Hermit Dan

Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries #5

by Peggy Parish, Paul Frame (Illustrator)

Intrigued by stories of local pirates and buried treasure, three children decide to find out the truth about Hermit Dan and his ancestors.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Kids

151 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1977

About the author

Peggy Parish was the author of the children's story series Amelia Bedelia. The series was continued, after her sudden death from an aneurysm, by her nephew Herman Parish. Peggy attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Herman honored Peggy's life in his book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, by writing in its dedication: "For Peggy Parish, the real Amelia Bedelia."

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that Peggy Parish wrote books other than Amelia Bedelia? Well she did, and the Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries are just great! In fact, these were some of my favorite and earliest reads from my childhood!

This particular title I didn’t find as great as the others. See Cleanliness Report below.

Something always exciting happens when Jed and the twins go to their grandparents for the summer. Grandpa tells them an old family story and, coincidentally, one of the kids finds a clue. Then it's all a mad race through the house, barn, fields and the like to put the clues together and solve the family riddle. They're always full of mystery, creaky attics, and fun explorations along the way. I definitely idolized their summer adventures and I know your young readers will too!

Ages: 5 - 10

Cleanliness: the words “gee” “gosh” “golly” “thank goodness” and the like are used. Stupid and idiot were used. A girl calls a boy dumb, then apologizes. There’s more arguing/bickering among the siblings in this title, but the issues still get resolved. A boy over eats and his grandma gives him soda water to make him throw up - this was not treated as a bad thing, just sweetly laughed at. There are two bullies in the story. A girl takes a raspberry from someone’s garden without asking - she feels bad later. A child is taught to let his anger go by chopping wood.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!

[Phil J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parrish switches over to a human mystery instead of a puzzle mystery. Jed, Bill, and Liza toodle around the island trying first to understand, then to protect the mysterious Hermit Dan.

I was taken aback by the bulimic overtones of one scene. Bill overeats (as usual), and Granny gives him an epicac to relieve his stomach ache. Then they have this conversation:

"No more stomachache," he said, "But all that good food wasted."
"Oh, I don't know," said Gran. "You had the fun of eating it."
"Right you are, Gran," said Bill. "And stomachache or not, I would do it again."
"I'm sure you would," said Gran. (p. 54)

Yikes!

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

B-. fiction, children's fiction, grades 3-6; children befriend hermit, have adventures; series, Pirate Island #2); from stash, keep.

[Amber Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up loving "The Key to the Treasure". My dad said the other adventures these kids go through aren't as exciting and he was right. But, it was still worth a shot to look into them. I read this one during one quiet time this week.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest - Sam hasn't read the other two yet but this was in the pile and so I read it. I wanted something light and easy :-)

I did realize that I only have 4 of the apparently 6 books though so before she gets interested I guess I'll pick up the two I'm missing.

[john · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for 2nd-3rd graders