The Kidnapped King (A to Z Mysteries (Paper))

Rating:
Summary: Fun Installment in a Solid Series
Review: A new kid on the block (staying in Dink's house!), a little action (a kidnap!), a little language lesson (French!), and a lot of teamwork (involving both children, parents, and authority figures) leads to another intriguing tale and a happy ending. Ron Roy's A-To-Z-Mysteries have proven quite successful in our household. I've now read all eleven installments to my four-year-old son, and he has found them immensely entertaining. Similarly, our best friend's daughter, an advanced elementary school reader, promptly consumed these books and deemed them enjoyable. Sure, like most of the chapter book series for little people, the plots tend to be marginally predictable -- conversely, these books weren't written for the parents (and the children seem to find the mysteries sufficiently compelling). I also find that, at a certain level, the fact that the characters in these mysteries are (reasonably) normal children confronting seemingly pedestrian criminals is a welcome break from my son's fascination with the preternatural and his preference for the less realistic (but highly entertaining) series such as the Secrets of Droon, Bailey School Kids, and the Magic Tree House. Also, unlike many of the series books, it does not seem critical to read the books in order (although we do). It's also nice that the protagonists -- Dink, Ruth Rose, and Josh -- play well together, think through difficult problems, exhibit good manners and, for the most part, display the type of vocabulary you won't mind if your children repeat.