The Panda Puzzle

A to Z Mysteries #16

by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

P is for Panda...

There's pandemonium in Green Lawn! The town is building a new park for a panda and her baby. But as soon as the pandas arrive, the baby is stolen! All the panda-nappers want in return is a million dollars.... Can Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose collar the culprits before Green Lawn has to cough up the cash?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, 2nd Grade, Juvenile

85 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Ron Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the popular A to Z Mysteries®, Calendar Mysteries, and Capital Mysteries. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach tricks to his dog Pal, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books.

Reviews

[Kat V · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better ones. The kids were smart in this one. 3.5 stars

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, though not overly realistic mystery in the A to Z Mysteries series. A mother and baby panda are not very common in captivity and would not likely be placed in a suburban "petting zoo."

Nevertheless, it's a puzzling mystery, with three suspects equally likely to have committed the crime. Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose solve yet another mystery, to the delight of children everywhere. Our girls just love this series and we are eagerly anticipating the next story.

[Marlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book in a fun series. My children (ages 6 and 9) both enjoyed this book. They've liked all of the books in this series so far, though some more than others. For an adult, the books are predictable and at times even a bit ridiculous. However, for children they are a lot of fun. I enjoy reading them along with my kids.

[Blue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful.

Pandas are tightly controlled by China, who loans them out as favours and for diplomacy. They would not be in a petting zoo at all, and not even in a regular zoo in some little suburb.

Josh's siblings are once again left out although Nate, Ruth Rose's brother, gets to tag along.

The premise was so bad that I cannot even recall enough of the rest to consider if it had any value at all.

[Tara Strosnider · Rating 5 out of 5]

The town is building a new park for a panda and her baby. But as soon as the pandas arrive, the baby is stolen! All the panda-nappers want in return is a million dollars. . . . Can Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose collar the culprits before Green Lawn has to cough up the cash?

Watch out for a plot twist near the end. This story is sure to keep readers guessing until the last second

[Farouq · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is very fun and confusing i like it
(btw this is the first book i have finished)

[Mary Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

my kiddos absolutely loved this one🤠

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

[anjali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Panda Puzzle

Author: Ron Roy

Series: A to Z Mysteries #16

Rating: ★★★★

Summary: There's pandemonium in Green Lawn! The town is building a new park for a panda and her baby. But as soon as the pandas arrive, the baby is stolen! All the panda-nappers want in return is a million dollars. Can Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose collar the culprits before Green Lawn has to cough up the cash?

Review: This one was so good.... until the end.

Things I Loved: The P mystery!

Things I Hated: The ending was very ominous and I just didn't like it. Besides, I didn't get why the puzzle had anything to do with catching the panda-nappers.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a panda that got stolen from the zoo. The panda was a baby panda and it just came from another country. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose try to find out what happened. They go to a swimming pool and they sit on a rug and they feel a trap door. They go inside the trap door and they go down the stairs and they find the baby panda. The man who stole it was mad that they found the panda so he closed the trap door and locked it. Officer Fallon came and opened the trap door.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read these books when I was a kid and greatly enjoyed them, figured I'd give them a second read for kicks.

I certainly recommend any young mysteries fan devote time to this series, it's certainly a grand adventure for a young mind, the imagery of Ron Roy's words and his settings and unique character descriptions and personalities really help kids imagine a whole movie in their heads as they read each exciting page.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was about the baby panda who got kidnapped. and how josh, dink and ruth rose found winnie, the baby panda back. thisbook was a first sad with a happy ending.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose help solve the case of a baby panda abduction.
They were at the zoo for the introduction of a new baby panda being announced when the mother panda suddenly charges at the gate. One of the zoo keepers investigates and finds the baby missing. Out of three possible people they have to find out who did it before midnight or the panda napper gets away with a million dollars.
Yet another successful mystery solved by the trio. And I still love hearing our son say, "One more chapter. Please!"

