Customer Reviews

Richard Scarry's The Great Pie Robbery and Other Mysteries

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I cannot believe this book has been out of print for so long. It is THE BEST Richard Scarry EVER! It is a mystery book where Sam Cat & Dudley Pig solve crimes. If you grew up in the 70's you probably remember them. Three complete stories now in a more "horizontal" form (The Great Pie Robbery, The Supermarket Mystery, & The Great Steamboat Mystery.) I grew up with a book that contained the first two. It was titled "Great Big Mystery Book." It was my most favorite childhood book. I truly believe it fostered my love of mystery & crime solving...B.A. in Criminology :) It is a GEM of a book and I am thrilled it is now available. As my husband was looking at the third story (Steamboat), his face lit up as his memory brought him back. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is the quintessential Scarry.

Sam and Dudley are two detectives, and this trio of stories about them will introduction children to the genre of crime mysteries. In the first, they track down the no-goods who robbed Ma Dog's pie bakery; in the second they solve the mystery of who has been stealing groceries from Grocer Dog's store. In the third they cleverly trap the bandits who have stolen Mrs. Pig's wedding pearls.

Through careful sleuthing, with some slapstick humor and exciting action, the two detectives solve the three mysteries in a methodical way, finding and following clues and exemplifying the importance of being aware of one's surroundings. Unlike most of the Richard Scarry books I have seen so far, while the illustrations are very interesting and detailed, the story is actually carried by the text, making this book a better read-aloud than (for example) Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.

This is a perfect crime story for young children. The villains are one-dimensional crooks who masquerade as regular citizens -- evil enough to provide suspense in the conflict between them and the detectives, but not so evil that they will frighten readers. The detectives are intelligent and likable, and their methods and disguises are quite funny.

Most of the old Richard Scarry books have become collectibles, making them expensive to acquire. This one was republished in 2008 and is again widely available.

I have ordered a number of Richard Scarry books for my daughter, but none of them seemed to contain the stories that I loved so much as a child. "The Bedtime Storybook" had some in it, but I couldn't find any that had the adventures of Sam the Cat and Dudley Pig. "The Great Pie Robbery" was out of print. But now, the book is back in print and after ordering it for my daughter, I can tell you that it's every bit as magical as I remembered. A truly fabulous story book for kids.

This book was a surprise for my 5 year old to get an introduction into the world of mystery. It is obviously not meant for older children who would like to read more intriguing mysteries. But it was great for my son, who has never read a mystery book before. The great steamboat robbery is my son's favourite, where Mrs. Pig's pearls get stolen. Sam cat and Dudley pig are our fabulous detectives, who can solve any mystery in no time. It gets the little minds thinking, and trying to pick up clues themselves. Richard scarry books have always been a presonal favourite of mine. I came across them only now, after I had children. I value them, because they are so good for introducing new concepts to little minds.

This is a great book! I don't know why our library doesn't have it. The stories are great and the pictures are very funny to my five and seven year old.

My children were introduced to the "Richard Scarry" books 40 years ago. Now, I am buying them for my grand-children. Amazon sent me an email of a "new" Scarry book, "The Great Pie Robbery", I'm not sure if it is ,indeed, a new book, or simply a new publication of an older book. Either way, it is wonderful ! Great illustrations, a story to keep the interest of 3 to 4 year olds, and a delight in every way.
Along with "Doctor Scuess", Richard Scarry books are as good as children's book can be written.

This is another Scarry's delightful book. I used to read his books to my son and now I'm buying them for my grandsons!

Richard Scarry and Bill Peet were my favorite authors as a child, and it was so great to see this book again after 20+ years. I remember the characters and illustrations so well, and it's still just as delightful as I remember it as a child. Wonderful book...one of Richard Scarry's best!

I loved this book when I was a child and between the mystery element and the multi-faceted illustrations it keeps the attention of my 3 & 5 year old boys!

I've known about Richard Scary books for some time but I was waiting for my child to get old enough to enjoy them. What I didn't know (until we finally bought this book) is this book (unlike many of the others) has a "normal" story line. (well three stories) This quickly became the favorite and now that they've started to read (age 4 now) the others are becoming more interesting too. The busytown cartoons are also favorites. You won't go wrong with this one.