# Recommend some Sherlock Holmes for kids. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2007, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384 "2007-10-20T10:45:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/21 "2007-10-21T10:56:27Z")
OK, so I think I am going to order the Encyclopedia Brown box set for her. But before I do, one last check to see if Nancy Drew might be better for her. Anyone read Nancy? ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/22 "2007-10-22T01:24:50Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] Oslo Ostragoth writes: \> And another vote for Poe’s mysteries, oh, about grade 11 or 12 if she is a real \> bookworm. I assume you mean “about age 11 or 12 if she is a real bookworm.” At grade 11 or 12 for a bookworm, Poe isn’t very hard. At age 11 or 12 for a bookworm, Poe is possible. [/QUOTE] The Poe that I have read would be impossible for a typical 11 or 12 year old, and unpleasant for a non-bookworm 11th or 12th grader. But then, it has been a while since I read his stories. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/23 "2007-10-22T01:49:56Z")
Nancy Drew mysteries are book-length stories, with the emphasis on adventure; while Encyclopedia Brown mysteries are short stories, with the emphasis on the reader solving it. Both have smart, spunky girls, in the latter case EB’s friend Sally Kimball. If your daughter likes Encyclopedia Brown and Sally Kimball, she may enjoy moving on into the [Henry Reed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Reed_%28fictional_character%29) books, with the teenage title character and his friend Midge Glass getting into various adventures. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/24 "2007-10-22T04:26:33Z")
Oslo Ostragoth writes: \> The Poe that I have read would be impossible for a typical 11 or 12 year old, \> and unpleasant for a non-bookworm 11th or 12th grader. But then, it has been \> a while since I read his stories. It’s pretty common to put Poe short stories in, say, 10th grade literature books. Lots of smart 7th graders read Poe. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/25 "2007-10-22T12:59:19Z")
MilliCal is an above-average reader, but she hasn’t shown much interest in 19th century writers, to my chagrin. Your kids’ mileage may vary. By the time I was her age, I’d been introduced to Holmes through **The Red-Headed League** , in an “Alfred Hitchcock” collection. In fact, if you could find those Hitchcock anthologies, they’d make a pretty good introduction to Holmesian-type mysteries. I doubt if the grreat director ever contributed anything but his name to those, but I found them interesting reading, nonetheless. I’m talking here about the oversized hard-bound collections intended for kids – “Sinister Spies”, “Solve Them Yourself Mysteries”, etc., not the paperback collections for adults. Ancient history, I know, but I’m not up on current kidfare mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/26 "2007-10-22T13:19:36Z")
If she’s on the young side (like 7 years old), she might enjoy the Basil of Baker Street books by Eve Titus. Basil is a mouse who solves crimes, and the whole thing is clearly modeled on the Sherlock Holmes universe. Only, with mice. They’re very cute. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/27 "2007-10-22T13:26:06Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] The Poe that I have read would be impossible for a typical 11 or 12 year old, and unpleasant for a non-bookworm 11th or 12th grader. But then, it has been a while since I read his stories. [/QUOTE] IIRC, Poe varies. Some of his writing is fairly clear and straightforward, some is almost impenetrably wordy. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/28 "2007-10-22T18:53:11Z")
Growing up, I also had the Hitchcock _Sinister Spies_ book (which includes the SH story “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans,” IIRC), and it’s excellent. There was another Hitchcock series about three preteen boys who hung out in a secret clubhouse hidden in a junkyard, and had various crime-solving adventures - it was pretty good. I forget the name. I don’t know if _all_ of the Jeremy Brett SH episodes are available on DVD, but probably most of them are. The NPR/PBS _Signals_ catalog often features them. I often get them from our local library. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/29 "2007-10-22T20:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] GThere was another Hitchcock series about three preteen boys who hung out in a secret clubhouse hidden in a junkyard, and had various crime-solving adventures - it was pretty good. I forget the name. [/QUOTE] Alfred Hitchcock’s [The Three Investigators](http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/) . I absolutely loved those books when I was a kid. Ate 'em like candy. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384/30 "2007-10-22T20:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=ShadowFacts] Alfred Hitchcock’s [The Three Investigators](http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.com/) . I absolutely loved those books when I was a kid. Ate 'em like candy. [/QUOTE] Ditto! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-sherlock-holmes-for-kids/423384.md?page=1)