The Triceratops Pops Mystery

Cam Jansen Mysteries #15

by David A. Adler, Susanna Natti (Illustrator)

When Cam Jansen and her friend Eric go the music store at the mall for the latest CD by the Triceratops Pops band, Cam uses her photographic memory to foil a crime.

The Cam Jansen series is perfect for young readers who are making the transition to chapter books. The first ten books in the series have received updated covers, bringing new life to these perennial bestsellers. Now the series redesign continues with five more books, giving Cam a cool, modern look!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens Mystery, Middle Grade

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

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

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Determined to buy the latest CD from her favorite band, the Triceratops Pops, fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton head to Ernie's Everything in Music and Video store. There they discover that all of the CDs are missing, even though an employee just put them out minutes before. Convinced that a thief is at work, Cam is on the case...

First published in 1995, Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops Mystery feels quite dated - more dated even than the titles in this series from the 1980s, given the focus on a store selling video tapes, as well as on a video rental store. Beginning chapter-book readers today probably haven't ever seen a video tape! Leaving that aside, this was a fun entry in the Cam Jansen Mystery series, in which the eponymous heroine uses her photographic memory to solve crimes. The scenes with Jordan, the music store employee, and his discussion with the lady who wanted helped finding a CD whose name she couldn't remember, were particularly funny for me, as someone who has worked in retail. I'm not sure the target audience will find it as entertaining as I did, but it certainly added to my own enjoyment. Recommended to Cam Jansen fans, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mysteries.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this was partially my fault for not reading what the story was about before reading it, but it is not about a triceratops much to my 4 year old’s dismay. Other than that though, my daughter still seemed to enjoy it and kept asking for one more chapter. It is kind of a blast from the past with the mention of tapes and cassettes but my daughter didn’t seem confused so all was well. Overall a cute story that held a toddler’s attention which is a plus in my book.

[AS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cute : ) Many of the details are outdated (like getting VHS 📼 tapes at the movie rental shop at the mall) but I think the story will keep kids guessing what will happen next.
I remembered enjoying Cam Jansen books 📚 as a kid, so I thought I’d read a handful of them and remember what they’re like.
Watch out for the watermelon 🍉!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Juvenile fiction, mystery
Format: Print
Plot: Cam Jansen is at the mall when a CD thief strikes. Her photographic memory helps save the day (as usual!).
Readers advisory:
Review citation: 1998 Horn Book Guide Reviews
Source: Best books for children
Recommended age: 7-9

[Sabrina Rourke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cam Jansen books are clearly written, fun mysteries for kids. I bought this one for my 8-year-old brother who reads a bit higher than his grade level and it's perfect. It has good pacing and well-balanced storytelling with a nice mix of vocabulary words for its intended age range.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun read for my second-grade son, although he had no idea what a video store or a music store were. ;)

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age 7-10
Grade: 3rd
Genre: Mystery
This mystery book is one of many adventure chapter books that young readers can read and learn from. I chose this book because in it, students can not only learn that stealing is a crime that should come with consequences, but that it is good to share with higher authorities if anyone has stolen something. This not only helped make things right, but it also brought about rewards for Cam and her friend Eric who helped solve a crime. I plan to have books like this one in my classroom so that students can not only engage in mystery books, but also glean from themes that teach life lessons revolving around the importance of having integrity and good morals.

[Anna Salvesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam was going to the store to buy a new Triceratops Pops CD, but they were all gone. At the same time that they looked, a man was leaving the store and the security gate beeped. It only beeped because he had a CD from a different store. The security guard checked all of his bags. Cam figured out who stole the Triceratops Pops CDs. Turns out it was the same guy who made the security gate beep. He had two bags and one had a watermelon filled with CDs in it. His watermelon broke open and they found all of the missing CDs and some watches. The police came and took over for the security guard. Cam got a FREE Triceratops Pops CD and Eric got a free Ripe Banana CD as a reward.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Cam Jansen book I read, and I think it's a great early chapter book for boys and girls alike. This one might not be the best choice for students today, however, because there are a lot of things in this book that children today won't be familiar with... VHS tapes, movie rental stores, and buying CDs at a store.

[Paige Perrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Triceratops Pops Mystery tells the story of how Cam, with her photographic memory, and her friend, Eric, find out how six of the same CDs go missing. Cam and Eric investigate the media store, notify authorities, and save the day.

[Lily Pumpkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So there's these little things on the CDs so that the people can't steal them. But someone got a tape to trick a CD store into thinking that they didn't steal them and then they just disappeared. And then Cam Jansen figured out it was just a trick.

[Danielle Schutte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery book for kids. Fast read. Keeps you entertained looking for the bad guy and shows kids doing good might give you a rewards.

[Danielle and Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this because they catch a bad guy who steals six CDs.

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free CDs for Cam’s brave and amazing photographic memory!

[Novina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six stolen CDs
Hollowed our watermelon
Rented tape censors

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dated with a video rental store and missing CDs and tapes

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really interesting

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear, forgetful Aunt Molly sends Cam Jansen a birthday card with some money inside. Of course, Cam’s tenth birthday was four months ago, and Aunt Molly’s card wishes Cam a happy eighth birthday. Nevertheless, Cam looks forward to spending her “birthday” money on the newest Triceratops Pops CD. On their way to Ernie’s music store, Cam runs into a man carrying two grocery bags. At the store, Cam looks for the new CD, but can’t seem to find it anywhere. A store clerk tells her that he just put six Triceratops Pops CD on Aisle two, but there are no CDs to be found. Did they sell out so quickly? Could they have been stolen? The store’s security system didn’t beep, and the computer shows an inventory of six CDs. While Cam tries to figure out what happened, a man sets off the security gate. No CDs. Just a huge watermelon. Then, Cam notices that the bag holding the melon is wet and leaking onto the floor. With this suspicious scene in mind, Cam set out to find the CD thief.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining mystery in the Cam Jansen series by David A. Adler and Susanna Natti. We've read most of these books and have really enjoyed them all. This was a tricky mystery to solve and although I saw it coming, our girls were stunned. It's an entertaining story and we are looking forward to reading the few we haven't read yet.

I found it interesting that this story features a music/video store. I doubt our girls have ever really spent much time in a store like this and most of our videos and music come online now. It's a bit of an older story, but still interesting.

[Kimberlee Gutterman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Cam Jansen series is perfect for young readers who are making the transition to chapter books. Although, I think this book is suspenseful enough on its own for children to be excited to read. I also think that this would be a worthy book for a teacher to read to the class, perhaps at the end of the day. Since some chapters end with a cliffhanger, teachers may find it useful to read a few chapters each day to students. Also, this would be a helpful book for teachers to use as an example for some mini-lessons (leads, suspense, foreshadowing/predicting, etc.). Also, if readers are interested, you can encourage them to continue reading more Cam Jansen books by David A. Adler since this book is part of a series.

[Risa Miyachi]

-A Puffin Book
Ages 7-10
Time 10/8 30 min

-7-word summary
CD,popular, singer, stolen, a boy,a girl, find
Discussion Question
1, The main charactor has a special avility called a photografic memory, which a persom remembers just about what she or he sees.
I thik the ability is useful to remember students' names when I become a teacher.
So, if you had such an avility what would you like to do?

2,This story is taken place at CD shop,and charactors are of ten talk about music,
So,Who is your favorite singer?

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a cute book as part of the Cam Jansen series. While at the mall to get the latest Triceratops Pops CD, Cam and her friend Eric find that a thief has stolen all of them. With the aid of Cam's photographic memory and some smart thinking by Eric, they of course figure out who stole the CDs and manage to help catch him.

My 6 year old enjoyed it, but I think she has liked other Cam Jansen books more. She usually will read the entire thing in one sitting, and didn't with this one.

[Carolyn]

So once again being a second grade teacher allows me to read cute little books like this. Although i am looking forward to sharing it with my class and seeing how they react to the story. It is based around a video rental store that sells VCR tapes. :) Might have to bring some in so they can see what the story is referring too.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is triceratops pops music and somebody stole all six of the CDs. He cut into a watermelon and he put them inside and closed the lid. Cam solved it because he was running fast out of the store and it should have been heavy.

[Andrea Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cam Jansen goes to the record store to get her favorite bands new CD only to find that they are already gone. Cam and her friend witness some questionable behavior and suspect that the CDs have been stolen. It is a great story about morality and doing the right thing.

[E]

If you want a cd, save up 4 it!!!

[Sara]

Someone stole the new triceratops new Cd and that person hid the copies of it in a watermelon.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute series for kids. I would like to read the entire series....maybe...

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light reading for 7-12 year old. 56 pages. A girl with photographic memory and her friend try to find the thief at CD stores.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

all the triceratops cds are missing. when the man goes thru the metal detector it blinks and they find nothing on him. while he runs, he fell and the cds come out of the watermelon.