Charlie Piechart and the Case of the Missing Hat

by Marilyn Sadler, Eric Comstock (Illustrator), Eric Comstock

Overview

Charlie Piechart’s second math mystery takes place at school—when a purple, sparkly cone-shaped princess hat goes missing! Margot needs her hat in time for the school play (today!), so Charlie and his dog companion, Watson, are on the case—finding evidence of sparkles and purple paint and keeping on the lookout for geometric clues that might lead to the missing hat.

Fantastic colors, clever characters, and beginning concepts in geometry will go down easy as pie, while activities at the end of the book will reinforce the shapes and the story. Dynamic duo Eric Comstock and Marilyn Sadler bring the right level of energy and entertainment for this engaged picture book audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062370563
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Series:	Charlie Piechart Series
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Marilyn Sadler has written more than 35 books and has won 12 awards. She received 1 Emmy nomination for her animated series, Handy Manny (which averaged around 2 million viewers a week!). She is the author of the P. J. Funnybunny books and the books about Alistair.

Marilyn lives in Ohio with her cat, Alice, who’s shaped like a half sphere when she is sleeping and who acts like a princess when she’s awake. Marilyn is 1/2 of the team that created the world of Charlie Piechart. Visit her online at www.marilynsadler.net. 

Eric Comstock has illustrated and coauthored 3 books about Charlie Piechart. Eric lives in Austin, Texas. Eric loves shapes. He prefers his grilled cheese sandwiches cut in triangles, not rectangles. He likes to drink his coffee out of a cylinder with a handle. And his ice cream must always be eaten from a cone. If you look at his illustrations, you’ll see characters that are made out of triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles. You can see what shapes Eric’s using lately at ericcomstock.us.

Eric Comstock has illustrated and coauthored 3 books about Charlie Piechart. Eric lives in Austin, Texas. Eric loves shapes. He prefers his grilled cheese sandwiches cut in triangles, not rectangles. He likes to drink his coffee out of a cylinder with a handle. And his ice cream must always be eaten from a cone. If you look at his illustrations, you’ll see characters that are made out of triangles, squares, rectangles, and circles. You can see what shapes Eric’s using lately at ericcomstock.us.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for CHARLIE PIECHART AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING PIZZA SLICE: “A lighthearted tone and newcomer Comstock’s playful graphics, which have a weathered, retro quality, make the lesson go down as easy as pie.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for CHARLIE PIECHART AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING PIZZA SLICE: “Debut illustrator Comstock’s digital artwork is a retro-modern throwback. Kids will have fun following Charlie as he solves the mystery and reinforce their fraction skills along the way.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
K-Gr 2—The second mystery featuring the boy detective with a pie-chart body is built around shape concepts. When Margot's hat disappears, she asks Charlie and his dog assistant Watson to discover its whereabouts. Their school-wide search for a cone-shaped hat sets up opportunities to introduce and compare cylinders, spheres, and other shapes. Most of the geometry information is woven fairly seamlessly into the mystery plot. A ring of purple sparkly paint, for example, is a key clue but also demonstrates that the bottom of a cone is a circle. The backgrounds of several scenes are peppered with a variety of shapes that catch the eye and support the theme; a few of them are even clues. The mystery is not especially compelling, and the geometry content is strictly introductory, but the combination works pretty well. Retro-style illustrations lend a slightly goofy tone, adding just the right touch of humor to the otherwise straightforward narrative. Observant readers will notice visual hints about where the hat might be; even the dog figures it out before Charlie. A final scene reveals that the principal's hat has also been missing, prompting readers to trace backward to find out how it wound up on Watson's head. Two simple projects at the end have instructions for creating a hat and a rocket; both items tie in neatly to the story and to the featured shape of the cone. VERDICT A good choice for libraries in need of more STEM-related materials.—Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville Public Library, OR

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