“Encyclopedia Brown” by Donald J. Sobol

 

Bantam Skylark

Endless Quest, Choose Your Own Adventure, The Three Investigators…just some of the series of books that formed my adolescent library, but before all of those, there was Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol. These were a series of mysteries featuring the adventures of boy detective Leroy Brown – or “Encyclopedia”, due to his phenomenal intelligence and wide-ranging knowledge. As to what drew me to these books, it was probably a combination of testing myself to see if I could figure out the mystery before E.B. did, combined with the joy of watching a young boy my own age showing up all the adults around him; I mean, what kid wouldn’t like to see that? Anyway, of the 29 books in the series (the first of which was published in 1963 while the last was published posthumously in 2012) the ones I read where:

 

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Encyclopedia Brown Strikes Again

Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues

Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man

Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All

Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace

Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day

Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down

Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case

Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor

Encyclopedia Brown Carries On

Encyclopedia Brown Sets the Pace

 

Most of these stories I found in various omnibus editions that were printed and reprinted through the years, so I am uncertain as to the exact editions I read. But no matter; a simple Google search will bring up all sorts of volumes that are floating around out there. I wonder if modern kids would find interest in these books, seeing as they were written (most of them) in a different age in which technology hadn’t taken over our lives and brains still mattered. Perhaps; one can only hope. I just know that, whenever I solved one of the stories on my own I was thrilled and had to tell somebody of my achievement, that they of course celebrated in the most respectful manner. Yeah. Of course, the Encyclopedia Brown books were principally yet more bricks in the foundation of my education, and so have earned their place in my intellectual vault of gratitude.