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The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth

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Look out! There's a mammoth on the loose! Follow Oscar through a magical museum of curious creatures to find the mammoth before the clock strikes one!

24 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

1 person is currently reading
143 people want to read

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Ellie Hattie

4 books1 follower

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5 stars
74 (46%)
4 stars
56 (35%)
3 stars
26 (16%)
2 stars
2 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Abigail.
7,975 reviews265 followers
March 12, 2019
Awakening late one night, Oscar looks out of his window and spies a woolly mammoth walking by. Timothy, the mammoth in question, is looking for his baby brother Teddy, and soon Oscar has joined him on the hunt. The two are led on a crazy madcap chase through The Curious Museum, where they meet many interesting creatures, all come alive in this magical hour, and learn something about them. Eventually, having visited practically every corner of the museum, they find themselves in the hall of Extinct and Endangered Creatures, where the Woolly Mammoth family reside...

Having encountered illustrator Karl James Mountford's marvelous work before, in the wonderfully interactive holiday title, Last Stop on the Reindeer Express , I was eager to pick up The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth, which features the same winsome visuals and fascinating lift-the-flap features as that other book. I was not disappointed, finding this one an entertaining picture-book romp, complete with engaging story and immensely appealing artwork. There's some stealth education going on as well, as many of the flaps lift up to reveal information about various species and objects encountered by Oscar and Timothy, during the course of their search. Recommended to young woolly mammoth fans, as well as to those looking for more interactive picture-books.
Profile Image for Kellee Moye.
2,923 reviews339 followers
August 19, 2017
Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=1...

I don’t think the summary of this book does it justice. It is such a fun book that kids of so many different ages are going to love reading. It is about a boy who wakes up to find a mammoth wandering around his town looking for his baby brother. They follow the clues to The Curious Museum which has come to life like The Night at the Museum, and they chase Teddy, the baby mammoth, through different rooms in the museum: Underwater World, the Library, The Flight Floor, The Time of the Dinosaurs, and The Extinct and Endangered Creatures rooms. Trent and I loved the detailed and silly illustrations and trying to find Teddy on each page!
477 reviews16 followers
July 12, 2020
The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth is a rip-roaring adventure filled with incredible facts and beautiful life-the-flaps. This is a beautifully presented picture book which mixes a lively narrative full of adventure with an abundance of intriguing facts.

When the visitors have all gone home from The Curious Museum and are fast asleep in their beds it its time for the animals to enjoy themselves and when the clock strikes midnight the museum comes to life…get ready for the magic hour.

Oscar is rudely awoken by the dongs of the town clock as it strikes midnight. But that’s not the only things he hears…something is making some rather loud stomping noises. When he peers through his bedroom curtains he is face to face with a wooly mammoth. A wooly mammoth named Timothy who is on the hunt for his baby brother, Teddy. With a baby mammoth on the loose and with only an hour to find Teddy, Timothy and Oscar are in race against to return Timothy to his museum home.

As Teddy leads Timothy and Oscar on a riotous chase through the museum the reader is taken on an incredible journey through an underwater world, the library, the flight floor, the dinosaur floor, and endangered and extinct animals. Along the way readers are treated to all manner of fabulous facts and information. Pages are filled with fascinating facts, of which many are hidden under gorgeous lift-the-flaps. Readers are treated to information on coral under the sea to the smallest book ever written to the fastest lift in the world.

The double-page spreads are glorious to look at. They are filled with colour, no space is left unfilled and there are so many different things to see and admire. The hours that have gone into creating this brilliant book will be reciprocated by any curious reader as they spend hours reading and revisiting it.

A beautiful and engaging picture book.

Recommended for 5+.
1,628 reviews4 followers
April 15, 2018
A cute book with very nice art. I felt the facts it included were sort of random, or inconsistently included, but I probably would have loved it as a child since I really liked lift-the-flap books.