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Dink Duncan, Josh Pinto, Ruth Rose Hathaway, and Ron Roy, for the childhood memories. These books helped me to become a lifelong reader and lover of mysteries. Thank you to John Steven Gurney for another one of my favorite book covers to come out of the series. The title is "The Panda Puzzle." The cover illustration is of a jigsaw puzzle of a panda. The puzzle is that a baby panda has gone missing. In the jigsaw puzzle, the baby panda is the only piece left to put in place. How perfect is that?

[AllyP Reads Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely gotta read this one with a grain of salt as the country of China would never, ever allow a dinky zoo in a podunk park in a nowhere town to have pandas. It's absolutely hilarious that that was the premise of the story.
We start the story with everyone going down to the dinky zoo to meet the pandas. We learn that there is a reporter who works for a newspaper that only reports on the pandas. How is this possible? There is no way there's enough info on the pandas to keep a newspaper going. The same info would be reported all the time and no one would bother reading it.
Then the baby panda goes missing and there's a ransom note. The police tell everyone to leave and the only reporter from the newspaper does along with everyone else. WTH? No one would really leave a scene like that, especially the reporter for a panda paper who is at the scene of a breaking news story about pandas.
Of course, it's up to children to follow the clues to solve the mystery rather than the police. Never fear- the obviousness of a coal chute leading outside saves the day. Everything is now alright in PandaTown despite the culprit committing at least five felonies and getting off with a few hours of community service. Are we sure this book doesn't take place in California? I guess not, because then they wouldn't have even gotten the community service.

[Catshummingbirds · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was AMAZING . I could not get my eyes off the book . When I finished a chapter, I started a new one. When I look into the future, the first thing I see is that I am going to read this book again .
You SHOULD read this book even if you are not a kid . The FIRST thing I will say when someone asks me "How was the 'Panda Puzzle' from the 'A to Z Mysteries'?" is that it is ADVENTUROUS .

[Emily Schlotzhauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any reader who enjoys solving a mystery will love this book! When the new baby panda at the petting zoo gets stolen, Ruth Rose, Dink, and Josh set out to determine who could be behind it. All three suspects seem to fit the mold. Plus, they only have until midnight, or Winnie the baby panda will be gone forever! Watch out for a plot twist near the end. This story is sure to keep readers guessing until the last second!

[Hikari · Rating 2 out of 5]

The baby panda at petting zoo, Winnie, is missing! But, they need key to go into the panda space. But only Irene, the worker has the key. And, she looked like she didn’t take the baby panda Winnie. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose try to solve who took it before the thief will sell with a million dollars!!!!!!

[Joyce T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a cute mystery. I almost figured it out before the kids did.

-- This is a series review. --

I love this series. The kids are solving real mysteries around their neighborhood (as opposed to their siblings), and they find out things that the adults couldn't.

-- End series review --

[Kalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really adventurous and mysterious. I like it because I love animals especially pandas. The book was about a missing panda hidden in a secret basement near a swimming pool which was really funny. I enjoyed this book very much.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone has kidnapped the baby panda from the petting zoo, and has demanded a million dollars by midnight for its return. That leaves only 12 hours for the kidnappers to be found. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose tries their best to locate the panda, and the kidnapper before the deadline passes.

[Mallory Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A-Z Mystery books were a favorite of mine when I was younger. I had not read this one but I am glad I did now. It is so cute and I would for sure recommend it to my future students some day if I was in a higher elementary classroom.

[Matthew Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winnie

Did you find Winnie? You'd be Glad that you did if real is the good life Dr fought in here

[XIS Grade 3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Q: I like this book because the drawings are good and the words are nice.

[Christy-jim Schlangen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book to read with my 7 year old. She was full of anticipation

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, I liked this mystery. I just like the kids and all the continuing characters in their town. And it has a panda so you can't beat that.

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want a baby panda!

[Trish Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love these kids

[Shatovisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story didn't discuss much about how the panda-napper was caught. I found it odd. Else, it was good.
I give it ★★★★