"WHO DUNNITS" FOR PRETEENS...

. . . people read mystery stories for a diversity of reasons. Some, for the intellectual challenge of the puzzles they present, others for the vicarious pleasure of the chase. Others believe . . . that the vast popularity of the genre lies in the fact that, in a disorderly world, it represents one of the few fixed points of order and morality, where justice may be counted on to emerge triumphant. -Howard Haycraft ("A Treasure of Great Mysteries")

On this day in 1890 English mystery writer Mary Clarissa Agatha Miller, later known as Agatha Christie, was born in Torquay, England.  (I was privileged to visit this beautiful seaside town in the county of Devon with my family the summer after my high school graduation. Not sure if I was aware at the time that this gifted writer was born there.)

Anyway - I've discovered some interesting trivia about Dame Agatha that I'd like to share with you before I move on to some fun mysteries for kids...


- She was educated at home.
- At sixteen she was sent to school in Paris where she studied singing and piano
-In 1914 she married Colonel Archibald Christie, an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps. The couple had one daughter, Rosalind.
-In 1926, Archibald announced that he had fallen in love with a younger woman, Nancy Neele. That same year, Agatha Christie's beloved mother died and Agatha experienced her own real life mystery: she disappeared for a time and lived in a Harrowgate hotel under the name 'Mrs. Neele'. Agatha and Archibald divorced in 1928.
-Christie worked as a nurse during WWI, which helped her learn about prescriptions and poisons -- something which figured strongly in her writing career.
- Influences: Anna Katherine Green, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton.
- Christie is the Guinness World Record author: her work has been translated into more languages than Shakespeare.
- Agatha Christie never wrote a novel or short story featuring both her sleuths, Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie revealed the reason for this: "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady".

I remember reading Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE in high school, but I was first introduced to her popular sleuth, Hercule Poirot, through the PBS Masterpiece MYSTERY! series. I love David Suchet's brilliant portrayal of Christie's Belgian detective.  If you've ever watched any "POIROT" on PBS, I'm sure you've noticed the macabre, yet merry world that illustrator Edward Gorey has created as the backdrop for MYSTERY! (ever since the series began in 1980).

Gorey illustrated the covers for some of my son's favorite "juvenile reader" Gothic mystery novels by John Bellairs, featuring amateur sleuth Johnny Dixon and his elderly friend Professor Roderick Childermass.

The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs

Which brings me to...KIDS AND MYSTERY STORIES:
According to Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute: "The mystery story can be an excellent stimulus for utilizing study skills needed to be a good critical reader, such as cause-and-effect, logical deduction, and assessing vital information and facts. These same skills are also valuable in forming a “budding” writer.... the devices of the mystery story... are the hallmarks of all storytelling: the problem, the characters needed to make the reader care about them, the events that occur in their solving of the problem and, in the end, the reader feeling a satisfaction in being included in the solution."

Most of us remember Trixie Beldon, Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew, and The Hardy Boys; but here are some mystery/detective books for kids you may have missed...

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, by Herge. These are great mysteries for reluctant readers, in comic book format.

THE HOUSE OF DIES DREAR, by Virginia Hamilton (A historical mystery) From Amazon: A huge, old house with secret tunnels, a cantankerous caretaker, and buried treasure is a dream-come-true for 13-year-old Thomas. The fact that it's reputedly haunted only adds to its appeal! As soon as his family moves in, Thomas senses something strange about the Civil War era house, which used to be a critical stop on the Underground Railroad. With the help of his father, he learns about the abolitionists and escaping slaves who kept the Underground Railroad running. While on his own, he explores the hidden passageways in and under the house, piecing clues together in an increasingly dangerous quest for the truth about the past. Newbery medalist Virginia Hamilton creates a heart-pounding adventure with this absorbing classic for older readers.

GREAT BRAIN SERIES, by John D. Fitzgerald. Hilarious adventures of an Irish-Catholic family in Mormon Utah in 1896. Tom - a.k.a. The Great Brain - is a 10-year-old genius con man, always interested in making a profit (and always learning a lesson.)

BOY'S BOOK OF GREAT DETECTIVE STORIES (compile by Howard Haycraft) A collection of detective stories by well-know authors emphasizing deduction, not crime.

DETECTIVES IN TOGAS by Henry Winterfield (also: MYSTERY OF THE ROMAN RANSOM).  Read about these in my previous post HERE.

VESPER HOLLY BOOKS by Lloyd Alexander.  Think: Nancy Drew meets Indiana Jones. Vesper Holly never travels alone; her bumbling guardian, Professor Brinton Garrett is by her side, ready to be dragged through jungles and prisons for her sake.

