When Timothy and his cousins go to the church swap meet, they discover a thief has stolen the white elephant they plan to buy, and it's up to them to find the culprit.
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When Timothy and his cousins go to the church swap meet, they discover a thief has stolen the white elephant they plan to buy, and it's up to them to find the culprit.
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Book 1. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. With remainder mark. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
ISBN 1556614055 - For ages 7-10. I'm not a fan of Christian childrens' book, but I read them when I come across them. This one has a nice story; the Christian aspect isn't excessively over-done, just one little preachy lesson in the beginning and one at the end, but I'm still not sure how appealing this series will be to non-Christian readers.
Timothy, Sarah-Jane and Titus are cousins who enjoy solving mysteries under the name the Three Cousins Detective Club. Timothy's church is auctioning "white elephants" (a term which is explained in the text) and Mrs Foster has brought an actual white elephant - in the form of a cookie jar. The kids really like it and want to show it to Timothy's parents, but when they return to the table, it's gone! Worse, it turns out to be valuable! Can the kids find it before the auction starts?
The back of the book says ages 7-10, which might be a better fit than the 9-12 you'll find on most websites. This book is just too little-kid-ish for the older ones. The first issue I had with the book is that it is #1 in the series, but the book keeps referring to older cases - a little confusing.
Second, Murphy seems to have a problem writing in full sentences. For example: "It was hard to calm down and explain. But if the cousins had learned anything about telling exciting things to grown-ups, it was that you had to take it slow. Otherwise, grown-ups would just make you take a deep breath and start over. And that was an even bigger waste of time than going slowly in the first place." That should be two sentences, not four! Murphy does this throughout the entire book and it's really bad writing. Perhaps she doesn't think children can read long sentences, or perhaps she simply doesn't know how to write. Hopefully, she'll get over this habit in the next book because I do think the series has possibilities.
