Customer Reviews

Young Cam Jansen and the Speedy Car Mystery

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

 

 

David A. Adler's YOUNG CAM JANSEN AND THE SPEEDY CAR MYSTERY is made for Level 2 readers and receives fine drawings by Susanna Natti as it provides an easy reader of 32 pages revolving around Cam's detective work. Here a missing remote-controlled car for a science project offers brief sentences and visual clues in the drawings to help early readers progress.

The real Cam Jansen books are a wonderful series! They are clever, include humor, fun and intriguing characters, and provide a good time for any reader with good 2nd and 3rd grade reading skills.

BUT this ain't that! This is a poor and paltry imitation. Books for young readers can *still* be enchanting, funny and smart.

This book is NOT. It's a dull, rote-sounding, contrived story completely *free* of charm and whatever that magic thing is that intrigues a young reader and compels them to read on.

I teach kids who can't read well, and do it online, so I buy lots of Kindle books. I bought this one. It's not even worth using. My students wouldn't be "caught up" by it, and in fact would probably say to me, "What? Huh? I don't get it."

Don't spend your money on this one! Try "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew"Sleepover Sleuths (Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #1) if you want your child to be delighted. It is girl-centric, involves affluent girls only, and they're white at that, but at least it charms the reader.

The writing is GOOD. In fact, two of my students have been SO charmed that they're on #2 and #5, and it's all good.

Best of luck, happy reading to your kids, and all the good karma I can muster is being sent to kids all over the world for happy reading experiences. :D

P.S. I'm on a campaign trying to get more authors to allow their books to be sold as ebooks. If you too need this to happen, please help me out and tell others! Thanks so much from The Kids and Miss Paula. :)

This may not be a good book to read aloud to your kids as it sounds sort of odd given the reading level.

However, it is an excellent book for beginning readers. My kid loves Cam Jansen but is not quite at the readig level of the original series. She is so proud she can read this book and Cam Jansen was the hook that got her to read.

My kindergartner has recently started reading chapter books, though she continues to read readers and these Cam Jansen readers are among her favorites. This book is a Level 2 book which is recommended for ages 5-8, Grades K-2. The story is divided into several chapters and is illustrated throughout which motivates young readers to develop an interest in the story.

Cam Jansen is an interesting character (personally I find her to be a refreshing character compared to the annoying Junie B. Jones character which my daughter likes). The reason for her nickname Cam is because she has an excellent memory like a camera (hence the shortened nickname "Cam"), and uses this talent to solve mysteries. Cam is usually accompanied by her good friends in solving mysteries relating to everyday things. In this story, Cam solves the mystery of a missing speedy car belonging to one of the participants at her school's Green Fair. The story is engaging and makes an excellent reader for young children.

I am a real fan of the regular Cam Jansen books. However, I find this Level 2, Easy Reader edition to be contrived and dull. It reminds me of practicing reading in a monotone, and not being able to get the spark of the story. There are many excellent early reader books for beginning readers to practice with; when young readers blossom and then explode, let them open the gift of the tried and true Cam Jansen books. With all that being said, the format is highly attractive: bold, colorful illustrations enhance each page, a Table of Contents and chapter headings are colorful as well. The quintessential Cam Jansen Memory Game is found on the last page.