'Nicholson slips in fact boxes and a miniquiz as well as some red herrings to confuse matters. Phillips adds coded messages, screen shots, and diary pages to cartoon views of the squad in action... deduction and slick detective work save the day.'– Kirkus Reviews
'It's utterly unique and fun and has become an instant favorite in my household. We're looking forward to the next Museum Mystery Squad adventures!'– Manhattan Book Review
'All of the books in this series are fast-moving, filled with interesting facts that should spur readers on to their own explorations, well-written, fun and wonderfully illustrated with black and white drawings by Mike Phillips.'– Youth Services Book Review
'There is a clear desire to celebrate museums as spaces of imagination and learning. There is a very interesting interplay between text and image in the book, as the story is interposed by numerous illustrations, graphs and quizzes that visually make the book very visually stimulating.'– Armadillo
'They are so much fun!'– Manager and Curator of the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum
'There is so much to love about this book. A quick shout out for those with dyslexic children the font and spacing is good as is the creamy pages... A great story and characters, lots of hands on interaction/involvement, fun illustrations, terrible jokes and a great read.'– Bookworm (indie bookshop, Selkirk)
'Due to dyslexia ... picking up a book is something that Jonah considers to be hard work. That is until ... he read 'Mammoth'. We had begun to read it together before he went to sleep but he couldn't wait for the story to end and so continued to read on his own!... Within a few nights the book was finished and Jonah asked if we could buy the other book in the series. Completing a book on his own was a real confident boost to Jonah and he genuinely found the whole experience to be great fun.'– Parent of Jonah, age 9 years
'My 7yr old loves to read... She loved the museum mysteries... Her imagination has been gripped [...] All in these books have become a loved part of Anna's book shelves. Perfect for her age group. A page turner she can enjoy on her own with some words and phrases she'd not come across before to challenge her.'– Parent of Anna, age 7 years
'Grace absolutely loved them and devoured each one [Books 1 and 2] in a day. The characters and the plot really captured her imagination and she really enjoyed the way that facts were interspersed throughout (she loves a good fact!) The games and quizzes at the back were a big hit too.'– Parent of Grace, age 8 years
08/01/2017
Gr 1–3—A museum becomes the perfect mystery setting for this new series from Scotland. The detectives are three friends dubbed the "Museum Mystery Squad": Kennedy, Nabster, and Laurie. Kennedy is the organizer and the quick thinker, Nabster is the technical expert, and Laurie knows how to ask the direct questions. The squad reports to the museum director, Magda Gaskar. In the Case of the Hidden Hieroglyphics, a secret message is discovered on a mummy, and Magda Gaskar asks the kids to decode it. This doesn't sit well with Professor Gyptex, a visiting Egyptologist who is not quite what he seems. The book is full of interesting facts about hieroglyphics, and features an opportunity for readers to try their hand at decoding. In the Case of the Moving Mammoth, the world famous Dinosaur Circus is appearing in Edinburgh. While there are no real dinosaurs on display, there is a gigantic, stuffed woolly mammoth named Moth being housed at the museum. Shockingly, Moth seems to move at night when the museum is closed, and the squad is tasked with solving this conundrum. The book contains facts about animals and even a short quiz to determine which Mystery Squad member the reader most resembles. Each book is replete with black-and-white illustrations, along with quizzes, games, and brain teasers that will definitely engage young readers. VERDICT A strong series to add to early chapter book collections and an easy fit for fans of "A to Z Mysteries" and "Nate the Great."—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI
2017-07-02
In their latest caper, four young sleuths (counting the hamster) not only uncover a hidden treasure, but foil its theft.Edinburgh museum director Magda Gaskar summons the Museum Mystery Squad—narcoleptic genius Laurie Lennox, quick thinker Kennedy Kerr (both white), and tech whiz Mohammed "Nabster" McNab (evidently a Muslim Scot)—to the museum's Egyptian Zone to watch (supposed) Egyptologist Peter Gyptex at work. (Colin the hamster consults from his cage at home.) They arrive just in time to see some newly exposed "hieroglyphics" (actually rebuses) on a pharaoh's casket that turn out to lead to a long-lost jeweled bracelet. Piecing together sharp observations, solving anagrams, and learning bits about ancient Egyptian burial practices and hieroglyphics ("A bit like telling a story using only emojis, no words," explains Kennedy vividly if inexactly), the MMS winkles out the bracelet's hiding place just in time to nab the "expert," who turns out to be a wanted thief with a penchant for disguises, as he's trying to sneak it out of the building. Nicholson slips in fact boxes and a miniquiz as well as some red herrings to confuse matters. Phillips adds coded messages, screen shots, and diary pages to cartoon views of the squad in action. A final word-search puzzle (with answers) serves as both brain teaser and review. Companion adventure Museum Mystery Squad and the Case of the Moving Mammoth publishes simultaneously. The historical information is a bit flimsy, but deduction and slick detective work save the day. (Mystery. 7-9)
