Cam Jansen and the Joke House Mystery

Cam Jansen Mysteries #34

by David A. Adler, Joy Allen (Illustrator)

What’s a contest without a prize?

Aunt Molly has entered a joke-telling contest at a local comedy club and Cam, her best friend Eric, and Mr. Jansen are in the audience to watch her perform. The prizes are exciting, but the competition is stiff —there’s a prop comic, a knock-knock joker, and more! As the show starts, Cam notices that one of the prizes, an engraved silver plate, has disappeared. Suddenly, everyone in the club becomes a suspect. Can Cam solve the mystery of the missing prize or will she be laughed out of the Joke House? 

Genres: Mystery, Chapter Books, Childrens, Audiobook, Humor

53 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton accompany Cam's father and forgetful Aunt Molly to a comedy competition at a local club in this thirty-fourth and (thus far) final entry in David A. Adler's series of beginning chapter-books devoted to their mystery-solving adventures. When the valuable silver plate being offered as a prize for the winner of The Joke House competition goes missing, Cam and Eric kick into gear to find it...

Cam Jansen and the Joke House Mystery was a bit of a disappointment for me, and made for a rather weak ending to the numbered books in this series. There are also two Super Specials - Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries and Cam Jansen and the Sports Day Mysteries - which stand outside of the numbered volumes, and which I have yet to read, so this isn't the end of my Cam Jansen project, but it is still the conclusion of the series (to date), being published subsequently to both of the specials. Given that this is so, it's unfortunate that it doesn't live up to the earlier volumes in the series, which I remember fondly from my own childhood. The comedy element here fell flat for me - I wasn't even slightly amused by any of the jokes told or performed, during the course of the comedy competition - and the solution to the mystery (both the culprit and his motive) was immediately apparent. I also wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that Cam and Eric were allowed to run all around the club, going into employee-only spaces, even when told not to by the owner, and rifling through another guest's bag, because they consider him a suspect. I like to think I'm not a pearl-clutcher, but if I were out at a restaurant or club, and discovered a kid underneath my table, going through my purse or bag, there would be questions to answer. All in all, a weak entry in the series, and not one I particularly recommend, save to determined Cam Jansen fans suffering (as I do) from a case of completism.

[Jesman Alwis · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book. easy to read. interesting story.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solvable. I got the main part of it right away, but didn't pay enough attention to catch the final detail. I bet a young reader would have, though.

[Hannah Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennifer 'Cam' Jansen is an average girl with the ability to actually have a photographic memory, hints the nickname 'Cam', short for camera. In this chapter book, Cam goes to a comedy club to root on her Aunt in a joke telling contest. While the show is going on, Cam notices one of the prizes for the contest winner is missing! Cam takes it upon herself to find out where the prize is. Using her photographic memory, is she able to find the culprit of who stole the prize?

This Mystery story is a great chapter book for student 2nd and up! I would use this story is a reading group with children as a text to do predictions with. Students wonder who stole the prize, why they stole the prize, and even if Cam will figure out before the Joke Contest ends! It is a story that will keep students involved and wanting to read more!

This story is a WOW book to me because I am a lover of Cam Jansen books! I have read ones from early on to some of the more recent ones! This particular book had ME on the edge of my seat wondering who stole the prize for the winner of the contest! If it keeps me wondering, I know it is a story that would keep my students interested as well!

[Anna Salvesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam's aunt was competing in a joke house competition, and Cam found out that the gold plate was missing. The gold plate was the prize. She knew that all of the waitresses at the joke house walked by it, and she thought that maybe one of the waitresses grabbed it pretending it was a plate for the customers. One of them actually did take it, but Cam and Eric didn't know yet. Then they found out about it because they thought that maybe the person who stole it would've put it in a cubby. So the person who owned the joke house called a meeting for all of them. Kevin was Cam's waiter and he looked down at his feet and admitted he took it during that meeting. He showed it to the owner and the waiter got fired and lost his chance to ever tell jokes there.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cam's photographic memory is excellent. The same cannot be said for the characters, humor, and main messages of this book.

