The Mystery of King Karfu (Casebook of Seymour Sleuth) [Paperback]

Doug Cushman (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Casebook of Seymour Sleuth

"My name is Seymour Sleuth. I am the greatest detective in the world."

Travel to Egypt with the famous wombat detective Seymour Sleuth, and his able assistant, Abbott Muggs, to solve the baffling case of the missing Stone Chicken of King Karfu. Follow along in Seymour's fascinating casebook as they interview suspects, uncover clues, and catch the culprit after a high-speed camel chase across the desert. But the case isn't over yet! Decipher the secret code and discover the ancient Lost Treasure to bring the case to a deliciously satisfying close.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A wombat detective sets sail for Egypt to recover the valuable Stone Chicken. "Cushman's tightly crafted whodunit brims with suspense, secret codes and plenty of puzzling fun," said PW. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3. Wombat Seymour Sleuth joins the ranks of Detective Mole, Glenda Feathers, and other entertaining animal detectives. Seymour and his mouse sidekick, Abbott Muggs, are called to Egypt to find a stolen chicken. After identifying three suspects, the sleuths discover a crucial clue and nab the thief. Designed as a detective's casebook, each page of this inventive story looks like a well-used yellow tablet, complete with coffee-cup stains and ink smudges. The illustrations look like photographs in the notebook. Also "pasted" onto the pages are items of varied significance to the investigation: postcards, maps, the detectives' visas, a receipt for a camel rental, and assorted clues that Seymour collects. The animal characters are expressive and engaging and many of the items in the casebook add humor, including a red fish (a herring, of course) that could be a clue. The narration consists of the detective's own hand-written notes. The notebook format actually gives readers a clear and insightful look at how a detective puts evidence together. The "Notes on the Clues" lead neatly to "Notes on the Suspects," showing how the criminal is finally identified. With a clue-filled plot, plenty of humor, and an innovative presentation, this offering is sure to prompt requests for more mysteries from Seymour Sleuth's casebook.?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064435032
• ISBN-13: 978-0064435031
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Mystery of King Karfu is A Winner..., March 23, 2000

By 

Eric J. Baumann (Oxford, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mystery of King Karfu (Hardcover)

The Mystery of King Karfu is a colorful book done for children of all ages. Even as a 26 year old, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author, Doug Cushman does a wonderful job leading the reader though deductive thought and problem solving strategies in order to solve the mystery of the theft of the Stone Chicken.

Through the illustrations and the note book style of writing, Seymour Sleuth the ace detective, weaves his way through the different stories and alibis in order to solve the mystery. Each picture and suspect offers a clue for the reader to study so they can help solve the mystery in the end.

He does a great job bringing all levels of readers into the story so they can truely enjoy this book. Young children can look at the details of the illustrations and achieve an understanding of what is going while the reader can read the story to them. He also accurately protrays the animals and landscape indicative of Egypt.

The book develops the problem solving skills of young readers which is a critical skill for future success in school and an ever increasingly interdependent world. I recommend this book to all parents and teachers for it not only entertains the reader but it also helps a child begin to develop all types of skills. It is a vaiation of the ABC books of old and in my opinion it allows the reader to feel part of what is going on in the story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughter wants more!, November 2, 2003

By 

E. M. Rivera (San Juan, PR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of King Karfu (Hardcover)

My 6yo daughter and I have been learning baout ancient Egypt, and I picked this book up to have add some light fiction to our theme. It was great! The narrative is presented as a diary/scrapbook with pictures, sketches, ticket stubs and a number of other objects that add visual interest and require very small children to make connections. The clues were easy enough for a young child to make sense of and there was enough there to keep an adult laughing too (one of the clues was "a red fish"). The book also requires the reader to decode two messages using a simple substitution table (one letter=one symbol). My reluctant little writer spelled out the whole message herself, several sentences' worth. She also requested more Seymour Wombat books. We just got "The Mystery of the Monkey's Maze" and look forward to enjoying more mysteries as Mr. Cushman writes them.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but one can do better, March 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mystery of King Karfu (Casebook of Seymour Sleuth) (Paperback)

Many children will likely enjoy this book. One of the major strengths of this book is the pictures which depict the text. There are many pictures in this book (and why not since it is a picture book?), and they are all fun to look at, sometimes even producing the occasional laugh. There is also interaction near the middle of the book in which the child gets to work out a decoding puzzle (using hieroglyphics). So if a young child is easily bored with books, there he/she may get a break from the reading. And the puzzle is central to the plot as well, so the child will feel like he/she is assisting the main character.

A major problem with this book is that the text looks more like notes from a lecture or someone's diary than the narrative of a storybook. Although, I have no doubt that the author did this on purpose, it will most likely not provide a worthwhile reading experience. It will certainly not assist in developing reading skills.

I could recommend this only as a fun book for kids. But there are tons of picture books out there that are not only fun but also cultivate and develop good reading skills. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

3.5 stars