The Coolest Children’s Mystery Book
A fun whodunit mystery book with a lesson
This blog has been written to let you know my views, as an Early Years professional, on The Cookie Caper by Caron Pescatore and for you to decide whether this is the right book for your child. I will summarise the plot of the book and let you know what I enjoyed and possibly did not enjoy about this story.
Published in August 2022, The Cookie Caper by Caron Pescatore is book four in a series called A Kids’ Court Whodunit Series. This middle grade mystery is for 7- to 9-year-olds, although I believe reading preference varies with every child.
Who is Caron Pescatore?
A great place to start is with the author herself. I personally had not come across this author before so I had great fun doing research on Caron Pescatore. I learned she’s British, like me!
Caron became a nurse, then worked as a public defender and then went on to become a deputy district attorney.
When she later moved to the coastline of Massachusetts, this is where the Kids’ Court Whodunit mysteries were born
What is the Kids’ Court series about?
There are four books in this series, with The Cookie Caper being book four. Each book contains a different case, following Luana, who dreams of following in her parents Lawyer footsteps, and her friends.
Book one, The Doll Dilemma, is about Luana’s friend’s twin accusing him of destroying her beloved doll so Luana organizes her friends into a kids’ court to find out who committed this dirty deed.
Book two, The Go Kartastrophe, follows Luana overhearing her neighbours arguing about the destruction of a go-kart. This peacemaker cannot ignore what she hears and suggests a trial to the boys.
Book three, the Goody Bag Goner, allows is to witness another case when a goody bag disappears at Luana’s friend’s birthday party. With the new girl pegged as the thief, can Luana uncover the truth?
What is this book about?
Cameron is sure her brother Robbie has stolen her cookies. The only problem? She has no proof. Sophie, their older sister, decides the only way to settle this is through the Kids’ Court.
“OK, YOU WRETCHED beast, gimme back my cookies!” Carmen Diaz demanded as she barged into her brother’s bedroom.
With a fantastic start like that, who can stop reading? I certainly couldn’t. The rest of the book consists of the court case, which very much looks like a real case. There’s a plaintiff and a defendant, a judge, lawyers, and a private investigator.
“Heather and a bunch of kids in her neighbourhood started a kids’ court this summer. Maybe they can help.”
I was honestly smiling the entire time while reading this book and the ending was truly the definition of sweet.
My opinions/ reviews / rating
I honestly do not have a pro and cons list for this book because there are no cons! It was such a fun read and I read it all in one sitting. I love a good mystery and even though this is a children’s book, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
“Yeah, except it wasn’t milk”, said Davey, still grinning.
“How do you know that?”
“Because it wasn’t wet. Whatever was on Robbie’s lip was food.”
The plot was truly unique and I adored all the characters. I enjoyed the fact that each character had such a different personality. They were easy to distinguish and there was no confusion for me to keep up with who’s who.
One aspect that really stood out to me was when Luana asked her mum for advice regarding the case. The fact that the mum did not ridicule the ‘case’ and the Kids’ Court really impressed me. I believe parents should always support their children’s dreams in a healthy manner and this is a great example of just that!
“Oh, hi, Mom. My day was OK, but I’m having a problem with my case.”
“Oh? What kind of problem?”
The writing style of a story is very important to me. Often, a plot can be great but if the writing doesn’t flow then I really struggle with the book. In this case, the writing was very easy to follow. The language was not overly basic or overly complex. It flowed really well, and each chapter was the perfect length.
The quality of the pictures in this book was great. Something I really appreciated was the simplicity of the artwork. The easy-to-understand photos made sure they did not take attention away from the story, rather they added to it. These images really helped me imagine some of the scenes which allowed this to become an even more enjoyable read.
I would rate this book 5 stars and the reasons are a combination of what I have already mentioned. This book has a great plot, likable characters and is very easy to read and follow. Also, as well as being fun, our children are learning. What else can a parent ask for? Lessons that can be learned from this book include kindness, searching for the truth and forgiveness.
“Court is adjourned.”
Would this book make a good movie or tv show?
I believe this book and the previous books in this series would make a great TV show. It could be a short series of 10 episodes, which is quite popular on platforms such as Netflix! I think children of all ages would enjoy this TV series. Each episode could include one book, one case, and I think it would really engage children. A great and fun way for children to learn about the American legal system.
Conclusion
This book was great. I may even go on to read the previous three books and I know I will be recommending this to family and friends who have children. I really enjoyed the fact that whilst this was a fun read, there were many morals to be learned. Some of my favourites are: fairness, searching for the truth and forgiveness. This was a great read that I highly recommend.