Although case #34 of the Cam Jansen series is titled The Joke House Mystery, the jokes the contestants tell are either unoriginal or not funny, even for kids. Also, the reveal and resolution to who stole the engraved silver plate are simply clinical and heartless.

If cheering for mediocrity and patronizing behavior are what you are after, this is your book.

If you are interested in having your child read about the importance of preparation, originality, honesty, and kindness, look elsewhere.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun easy mystery series for grade school children. Cam the main character has a photographic memory and can say "click" and remember details of a scene for later and recall
facts. In this mystery a silver plate goes missing and is the prize for the best joke. This is an easy first mystery for early elementary readers.

[Shannon Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this book on CD. Cam solves the mystery like always but I love how she snaps the picture in her mind, how she can remember everything she sees in the picture.

[Azra's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing but as soon as it said the plate was missing I knew who stole it

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moral lesson for me: Having the chance to steal doesn’t make it right. If you want to have things you’ve never had, you should earn them through your own efforts.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary
Cam Jansen is a girl with a photographic memory who is great at solving mysteries. She and her famly go to the Joke House so her Aunt Molly can compete in a joke contest to win an appearance on TV and a silver plate as a prize. While the comedians are on stage however the silver plate goes missing and it's up to Cam to help find the culprit. This is an Early Chapter book for elementary students grades 2-3.

Questions
1. What are some reasons Aunt Molly might have mixed up her jokes?
2. Why do you think the owner of the joke shop did not have the police arrest the thief?
3. What do you think happened to the thief after they left the Joke House? Where did they go? Did they get a new job? How did they feel after being caught?
4. Try to take a mental picture of your environment right now. Look carefully, blink, and say, "Click!". Now without looking try to describe the largest thing in the room, the smallest, any item that was red, any item that had letters on it and what they spelled. How did you do? Were you able to take a "photograph" with your memory? Why or Why not?
5. Create your own knock, knock joke or chicken crossing the road joke.

Adler, D.A. (2014). Cam Jansen and the Joke House Mystery. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read all of the Cam Jansen Mysteries by David A. Adler. Cam and Eric are like old friends for us; we've been reading these books since 2009. We like the stories and our girls enjoyed answering the memory game questions at the end.

The mystery wasn't too hard to solve and I liked that Cam and Eric didn't put themselves in a dangerous situation, especially compared to some of the older tales.

The joke house itself, with it's stand-up comedy competition was a bit too corny for my taste, but it was a fun (and different) setting. We enjoyed reading this story together, although our girls have pretty much grown out of these books.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jansen family and Eric attend the joke-telling contest at the Joke House to support Aunt Molly Jansen. The winner of the contest will perform on The Gary Gold Comedy Hour. Aunt Molly wants to win because she wants to be famous. Unfortunately, she can’t remember any of the punch lines. During the first performance, Cam notices that the engraved silver plate that will go to the winner is missing. When she tells Gary Gold, he frantically looks around and, then, calls the police. Meanwhile, Cam reviews her mental camera looking for all the people who walked by the table just after the first comedian took the stage. What she sees takes the search for the missing plate into the kitchen.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Bunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a Cam Jansen book way back in the dark ages (80's), and loved it enough to remember it some ::COUGH:: years later. It was the only Cam Jansen book I'd ever read, but when I saw this pop up on my library's new book list, I decided to stick it on hold to see how I liked it.

This is a really adorable little chapter book. I can see kids really getting a kick out of the mystery aspect, and her photographic memory. Not too kitsch, very adorable.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not what I wanted it to be, perhaps it is because I have long outgrown the old, cheesy jokes that it contains and have moved onto more gruesome mysteries than a medal going missing. I can't see myself liking it as a young reader either.

[Kaytee · Rating 5 out of 5]

ilike the part where the theif tried to get away with it but cam and eric always catch them and then they get aressted i liks toread the end but i figure it out in the book the book is amazing!

[Aaliyah Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thief was too predictable.