I was bothered a bit by the initial entry to the museum where the narration said, "Every creature in the place had come to life" and the scene includes an Eskimo/Inuit and an person dressed in Aztec or similar Mesoamerican ritual garb. Yes, there is also a medieval knight, but it kind of has a racist overtone in the use of "creature"; why not, "All the displays had come to life", especially since there animate paintings and such, not just animals. But then reflecting on that matter, I was reminded that the premise of this book is pretty much the same as a rather mediocre (or so I hear) film series. Oh well. The art is really cute at least.
Profile Image for StephanieNicole.
375 reviews5 followers
August 28, 2021
I bought this book primarily because I am a fan of the illustrator Karl James Mountford's beautiful, detailed illustrations. While the story was an adventure through a museum at night, I think it was a touch too ridiculous/illogical: Why were the main characters so worried about finding the baby mammoth before 1am but nobody cared that Oscar was out alone in the middle of the night? A simple line like, "And you need to get home to get a good night's rest and before your parents notice you are missing" would have covered it. Also, the hidden facts might be a teaching method for children, but if you read all of facts on a page while trying to read through the main story, the fact side stories interrupt the main plot.
Profile Image for Jesse.
69 reviews1 follower
October 28, 2017
Beautifully illustrated! The artwork is truly amazing and wonderful. The story is about a boy and a magical mammoth searching for the baby mammoth in a museum that has come alive. The story is fun, and there are lots of flaps with both story elements, as well as--slightly confusingly--trivia about the animals, art, and people that the characters find in the museum. I didn't care for the non-story parts, like the trivia, as it seemed that the book didn't really know whether to be educational or a magical mystery. One or the other would have made for a better, simpler and cleaner book. Fun reading it, though. And, again, the artwork is fantastic.
Profile Image for Sasha.
1,381 reviews11 followers
February 2, 2023
This was a fun, 1 a.m. romp through a curiosity museum, complete with wooly mammoths, dodo birds, dinosaurs making BLTs, and various objects from antiquity. I think kids will thrill at the colors and many lift-a-flaps. However, I did find it just a smidgeon disorienting, since it is VERY heavy on the historical tidbits and functions as an almost info-dump on each page. It reads a bit more like a textbook with a narrative thinly woven in, rather than the other way around. So, while valuable and informative, probably not a bed time story.
35 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2020
A gorgeous picture flap book reminiscent of Night at the Museum, loaded with interesting facts about animals, both alive, endangered and extinct. I would recommend that parents read this out loud with their little ones, and to take care as some of the flaps and tiny books within the book require care when opening. Middle primary school students are sure to love this as a independent text, too. Will the little mammoth return to his exhibit before the magic hour is complete? Read to find out!
56 reviews
January 8, 2020
A brilliant and entertaining book filled with both information and humour. I particularly loved the lift-the-flap features that had lots of facts on them as they made the reading experience so much more engaging. The illustrations and writing styles made sure to keep the readers entertained the whole way through. This is a picture book that is accessible to all age groups and includes lots of interesting bits of knowledge.
Profile Image for Tym.
1,308 reviews79 followers
June 2, 2024
Packed with fun facts for kids, some facts many adults won’t know. The museum comes alive at night for one magical hour but a baby mammoth is missing and it’s up to the mammoth’s older brother Timothy and a young boy named Oscar to find him before the magic hour is up. The art is enchanting and colorful and the layout captures the attention magnificently. The story is a little thin but it serves its purpose of leading us all over the museum and wonders it holds.
Profile Image for Shaynning - Libraire Jeunesse.
1,453 reviews33 followers
March 10, 2025
Livre aux illustrations très colorés et aux pages bien remplies, truffées de petites portes derrières lesquelles se cache soit des informations supplémentaires sur les objets du musé que l'on retrouve au fil de l'histoire, soit le petit mammouth en fuite! Un livre interactif et informatif.

Catégorisation: Album fiction britannique, littérature jeunesse préscolaire, maternelles, 4-5 ans+
Note: 7/10
Profile Image for Kate.
110 reviews
April 30, 2019
Mr 3 enjoyed this book, and I thought it was great. The only thing was there was quite a lot of information under the flaps and although Mr 3 loved opening the flaps he was not so interested in hearing all the detail underneath, and just wanted to find all the flaps quickly. Perhaps better for 4, 5 or even 6 year olds?
Profile Image for Dolly.
Author 1 book671 followers
September 17, 2025
This is a wild tale about a missing young mammoth and the chase to catch up with him before the magic hour ends.

The book is filled with very random facts and feels pretty scattered, but it is an interesting chase with fun lift-the-flaps that offer clues to Teddy's whereabouts and interesting information. Some of the fonts are very small. But otherwise the illustrations are very entertaining.
Profile Image for Christina Lawrence.
157 reviews
February 9, 2022
February is learning about the city. A delightful flap book. Kids curiosity can explore fun facts found in a museum with further information or just enjoy the story with goofy side commentary. Colorful, whimsical illustrations filled with lots of details.
1,558 reviews8 followers
March 31, 2022
Un bébé mammouth s'enfuit dans un musée d'histoire naturelle, la nuit. Chaque double page où il est passé représente une salle : dinosaures, fonds marins, aviation, peinture, etc. Belles illustrations. Rabats.
Profile Image for Farah.
40 reviews4 followers
January 25, 2018
A journey to find a riotous Mammoth take us through a magical museum, fascinating facts, stunning illustration and lift the flap fun.
Profile Image for BiblioBeruthiel.
2,166 reviews23 followers
November 21, 2020
A little too frenetic to be totally successful imo, but kids would enjoy the flaps and facts regardless. The underlying story lacks oomph.
Profile Image for Steph.
5,386 reviews84 followers
December 5, 2024
Love the fold-out tabs full of quick facts!
Profile Image for elstaffe.
1,271 reviews4 followers
Read
August 24, 2025
Great art, fun visit to a museum, but the flap facts clashed a bit with the story part.
Profile Image for Zoe.
385 reviews39 followers
February 22, 2017
This one had me itching to lead a creative writing class at a local museum or gallery, encouraging young authors to imagine what might happen in the museum after dark!

There’s a mammoth on the loose and he’s got to be home safe and sound before the clock strikes one.

But there’s so much to see, explore and discover as a furry ball of energy runs through a whole host of museum galleries. Will you let yourself stop to learn ocean facts or read biographies of painters? Can you resist finding out about dinosaur details or heroes in the history of aviation? Which exhibits would you hide behind if you were playing Catch-Me in the vaults of a place packed with amazing objects and wonderful finds?

Lots of tiny flaps pepper the pages of this beautifully produced book, which mixes fantasy, facts and fun. With detailed and quirky illustrations, richly patterned and packed with famous and sometimes surprising cameos. this is a book that invites repeated reads, taking time to explore it time and again once the thrill of the chase is done.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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