The 13th Clue

by Ann Jonas

"Jonas's latest work is an open invitation for young mystery fans. Beginning with a diary entry of a child...the book leads the protagonist (and readers) on a merry chase from the attic to the backyard, across the pond, through the woods and up a hill where a surprise birthday party awaits her....Children will be immediately captivated by the clever clues....A guaranteed-to-please selection that deserves a spot in any collection."--School Library Journal.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Mystery

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was disappointing, but maybe it was my expectations that were off. I thought there would be more visual picture clues for the reader to figure out along with the protagonist, but that wasn't really the case.

[Megan Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Jonas writes of unusual twist and turns in this visually interactive mystery. A birthday girl, ignored and disappointed, finds herself in a hunt for clues to an unknown destination. Jonas utilizes her peculiar sense of illustration of large-scale and watercolor texts - hidden among the scenery - to force the reader to analyze the images on each page in order to understand the clue, and continue the mysterious hunt.

[Katelyn Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: The 13th Clue

Author: Ann Jonas

How would you describe the plot? It is about a little girl that thinks she had a horrible birthday, but it ended up being a great one.

How would you describe the characters? Her friends- surprise her at the end. The main character is a little girl. It is hard to describe the characters because it is a picture book without words.

What is the main conflict? She believes everyone forgot her birthday.

What is the main theme? Perspective

How would you describe the author’s style? Creative, it allows the reader to add their perspective to the story.

What point of view does the author use? First-person

Share your thoughts on the design and layout of the book. It is a little confusing at first because everything is backward to us in the right way for the little girl.

What lessons could you teach with this text? Please provide at least two of the Arkansas State Standards you would use in a lesson.
R.L.2.6
W.K.2
H.13.2.1

What is your overall assessment of the book?
I would give this book an 8 out of 10. I you could use it with any grade depending on what you were teaching. It is an excellent way to teach about different perspectives and writing.

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and all the clues! Would make a great one-on-one story to try and solve the puzzle on each page.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl begins with a journal entry on her birthday and then follows thirteen clues to a surprise birthday party.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ann Jonas is a talented visual artist, but this one didn’t appeal to me and probably doesn’t appeal to the older picture book set either.

[Lisa Schwartz]

As a little girl writes in her diary about a very bad day, the lights in her attic come on, and she finds directions (a clue) to follow. Each page after that has more instructions for the girl to decipher and follow to the happy ending surprise that turns her bad day good. I thought this book was a lot of fun because the pictures were loaded with color. I was also anxious to find out the surprise that was waiting for her at the end! I think kids will enjoy the mystery in this book. I also think that this book is good for younger children to make connections to, for they can think back to any surprises they have had in their own life.

[Melissa Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great mystery picture book because it's full of fun and mysterious clues for the main character and for the young reader. She's on a mission to turn her bad day into a good day and the clues lead her there. The clues may need to be explained further for a younger audience to be able to keep up, but for a little bit of an older crowd, this is a great picture book. It's fun and has a happy ending.

[Janine Abraham · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my mystery book I read The 13th Clue. A little girl discovers many different clues that end up leading her to a surprise party that her friends planned for her birthday. The book is extremely creative. The author wrote the clues into every day objects. For example they write out a clue in the clothes and the jump rope. I thought the book was really cute, but I couldn't make out or read what some of the clues were.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing and somewhat hard to read clues are left for a young girl, leading her to a big surprise. It's a fun book to read together with children, although they might need help deciphering some of the clues. One even took me a bit to figure out! Our girls really liked this book and asked to read it again the next week at the library.

[Thomas Hogle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could imagine that this is a fun book to have in a classroom, but I would have to agree with some of the other posts that this has a somewhat level of difficulty. I feel like it is too hard for little little kids and not interesting to older little kids. However it is colorful and it makes you think so I would recommend it.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great clues/mystery. Amazing illustrations.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Rainbow: Nosey Mrs. Rat

Maybe she just isn't a puzzle girl, but Bea thought this was really hard. I couldn't figure out a few either!

[Jeremy Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great picturebook. Excellent uses for teaching sequence or inference and tie in with writing activity for diary entry.