Book Review: Sherlock Sam

 

(Photo credit: Epigram Books)

 

First up, a confession. The authors of this book are my friends. So the book review could be slightly bias, just a wee a little bit!

 

This book is about a little boy name Samuel who prefers to be known as 'Sherlock Sam'. As the name suggest, he loves a good mystery, throw in local food, even better! In this series, a mystery landed right onto his lap when a family friend lost her precious Peranakan recipe book, a family heirloom. Together with his side kick, a robot he built himself, his elder sister and his classmate, they go in search of the missing book.

 

Mummy's rave:

 

1) I love the feel and look of the entire book. From the cover page, illustrations right down to the font size! The overall look gives an instant impression that this book is easy to read- and it is! With just nine chapters, this book is manageable for any kid!

 

2) Local delight! It is written by locals so of course expect lots of local flavors from the book. The book will bring you to places like Katong, Marine Parade and present to you local food like chicken rice. It makes the story very realistic to young kids since these are familiar road names and dishes they have tasted. I suspect this was one of the many reason why sonshine enjoyed this book. His eyes lit up whenever we come across familiar places and food.

 

3) Witty banter and use of words. I thought their play of words were pretty entertaining. Those with annoying, pesky siblings would also surely relate to the exchanges between Sherlock Sam's and his sister!

 

4) Perhaps it was due to my own expectation but the ending really caught me off guard. Throughout the entire book i thought i knew where the heirloom was (i thought i was the clever adult who could surely unravel a children's mystery book). So i was totally surprised by how the it was solved.

 

5) Entertaining characters. Kids surely will be amused by the cute characters, from Sherlock Sam himself, Watson the robot and the 'not so clever' classmate of Sam's. Each with their own antics and 'silliness'.

 

6) Rich cultural exposure. The kids will learn about the Peranakan culture, particularly the food. 

 

Sonshine's rave

 

To be quite honest, i think he was pretty much lost with all the dialogues. He is probably too immature or under-exposed to appreciate most of the on goings Although he understood enough to know simply that a book was lost, the kids went in search for it and then it was found! LOL. So i reckon this book may good for older kids like 7 years up.

 

Before this story, he didn't know what a mystery is nor the Peranakan culture. I was worried that he would be bored since he was not familiar with most of the contents. Surprisingly, he thoroughly enjoyed the book despite. Funnily, a recent show shot a footage of Buah Keluak (a nonya dish that you will read alot about in the book) and sonshine was so excited that he dashed into the room yelling 'MOM! BUAH KELUAK!'. Ah, yes so now he knows a little bit more about Nonya food.

 

Overall, sonshine loved the book. Everyday, after school. he would ask to read the book, two chapters a day at least, no less. He is now looking forward to their second book!

 

 I recommend this book to all local kids who appreciate a good mystery and of course good food!

 

 You can get your copy from Popular bookstores and i am sure most bookstores (i am not sure :P).

Disclaimer: I was not asked by my friends to do this review nor are they even aware i own a blog! This was written entirely on my own accord simply because sonshine & i truly enjoyed the book.