgs. This is a fun read. Iggy Peck and his friends discover an abandoned mansion in the woods and find out the backstory. They investigate the mansion because Aunt Bernice has inherited it mysteriously and they want to know the history is on the building and family. Additional information on ice cream and Ida B. Wells. Recommended for Grades 4-5.

[Shawn Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was my favourite of the questioneer chapter books. Story was engaging with an interesting mystery. Historic references to a couple architecture style and events like the Spanish Flu provided some educational value, but were brief enough to not get in the way of the fun of the story.

Like other Questioneer books the themes of team work are prominent.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINISHED: I am a big fan of the Questioneers! I love that they promote STEM with kids who are cool and fun. This was a lot of fun: a mystery about an old house, some missing furniture and a strange old ice cream maker! I love how these books are illustrated too - they’re so fun!

[Maggie Panning · Rating 2 out of 5]

It looks like I'm in the minority here, but I just didn't care for this book. It is a cute little mystery I suppose, my 7-yr-old son liked it (even though he did think parts were a bit spooky for a bedtime read. I however, kept wishing that it would be over so we could start a different book.

[Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Read to a 6-year-old, via FaceTime. He enjoyed the story -- and wanted me to keep reading at the end of each chapter. Which was the whole point. I was less enamored with the story than he was. There IS an easy recipe for making ice cream at the end. So maybe I'll give it a 4 overall.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still fun, but not as engaging to me as the other three. I'm not as into architecture, and the whole concept of this kid making big buildings out of food is a bit repulsive. Also, the cheese copter kinda makes the whole thing a fantasy as opposed to a super-competent kid exaggeration.