Emil and the Detectives

I've heard about Emil and the Detectives for years from other homeschooling families. When I saw a copy at our library's book sale I bought it and read it. It's a cute story about a young boy, Emil, who goes to Berlin to visit his grandmother and other relatives. Emil's widowed mother styles ladies' hair in her home to earn a living. She saves what she can from her small earnings to send to her mother in Berlin. On this trip, which Emil makes alone, his mother has him take a large sum of money to his grandmother.

While riding on the train to Berlin, Emil falls asleep and while sleeping is robbed of his money by a fellow traveler. Emil awakes, realizes what has happened and decides he must get the money back. The book tells how Emil and his "detectives" - many other small boys in Berlin - track the thief and plot and plan the perfect way to capture the thief and get back Emil's money. In addition, they find that their robber is more than a petty thief and Emil gets a huge reward which he uses to help his mother.

It was a delightful story and I look forward to sharing it with Sam, who is seven.