Donald J. Sobol, creator and author of the Encyclopedia Brown book series, passed away at the age of 79 today. I grew up reading those books and they taught me two things:
- Girls can be just as smart and clever as a “boy genius” – Hiya, Sally.
- How to read upside down – I still use this working with patrons.
RIP, Mr. Sobol. I left my Encyclopedia Brown mysteries behind, but I still keep and treasure the Encyclopedia Brown books of “Weird and Wonderful Facts.”
Sobol
When I was in Junior High I read every Encyclopedia Brown book that I could get my hands on.
Weird Facts
>>Encyclopedia Brown books of “Weird and Wonderful Facts.”
It is almost eerie that you mention that book. I think I purchased that book out of a Scholastic Reader. I know I owned the book and it was in the book stand by my bed. Whenever I just needed some veg time I would lay on my bed and read over the facts. I literally read that book a hundred times. I even remember some of the factoids from the book – One of them was about a kid that had a molar found growing out of his foot.
As a librarian I have thought about that book and thought that it might be interesting to fact check some of the items in the book.
NPR piece
Encyclopedia Brown: The Great Sleuth From My Youth
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/16/156861372/encyclopedia-brown-the-great-sleuth-from-my-youth
GalleyCat
GalleyCat piece about Sobol.
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/54490_b54490
Includes link to Flickr where there is a collection of pictures of covers of Sobol books.
There is also a link to donate in his memory. Money will be going to a library.