READ ALOUD LENTEN LITERATURE

A good book my husband and I couldn't have done without in our years of raising a family was Making God Real In the Orthodox Christian Home by Fr. Anthony Coniaris.  I love this quote about Lent:

"It is significant that Lent happens to coincide with spring.  I think there is a wonderful lesson for us in this happy coincidence.  Lent should be for all of us a period of placing ourselves in the position where the best things can happen to us...in the presence of Christ, where the Sun of His love and power can shine into our arid souls to bring about a real awakening..."

source

For many of us, that awakening comes by slowing down, turning off the television, and making more time for daily prayer, spiritual reading, fasting, and participation in the special church services of Lent.  


In our family, we also tried to carefully choose good books to read aloud with our kids during Lent, that would help underscore what we were doing.  


There are the obvious choices of Bible and Saints stories, but today I thought I'd highlight some good literature for kids, that you may not have considered...please let me know if you have any to add!


SIR GIBBIE by George MacDonald, Kathryn Lindskoog. (ages 8-12) From Publisher's Weekly: George MacDonald's 1870s' Sir Gibbie, about a destitute Scottish orphan, was reportedly a favorite of C.S. Lewis's. An edition of the novel, prepared by Kathryn Lindskoog, inaugurates a Classics for Young Readers series, while a companion, Sir Gibbie: A Guide for Teachers and Students by Ranelda Mack Hunsicker, is available for teachers, students and home-schoolers. In the Guide, Hunsicker contends that Sir Gibbie served as a source for Huckleberry Finn, although Mark Twain (a friend of MacDonald's) upended MacDonald's religious message. Noting that previous editions of Gibbie "cut out much of MacDonald's Christian teaching," Hunsicker adds that Lindskoog's goal was "to restore [the book] to its original Christ-centered plot."  (218 pages)


HEIDI by Johanna Spyri, illustrated by Ruth Sanderson. (ages 7-12)  I hope you can find this adaptation with Ruth Sanderson's gorgeous illustrations. In any case, try to get a good unabridged version. Spyri's descriptive telling of Heidi's struggle to learn to read, as well as her relationships with her grandfather, the Alps, the goats, Klara, and Peter and his blind grandmother are not to be missed. What touched me most was the underlying story of the stern grandfather ("Alm Uncle") as a prodigal son figure who has his heart softened by his tender granddaughter. (285 pages)



THE BRONZE BOW by Elizabeth George Speare. (6th grade and up) Newbury Medal Winner. Daniel bar Jamin is driven by only one passion: to avenge his father's death, by driving the Roman legions from his land of Israel. He joins an outlaw band and leads a dangerous life of spying, plotting, and impatiently waiting to seek revenge. Headstrong Daniel is devoid of tenderness and forgiveness, heading down a destructive path toward disaster until he hears the lessons taught by Jesus of Nazareth.  Elizabeth Speare said she wanted to make young adults feel what it would be like to live during the time of Christ. I think she succeeded!

HOW CHOOSING GOOD READ ALOUD BOOKS CAN HELP CULTIVATE YOUNG SOULS...

BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER, by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe, is a wonderful guide for parents, grandparents, and teachers who want to choose worthwhile and imaginative books for children. Honestly, if you could only buy one book on the subject, this would be the one I'd recommend! It's full of good children's stories that are as satifying on an adult level as they are on a child's. The recommended reading list is a comprehensive guide of book summaries, grouped by age level (young, middle, and older readers) and literary genre.

Here are some more of the authors' thoughts on why reading good stories with a moral dimension can help cultivate young souls:

HOW CAN READING ALOUD GOOD BOOKS TO CHILDREN DEVELOP THEIR CHARACTER?

- Stories create an emotional attachment to goodness, or a desire to do the right thing.

- Stories provide a wealth of good examples to kids - the kind of examples that might be missing from some children's day-to-day environments.
- Stories are a good way of introducing "codes of conduct" to kids.
- Stories can help kids make sense out of life.

HOW DO GOOD STORIES HELP CHILDREN LEARN RIGHT FROM WRONG?

Good writing in stories can touch kids on a level where it really matters - their imaginations - by giving them mental pictures: "images". Pictures have a way of staying in children's memories long after parents explanations and admonitions have worn thin. So one of the benefits of good read alouds, whether based in real life or fantasy, is that they save the parent from doing all the reminding! And through the power of the imagination, children can vicariously participate in the stories, sharing with the hero/heroine's choices and challenges.

A great example of this for young readers is The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter. What child will forget how Peter disobeyed his mother, got sick from being wet and cold in Mr. McGregor's garden, and had to go to bed..."while Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper"! (My kids asked for this story over, and over, and over...)

Or, for older readers, what about all the life lessons learned by David as he comes of age in the novel David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens? They will definitely develop an emotional attachment with the young David, as he learns about friendship, kindness, love, and forgiveness from the many colorful characters he encounters!

Here are a few exceptional titles we might have missed or never attempted to read aloud, if it weren't for the fact that they were recommended in BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER:

The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald
Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Jester
Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham
The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig
Barry the Bravest St. Bernard, by Lynn Hall
Book of Virtues, by William Bennett
Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Clooney
The Bully on Barkham Street, by M. Stoltz
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding