King & Kayla and the Case of the Gold Ring

by Dori Hillestad Butler, Nancy Meyers (Illustrator)

Overview

King & Kayla are back on the case in this laugh-out-loud mystery from the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award-winning series.

King, Kayla, Mason, and Asia are playing in the snow. Later, Asia discovers her gold ring is missing. What happened to it?

Analytical Kayla has a plan. Together the friends retrace their steps and thoroughly search the area. Sensitive King remembers the crow he saw outside. Crows like shiny things. Can King and Kayla put the pieces together and find the lost ring?

With simple, straightforward language and great verbal and visual humor, the King & Kayla series is perfect for newly independent readers. King and Kayla model excellent problem-solving skills, including working as a team, gathering facts, making lists, and evaluating evidence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682632079
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	02/02/2021
Series:	King & Kayla Series , #7
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	508,119
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.43(d)
Lexile:	460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Dori Hillestad Butler has published magazine stories, educational materials, plays, book reviews, characters for a board game, and over sixty children's books. A two-time Geisel Honor Book winner for King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats and King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth, she has also been nominated for children's choice awards in nineteen different states and won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery for Buddy Files: Case of the Lost Boy. She lives in Washington.

Editorial Reviews

2020-12-15
The dynamic duo of lovable canine detective King and his human, Kayla, returns to solve another mystery.

King and Kayla are playing in the snow with pal Mason when Asia, another friend, joins them, proudly displaying a special gold ring. After the cold forces them inside, Mom puts their wet outer garments in the dryer, and they’re ready for snack time. When Asia discovers that her gold ring is gone, children and dog take the mystery seriously and go into search mode. They retrace their steps, examine every nook and cranny (with some help from Mom, who demonstrates her plumbing skills), and follow up every possibility as they put their well-honed problem-solving skills to the test. King has a few ideas of his own, but he’s frustrated because even Kayla can’t understand his doggie language. He winds up locked in the laundry room, where he spots something shiny in the dryer. The case is closed, to everyone’s delight and relief. King narrates the tale with happy, enthusiastic aplomb, pausing the action frequently to note his many favorite things, mostly food. Butler keeps syntax and vocabulary simple, with brief sentences separated by lots of white space and organized in logical chapters. Meyers’ cartoons illuminate the tale, depicting the body language and expressive faces of all the characters, human and canine, with great animation and adding many touches of humor. Asia, Kayla, and Kayla’s mom present Black, and Mason presents White.

Emergent readers will enjoy solving the mystery along with these delightful Sherlocks. (Early reader/mystery. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"Highly entertaining, this funny and warm story contains life lessons for young readers about friendship, responsibility, and problem-solving. . . .a terrific transition reader for those just beginning to delve into chapter book level reading." —School Library Journal

"Meyer's drawings, pleasant and simple to parse, help support the story. A satisfying addition to easy-reader collections." —Booklist Online

"This book contains short chapters, natural language, and numerous digitally colored illustrations that mirror the text, giving newly independent readers a boost when navigating all those pages. . . .readers can test their individual problem-solving skills and crack this mystery before its heroes do." —The Horn Book Magazine

"This gentle whodunit. . . includes such classic genre elements as missing jewelry, suspicious characters, red herrings and a gratifying 'aha' moment before the restoration of order." —The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2021

Gr 2–4—Dog and girl detective duo King and Kayla are playing in the snow with friend Mason building a snow fort when they are joined by Asia, who shows the group her newly acquired gold ring, a family heirloom she prizes. After a snowball fight, the group goes inside to warm up and drink cocoa, and Mom tosses their wet things in the dryer. When Asia realizes her precious ring is missing, the friends search everywhere. Did King eat the ring? Did it go down the drain? Is it outside buried in the snow? The trio list facts, then make an action plan, even going so far as to have Mom take apart the sink. Meanwhile, King interrogates the noisy crow outside, convinced that he is the culprit. In a fun twist, the narrative is told from the dog's perspective. King can understand the humans, although they cannot comprehend him, and he can also speak with the crow. King's inner monologues are hilarious and heartfelt as he tries to communicate his important detective observations with the humans in his life. Meyers depicts King in generously allotted colored sketches with articulated facial expressions. Highly entertaining, this funny and warm story contains life lessons for young readers about friendship, responsibility, and problem-solving. VERDICT This early chapter book, with five distinct sections, will serve as a terrific transition reader for those just beginning to delve into chapter book level reading. Recommended for juvenile fiction collections.—Lauren Younger, Univ. of Dallas Lib.

School Library Journal