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Here’s a guest post from Margie Golick PhD, clinical child psychologist, educational adviser to many children’s entertainment and educational properties including Sesame Park, Busy World of Richard Scary, Caillou and Mia Mouse. Dr Golick is the author of several books including Deal Me In, Wacky Word Games and Reading, Writing and Rummy.
In the interests of full disclosure Jill Golick, executive producer, is my daughter (and Marlee Maslove who plays Hailey is my granddaughter). As a psychologist I have worked as a consultant on many children’s media projects on which Jill was a writer and always managed to put sentiment aside. The fact of the matter is we both believe that children of all ages need to hear, read, and watch interesting stories. It keeps them cheerful and attentive, ignites their imagination, develops their vocabulary. I know — and the Ruby Skye team obviously know — that stories (and their characters) don’t have to be violent, slapstick, or kitschy to be interesting.
Ruby Skye P.I. What fun! I laughed out loud (just reading the scripts) and turned the pages as fast as I could to find out what happened to whom and why.
Ruby is a would-be detective out to solve the mysteries around her. And because she is curious, observant, and has a great imagination she finds lots of mysteries. There are heroes, villains (not too villainous) and red herrings. Every kind of relationship comes into play: siblings, friends, teacher/pupil, father/son, boy-girl, and story, story, story. New developments in every scene keep us guessing. The main characters are Ruby, age 15, her little sister Hailey age 13, Ruby’s sometime sidekick, Griffin, and the snooty, malicious Diana (who seems to have her eye on Griffin). The dialogue is fast and funny. And the adventures take place in an urban neighborhood.
There is a crime, there are suspects galore, , there are modern day tools: computers, cell phones and a smart little sister who knows how to hack. But there is still the need for careful observation and good old-fashioned logic. Ruby Skye P.I. lets us in on the essentials of nailing a perpetrator: there has to be motivation, opportunity, means and some evidence.Ruby and Haley are great role models for their tween age viewers. They are strong, opinionated girls, and though they do their share of bickering they seem to care genuinely about their neighbours, the environment and when it comes right down to the crunch, about each other.
Great Mystery Books for Kids and Young Adults Part 1
September 20th, 2010, Post by rubyskyepi
Filed in Educational
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Ruby Skye P.I.’s own educational consultant, Lindsay Springer, offers up some thoughts on mystery novels, curriculum and great reads. This is part 1 of 2:
Although many of us experience nostalgia and sentimentality for the mystery books of our childhood (I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I think of Nancy Drew’s nosy and inquisitive ways), for today’s tweens and teens, the genres of mystery and the who-done-it are frequently blended with fantasy, history and science fiction. Young readers of the twenty-first century gravitate towards video-game-like books, often involving witches and wizards, vampires, ghosts, historical intrigue, futuristic dystopias, mythological characters and ordinary children-protagonists in extraordinary situations. Our kids consume fast-paced suspense as quickly as Hailey Skye devoured Ruby’s brownies! The success of The Harry Potter Series, The Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series and, of course, the Twilight saga are a testament to today’s young reader.
Teaching students about genre is an important part of the middle school Language Arts curriculum. This, in conjunction with thinking about the educational possibilities for Ruby Skye P.I., prompted me to do some research (mostly interview based, as I have access to some wonderful readers between the ages of eleven and fourteen) on the best mystery books available for kids and teens. From my research, I have compiled a list of great mysteries for tweens and teens. I hope that educators, parents and young readers alike will find my recommendations useful! In no particular order…
William Bell is a Canadian author and I use a few of his novels in my classroom. His novels generally take place in Canada and blend history and mystery seamlessly in order to educate (don’t worry, not too much!), entertain and keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon
Search for the Shadowman is a mystery for 10-12 year olds about investigating family history. In addition to being a great read, this novel is also an excellent introduction to genealogy and to pursuing Internet research. Also try other titles by this young adult suspense author, including The Other Side of Dark and Playing for Keeps.
