Anna and her brother, Tom, have always wanted a pet. Finally, after their latest pestering campaign, their mother gives in and lets them choose a pair of hamsters from the local pet shop. But their happiness soon turns to horror when the hamsters are found mysteriously dead in their cage. Anna and Tom launch a full-scale investigation to determine who—or what—is behind the hamster homicides. Can they solve the case of the Great Hamster Massacre? Kaite Davies’s irresistibly funny mystery and Hannah Shaw’s spot-on illustrations combine for a quirky, delightful read that is part detective tale, part diary, and altogether hilarious.
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Needed another read-aloud book for bedtime and this was available at the local library. (Boy, I seem to be plowing through read-aloud books lately.) This is a cute, breezy tale narrated by a young pre-teen girl who has to write a “What I Did Last Summer” essay for school. Instead, she recounts the tale of a disaster with hamsters and her investigation into it. It's a very light tale especially for one that includes death in the story. There's a good sense of humor in it too. As I read it, I became aware that it's set in England. (There are a few Britishisms sprinkled throughout and of course, many of the characters have a fondness for tea.) I enjoyed trying out my accent for the character of Mr. Tucker (a retired Navy man), but when I accidently let my English accent stray into one of the kids speech, my own two kids said I was making a mistake. The narrator (Anna) and her brother were American, they insisted. (I went along with it.) The story ends somewhat abruptly and you get the feeling there could've been a little more to the ending but no matter – the kids liked it well enough. Now they are very excited at the prospect of my reading the third Mysterious Benedict Society book for the next read-aloud.
Featured Series
1 primary bookAnimal Antics / Critter Capers is a 1-book series first released in 2009 with contributions by Katie Davies and Hannah Shaw.
