Detective Dinosaur Undercover: A Silly I Can Read Mystery About a Bumbling Detective for Kids (Ages 4-8)

by James Skofield, R.W. Alley (Illustrator)

The bumbling but bighearted star of Detective Dinosaur and Detective Dinosaur Lost and Found is back with three new silly cases to investigate! This third book of comic misadventures by James Skofield, brought to life as only the inspired illustrations of R. W. Alley can do, is sure to please mystery lovers and dinosaur fans alike. When a detective goes undercover, it usually means they are in disguise, right? Not if it’s Detective Dinosaur! How this charmingly clueless gumshoe goes undercover—in the most surprising ways—is the kind of irresistible goofiness beginning readers love. This Level Two I Can Read is geared toward kids who read on their own but still need a little help.

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

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cute dinosaur collection of three short pieces permits the young reader to discover the world of Detective Dinosaur and all his silly antics.

1) Undercover
Detective Dinosaur is called to the office of his boss, who has an undercover mission for him. Detective Dinosaur takes his time creating a major disguise before making his way over to see the boss. When he arrives, he announces that all this trying to make himself look like someone else has him too tired to do much of anything.

2) Under Covers
During one of his many naps, Detective Dinosaur dreams about being chased by two large blobs. However, when he wakes, he learns that it was not a dream; there are two blobs on the other end of the covers, trying to get him. Screaming for help, the entire police force comes to help. It takes the cadet to help Detective Dinosaur realise that those blobs are anything but a scary criminal!

Under the Weather
While out buying fruit, Detective Dinosaur notices the sunny day and dashes out for a snack. However, as soon as he reaches the awning, he is set upon by rain. Confused, he peers out to see the sun, but is again drenched in cold water. It is only later that Detective Dinosaur learns what is going on. I suppose this is why he is such a great detective.

Neo enjoyed all three of these stories and wants me to locate the other books in the series, perhaps so that he can read them to me. I have amassed the clues and I think we found a winner!

[Karie Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detective Dinosaur Undercover is a mystery story about a dinosaur that is a detective and gets a call to do some undercover work. There are three short mystery stories within this story and they each have a case to solve. The three different stories include, The Case of the Missing Hat, The Case of the Squeaking Shoe, and lastly Night Patrol.I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was super cute and a great book to keep readers interested and entertained. I plan to read this with my students this year because it fits their personality's well. I will do a sequencing activity with this story because they go through a lot of step by step activities while going undercover to do their detective work. I think this will be a successful story to do with them!
Karie Matthews

[Sierra Kemme]

Detective Dinosaur Undercover is perfect for kids who are starting to gain confidence with their reading. Each chapter features a short mystery that Detective Dinosaur solves, usually by accident. The writing is simple and fun. I think this would be great to include in my classroom library for my more advanced reading students. I also think it would help further engage my students.

[Kk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever early chapter book. Main character is a silly dinosaur, he has 3 small adventures/snafus in this book. Our child highly enjoyed, and easily read it to herself (only challenging words were the 3 long dinosaur names).

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An "I Can Read! Beginning Reading 2" book, this three-chapter book features a few dinosaurs encountering issues that a detective or police officer might face. There are at least two other books about Detective Dinosaur.

[Pavithra Sivananthalingam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book because detective dinosaurs character was so funny

[Hanlin Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

It gives this book is five, because those are one of my favorite kind of animals. And this is a silly book.

[Sarah Willbanks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Detective Dinosaur is a fun and silly way to introduce children to the Mystery genre. It is about a dinosaur who is a detective and in this short children's book he learns what undercover means. Like most children, he took the word literally and completely covered his body with random objects so that Chief Tyrannosaurus would see that he's ready. The Chief explained to him that 'undercover' doesn't literally mean to be under covers. This book doesn't have much of a lesson behind it but I still think it is a good way to introduce the genre to a kindergarten class or a first grade class.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book of short stories about a dinosaur detective who is quite silly. We started reading this book together and our youngest agreed to read the first few pages as long as I read the rest. After about sixteen pages, she realized that she'd read far more than she'd agreed to and I thought she'd quit. But then she was spurred on by her accomplishment and she finished the book. She was amazed that she'd read all 48 pages, and although I knew it was well within her capabilities, she usually isn't that engrossed in a story to want to keep reading aloud. Yay for Detective Dinosaur! The fun narrative and hilarious illustrations combine well to make this an entertaining book for beginning readers.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book to read aloud to my son. He enjoyed learning about Detective Dinosaur and his adventures. It is an "I Can Read Book", but I would recommend it for a more advanced reader to read alone. Why? Mainly because of the length of the pages and the length of the book. It is an excellent transition from picture books to chapter books.

[Ratforcekids · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective Dinosaur Under Cover, by R. W. Alley, is a beginning reader about a dinosaur detective that has some silly mysteries to solve.

What can be better than a fun mystery? A dinosaur detective of course. Follow Detective Dinosaur on his detecting adventures.

[carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended Ages: grades 1-2

In three brief mysteries, Detective Dinosaur learns about doing undercover work, gets chased by strange blobs, and finds rain on a sunny day.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

No review.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

silly. in a great way.

[Bethany]

Silly and fun; a good early reader.