Module 8 – Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery by: David A. Adler

PLOT:  One snowy day causes chaos at school.  Lots of traffic keeps the bus from dropping off the students on time.  As the students are waiting to get dropped off Cam and her friends start playing the memory game and Cam begins to “click” away at the different things she sees. Once they get dropped off they make it to their class to get settled in.  Annoyed by a student by the name of Danny they all head off to their computers stations, but come to find out three of them are missing.  The mystery is on, who took the computers?  Cam has a great memory so she begins to piece the different clues about the break in and helps the police officers solve the mystery of the missing computers.

Adler, D., (2004). Cam Jansen and the snowy day mystery. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

IMPRESSION OF THE BOOK:  This is a cute story for elementary readers this is a book that both boy and girls could read.  It has great suggestions on how to learn to observe details.  Books like this can really inspire students to look out for details and can help them with literacy.  I liked the way that Cam looks at all the details because she’s able piece the different details and come up with a logical explanation.  For example, she realizes that the robbers were not able to break in through the window even though they saw the footsteps in the snow outside the window.  She quickly figures out that there had to be two people involved in the robbery.  The two crooks worked together by having one person in the inside and the other person outside by the window so that he could carry the items to the car.  She also remembers her “click” memory game and that is how she puts all the pieces together to solve the mystery of the stolen computers.

REVIEWS:  Cam Jansen Adventure series. Girl detective Cam Jansen calls upon her photographic memory yet again. This time, she and sidekick Eric are on the trail of two computer thieves. The mystery itself is run-of-the-mill, but Danny, an annoying class clown, tags along on the case, cracking bad jokes that will resonate with the elementary-school crowd. Black-and-white illustrations accompany the chapters.

YOUNGER FICTION. (2005, Spring). [Review of the book Cam Jansen and the snowy day mystery, by David Adler]. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/207549875?accountid=7113

USE IN THE LIBRARY:  This is a great book to discuss the genre of “Mystery”.  I would use this book to explain the characteristics of mystery to elementary students.  I would pull out reading excerpts from the book to show clues, crime, details and solutions so that students could understand what a mystery book entails. I would also play the memory game with the students to see how many can remember what the other person is wearing. Some of the questions I would ask regarding the book are as follows:

·       Find some examples of factual information that the author has included that informs the reader even though the story is fiction.

·       Why is it important to get the facts right?

·        Name some situations where correct or exact facts are especially important. (For example, when following a recipe or conducting a science experiment.)

·        What happens when people "jump to conclusions?"

·        Why do you think Cam always closes her eyes when she says, "Click?"