Encyclopedia Brown

Uncategorized

Created by Donald J. Sobol
(1924-2012)

Probably the most famous child detective of them all, ranking right up there in popularity with teenage sleuths The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN first appeared in Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective in 1963 by Donald J. Sobol, and the series hasn’t been out of print since.

That first book, bashed out in just two weeks, according to legend, set the pattern for the twenty-odd that have followed. Each chapter — there are usually ten — is a short mystery with the solution conveniently included in the back of the book. The clues are pretty fair and quite numerous, and well-distributed through each story.

As well, Sobol turns out to be a deft storyteller. Each story is a little gem, rich in atmosphere, with plots that are often quite inventive, full of jokes and metaphors. Although perhaps a little dated now, the details of kids’ life and activities still ring true. They’ve proven extremely popular with young readers, and have been translated into over a dozen languages around the world.

Perennially ten years old, Encyclopedia lives in Idaville, Florida, often referred to as a typical American town. He’s aided in his investigations by his best friend, Sally Kimball, who plays Watson to his Holmes. Or is it Hawk to his Spenser? Because, occasionally, she supplies a little “muscle.” Meanwhile, the perennial villian in many of the stories is Bugs Meany.

And the best part? Encyclopedia is an actual private eye! Okay, he’s not licensed or anything, but he does charge a fee (25 cents!) for his services and he does take on clients.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Although born in New York City, Sobol and his wife, Rose, also an author, settled in Florida and had three grown children. Sobol started writing the syndicated series Two-Minute Mysteries in 1959, starring criminologist Dr. Haledjian. It proved very popular and ran for more than ten years, and through the years wrote several other acclaimed children’s books, including Secret Agents Four, Angie’s First Case and The Amazing Power of Ashur Fine. The Mystery Writers of America honored Sobol with a special Edgar Award in 1976.

UNDER OATH

  • “Smarter than the Hardy Boys and wittier than Nancy Drew…”
    — Craig Pittman,Tampa Bay Times

COLLECTIONS

ALSO

  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1979)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s First Book of Puzzles and Games (1980; by Jim Razzi)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Second Book of Puzzles and Games (1980, by Jim Razzi)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Third Book of Puzzles and Games (1981, by Jim Razzi)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Fourth Book of Puzzles and Games (1981, by Jim Razzi)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Second Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1981)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Crimes (1983)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Spies (1984)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Sports (1984) | Buy this book
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Animals (1985)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Third Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1985)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Cars (1987)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Wacky Outdoors (1988)
  • Encyclopedia Brown’s Book of Strange But True Crimes (1992) | Buy this book

COMIC STRIPS

  • ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN
    (1978-80, Universal Press Syndicate)
    Black & white Dailies, full-colour Sundays
    First strip: December 3, 1978
    Last strip: September 20, 1980
    Based on characters created by Donald Sobol
    Written by Elliot Caplin
    Art by Frank Bolle
    The weekday strips featured serialized mysteries, while the Sunday strips were standalones. The scripts were credited to Sobol, but the strip was actually written by Elliot Caplin, the younger brother of Al “L’il Abner” Capp, with art by Frank Bolle.

COMIC COLLECTIONS

  • ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN’S BOOK OF COMIC STRIPS #1 | Buy this book
    (1985, Bantam Skylark)
    Collects 49 mini-mysteries from the comic strips.
  • ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN’S BOOK OF COMIC STRIPS #2 | Buy this book
    (1985, Bantam Skylark)
    Collects 49 more mini-mysteries from the comic strips.

TELEVISION

  • ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN-THE BOY DETECTIVE
    (1989, HBO)
    30-minute episodes
    Based on characters created by Donald J. Sobol
    Director: Savage Steve Holland
    Producer: Howard Deutch
    Starring Scott Bremner as ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN
    With Laura Bridge as Sally

    • “The Case of the Missing Time Capsule” (March 2, 1989; 60-minute episode)
    • “The Case of the Missing U.F.O.” (March 9, 1990)
    • “The Case of the Amazing Race Car” (March 16, 1990)
    • “The Case of the Ghostly Rider” (March 23, 1990)
    • “The Case of the Flaming Beauty Queen” (June 5, 1990)
    • “The Case of the Incredible Culpepper” (July 10, 1990)
    • “The Case of the Burglared Baseball Cards” (September 1, 1990)

VIDEO COLLECTIONS

  • ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN: THE BOY DETECTIVE IN ONE MINUTE MYSTERIES | Buy this video
    Based on characters created by Donald J. Sobol
    Director: Savage Steve Holland
    Starring Scott Bremner as ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN
    With Laura Bridge as Sally
    Also starring Lance C. Williams, Taylor Negron, Dion Zamora
    This straight-to-video collection includes “The Case of the Scattered Cards”, “The Case of the Foot Warmer”, “The Case of the Bitter Drink”, “The Case of the Civil War Sword”, and “The Case of the Great Merko.”

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Derek Gilbert for his help with this one.

Published

Leave a Reply