Somewhere over the rainbow, three little puppet children are not in the Oz we're all familiar with. And who do they find to help them with their problem but Dorothy Gale, head of her own "Private Eyes" detective agency.
In Dennis Sanchez's fun tale, Mystery of the Missing Parents, Tin Woodman fells a family tree, which then splits into branches Mama, Papa, Spruce, Sophie, and Redbud. After a kind wood sculptor and painter whittles the limbs into five figures, the parents are stolen, so the offspring hire Dorothy and her partners, a blind Scarecrow and Scarecrow's seeing eye dog, Toto, to find them. Along the way, the fivesome also meet up with Lion.
Even though I quite enjoyed this tale, I do have to note that there really wasn't any "mystery" as to who took the missing parents. It was very obvious, and I think that even the young target audience can figure it out. Yet, knowing “whodunit” didn't take away from my enjoyment, as I still got to follow the quintet as they searched for the wooden progenitors. Their journey took them to various locales, and I enjoyed visiting them all. Additionally, there were a few scenes with a fair amount of suspense, which I imagine would impress the young crowd. Another fun aspect of this yarn was the occasional allusion to other stories, namely Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Moby Dick, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Sherlock Holmes. But by far, my favorite thing about Mystery of the Missing Parents was the many puns the author employed in telling the story. Puns are my favorite form of humor, so I was thrilled at the number of them, but I think some of them may go over youngsters' heads.
Part of the reason I picked this book was because it touted the primary characters from The Wizard of Oz, and it was nice seeing them again, but I was constantly frustrated by the way Scarecrow's blindness was written into the story. If he had been used as a thoughtful lesson about physical challenges, it would have been great, but instead, Scarecrow was often the brunt of jokes, and it got old very quickly. Aside from that, I liked Dorothy in her capacity as head detective, and I was glad that Toto featured more than he did in the original tale and movie. The newcomers were like many families in that the youngsters frequently bickered amongst themselves and wanted to flex their independence without knowing much of anything. The parents spent much of the tale missing but were amusing when present. Miguel, the artist who turned the branches into faux humans, was an interesting character whom I have yet to nail down strong feelings about. I will also note that several characters noted how "wretched" male children are, and I think it could ruffle some feathers. With that being said, I do have to admit that I nearly stopped reading because of how much I disliked Spruce and Redbud shortly after their introductions, but they got better in time.
Although the story facet was mostly positive, the technical aspects were somewhat negative. In addition to the author going overboard with some descriptions - like the overuse of "tin" in the sentence "Tin Woodman rested his tin chin on his tin fist and replied..." - there were also numerous grammatical errors in the book. Ninety percent of the typographical issues were comma related, but there were also a few misspellings.
All things considered, I'd love to give Mystery of the Missing Parents two and one-half stars, but I am rounding up to a final rating of 3 out of 4 stars. Without hesitation, I recommend this lively narrative for tweens who like simple mysteries, fans of The Wizard of Oz, and readers who enjoy a slight blending of classic stories. I must note, however, that the beginning of the book discusses Tin Woodman's use of Winkies as kindling, which is a pretty gruesome act, even though it's not described that way. There is no other violence or profanity in the volume though.
- Papa, Mystery of the Missing ParentsNow a man made of wood is another matter entirely. More so if the matter of the man is entirely wood.
******
Mystery of the Missin g Parents
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
