Encyclopedia Brown ~ The Boy Detective Puts In An Appearance

My latest webpage over at Squidoo is all about one of my favorite book series that I first read a hundred years ago - at least it feels like one hundred years. Encyclopedia Brown, Donald J. Sobol's youthful detective has been solving cases with the help of Sally Kimball since the first edition of the series was published in 1963. Take a look at my Encyclopedia Brown webpage and let me know what you think.

There are now 25 books that make up the Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries, as Sobol just wrote a new one called Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth in August 2009. Each of the books is listed on the page, with a link to Amazon.com so fans can pick up a copy of any of the books they've missed. Each book contains 10 short cases that Encyclopedia and Sally solve with clues sprinkled through the story. If young readers cannot figure out who-dun-it, at the back of the book the reader will find Encyclopedia's solution to the case.

Surprisingly, the characters in the Encyclopedia Brown series haven't found their way onto the big screen. Just about everything is there - a very smart kid who solves mysteries with the help of his friends, a bully (Bugs Meany) who is Encyclopedia's nemesis and always trying to set him up but always gets thwarted in his plans, interesting and funny writing and intelligent stories.

I've read that there have been numerous attempts by hollywood bigwigs to develop a movie project, but it appears the 85-year-old author, Sobol may be the fly in the ointment. Sobol sold the movie rights to the series way back in 1979 for only $25,000 and must be regretting that decision today, given the insatiable appetite movie-goers have for best-selling books turned into movies - think Harry Potter.

There was an Encyclopedia Brown television series that lasted about 10 episodes on HBO back in the mid-1980s, but Sobol apparently sued them, so Hollywood is probably a little bit skittish about greenlighting an Encyclopedia Brown movie. In my opinion, a big Hollywood-style flick would probably generate even more interest in all the older books of the series as youngsters discover these timeless mysteries.