The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster by James Preller, illustrated by R.W. Alley

Theodore “Jigsaw” Jones is the main character in the book, “The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster.” He and his partner Mila are the neighborhood detectives who solve mysteries for local kids. His first client, Wingnut O’Brien could not find his pet hamster Hermie. Throughout the book, Jigsaw and Mila think of where Hermie could be and what happened to him. They write down suspects at the beginning of the book and go through each one until they solve the mystery of what happened to Hermie. The main suspect throughout the book is Wingnut’s brothers snake Goliath. Everyone believes that he has eaten the hamster until they prove themselves wrong. The end of the book brings more unknowings until they finally solve what happened to the hamster. I think that this would be a great book to introduce to a second grade class. The children would be able to relate to Jigsaw Jones more because they are the same age. I also think that this book gives great ideas to children without openly saying it. For example, Jigsaw and Mila needed extra information about hamsters and snakes. Therefore, they asked their teacher, and instead of her just giving them the answer she tells them to look up the information in a book or to use the computer and the Internet to find out more. This shows children that instead of always asking adults for an answer, to go out and find it on your own. I think that readers will pick up on this and start doing it themselves. I also feel like this is a very independent book for a student to read and therefore, when they do finish it they will feel like they have conquered a huge accomplishment!