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Sebastian Barth Super Sleuth Mystery
Sebastian Super Sleuth and the Flying Elephant
When Detective John Quincy Jones is told to find the circus's missing elephant by nightfall, his faithful canine companion must come to the rescue as usual.
57 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 1994
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August 26, 2018
Sebastian (Super Sleuth) and the Flying Elephant / by Mary Blount Christian ; illustrated by Lisa McCue -- New York : Macmillan Publishing Co., c1994. (57 pages)
SUMMARY: Sebastian (Super Sleuth) again helps his human, Detective John Quincy Jones, to solve a case this time finding a missing circus elephant in time to entertain the local children.
REVIEW: The story is told through the eyes of Sebastian (Super Sleuth) an Old English sheepdog that belongs to a police detective and helps solves cases. He can read the newspaper, disguise himself so no one recognizes him, and can make a hamburger disappear in one gulp (after all police work is hard and makes one hungry). There are lots of facts included about circuses and elephants, while interesting they almost took away from the storyline (almost). I also like the interaction between the circus people who act like family and also the actual circus owner family as they work out differences.
NOTE: This title is much better written and illustrated than the title I just finished that was written in the early 1980s. The story has the same feel to it, but the wording and the pace flows much better. And the illustrations while still black and white are clearer and crisper than in the 1980s. Series is not numbered, but this is one of the later titles written in the 1990s. Not a well known series but a short and fun read.
Too much information? Maybe: "Judging from the size and shape of her ears, the length of her trunk, and the dip in her back, she was an African elephant. They were once believed to be the most difficult to train. But Belgian farmers discovered that if you began training them in their youth (when they were a mere six hundred pounds or so) and treated them kindly, they learned as well as the Asiatic variety." (page 3)
Sebastian loves to eat: "...A dog detective works best when he's not distracted by an empty stomach. Sebastian put his nose into the air and stalked toward the commisary, where some of the circus people were eating breakfast. -- Slipping under a table, Sebastian gulped down bits of egg and Canadian bacon. He kept an ear tuned to the talk. After all, a large part of detective work was listening." (page 19)
More interesting title: The Purloined Pachyderm -- however, that would have made it too similar to another title in this series...Purloined Sirloin
MORE ACTIVITIES: 1) do your own fact finding about circus life and elephants; 2) brainstorm about circus acts that might draw crowds to the circus; 3) clown faces are copyrighted (page 33), so design a unique clown face that expresses your personality as a clown; 4) discuss the situation between father and daughter and the different idea of what career Rose should have
Table of Contents:
One. Right on Track....1
Two. Ta-ta, Tahsha....10
Three. The Purloined Pachyderm....18
Four. Who's Clowning Around Now....24
Five. It's Rose by a Nose....29
Six. A Rose Is a Rose, or Is It?....38
Seven. A Rose by Any Other Name....49
SUMMARY: Sebastian (Super Sleuth) again helps his human, Detective John Quincy Jones, to solve a case this time finding a missing circus elephant in time to entertain the local children.
REVIEW: The story is told through the eyes of Sebastian (Super Sleuth) an Old English sheepdog that belongs to a police detective and helps solves cases. He can read the newspaper, disguise himself so no one recognizes him, and can make a hamburger disappear in one gulp (after all police work is hard and makes one hungry). There are lots of facts included about circuses and elephants, while interesting they almost took away from the storyline (almost). I also like the interaction between the circus people who act like family and also the actual circus owner family as they work out differences.
NOTE: This title is much better written and illustrated than the title I just finished that was written in the early 1980s. The story has the same feel to it, but the wording and the pace flows much better. And the illustrations while still black and white are clearer and crisper than in the 1980s. Series is not numbered, but this is one of the later titles written in the 1990s. Not a well known series but a short and fun read.
Too much information? Maybe: "Judging from the size and shape of her ears, the length of her trunk, and the dip in her back, she was an African elephant. They were once believed to be the most difficult to train. But Belgian farmers discovered that if you began training them in their youth (when they were a mere six hundred pounds or so) and treated them kindly, they learned as well as the Asiatic variety." (page 3)
Sebastian loves to eat: "...A dog detective works best when he's not distracted by an empty stomach. Sebastian put his nose into the air and stalked toward the commisary, where some of the circus people were eating breakfast. -- Slipping under a table, Sebastian gulped down bits of egg and Canadian bacon. He kept an ear tuned to the talk. After all, a large part of detective work was listening." (page 19)
More interesting title: The Purloined Pachyderm -- however, that would have made it too similar to another title in this series...Purloined Sirloin
MORE ACTIVITIES: 1) do your own fact finding about circus life and elephants; 2) brainstorm about circus acts that might draw crowds to the circus; 3) clown faces are copyrighted (page 33), so design a unique clown face that expresses your personality as a clown; 4) discuss the situation between father and daughter and the different idea of what career Rose should have
Table of Contents:
One. Right on Track....1
Two. Ta-ta, Tahsha....10
Three. The Purloined Pachyderm....18
Four. Who's Clowning Around Now....24
Five. It's Rose by a Nose....29
Six. A Rose Is a Rose, or Is It?....38
Seven. A Rose by Any Other Name....49
Displaying 1 of 1 review