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Often described as the “boy Sherlock Holmes”, the Encyclopedia Brown books are excellent for kids aged 8-11, especially kids who like to outsmart the detective and try to solve the mystery. These books are also great for hesitant readers and boys just love them! Other titles by this author include Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers and Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Handprints.
The 39 Clues Series by Rick Riordan et al. (Scholastic)
Truly, a new way to read! The 39 Clues is an interactive mystery series that in addition to the novels, combines online activities, card collecting and the chance to win prizes. This series blends historical facts and figures with suspense to create a series of page-turners. The books follow siblings Amy and Dan Cahill as they compete against other family members to crack clues in order to gain power over one another and, ultimately, the world… Titles include The Maze of Bones, One False Note, The Sword Thief and Beyond the Grave.
The Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Including over one hundred titles, this mystery series, aimed at middle readers (Grades 3-6), follows the escapades of four orphaned children who make a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar. After being taken in by their grandfather who moves the boxcar to his backyard as a playhouse, the children investigate and solve a variety of mysteries, including The Mystery of the Stolen Music and The Mystery of the Hidden Beach.
The fictional Ms. Springer
As everyone gears up to head back to school, I figured that this would be a good time to talk about the educational components of Ruby Skye P.I. My name is Lindsay Springer (not to be confused with my namesake, Ms. Springer, in the series) and I am working on creating educational resources and a teachers’ guide to accompany Ruby Skye P.I.
Tweens and Teens of today are certainly more technologically savvy than ever and conventional ‘pencil to paper’ methods have long since gone the way of the mix tape. In the post post-modern classroom, my students use IMovie to construct and edit book talks and create interactive SMARTboard presentations when visual components are required. Teaching Media Literacy has quickly become both a logical and essential part of any Language Arts curriculum. This is where my work with Ruby Skye P.I. comes in.
The educational approaches to using Ruby Skye P.I. are numerous and multi-faceted; in addition to providing an interesting way to teach plot structure and genre, including literary terms and conventions specific to the development of mystery stories, Ruby Skye P.I. opens the door to creative and interactive ways to teach students about writing, creating and producing television. With behind the scenes interviews, photos, videos, storyboards and interactive media available on the website, students will be privy to the process of creating film. Through the model of Ruby Skye P.I., students will learn how to read a screenplay, pitch an idea, develop characters, use plot devices, and select camera angles. These are only a few of the many skills that students will acquire through this unit of study, which will culminate in the creation of original media projects.
Stay posted for a list of great mystery reads for kids and teens!
The fictional Ms. Springer
As everyone gears up to head back to school, I figured that this would be a good time to talk about the educational components of Ruby Skye P.I. My name is Lindsay Springer (not to be confused with my namesake, Ms. Springer, in the series) and I am working on creating educational resources and a teachers’ guide to accompany Ruby Skye P.I.
Tweens and Teens of today are certainly more technologically savvy than ever and conventional ‘pencil to paper’ methods have long since gone the way of the mix tape. In the post post-modern classroom, my students use IMovie to construct and edit book talks and create interactive SMARTboard presentations when visual components are required. Teaching Media Literacy has quickly become both a logical and essential part of any Language Arts curriculum. This is where my work with Ruby Skye P.I. comes in.
The educational approaches to using Ruby Skye P.I. are numerous and multi-faceted; in addition to providing an interesting way to teach plot structure and genre, including literary terms and conventions specific to the development of mystery stories, Ruby Skye P.I. opens the door to creative and interactive ways to teach students about writing, creating and producing television. With behind the scenes interviews, photos, videos, storyboards and interactive media available on the website, students will be privy to the process of creating film. Through the model of Ruby Skye P.I., students will learn how to read a screenplay, pitch an idea, develop characters, use plot devices, and select camera angles. These are only a few of the many skills that students will acquire through this unit of study, which will culminate in the creation of original media projects.
Stay posted for a list of great mystery reads for kids and teens!
