The Barking Treasure Mystery

Cam Jansen Mysteries #19

by David A. Adler, Susanna Natti (Illustrator)

When a woman's poodle disappears during a boat ride around the city, Cam uses her photographic memory to solve the mystery.

The Cam Jansen series is perfect for young readers who are making the transition to chapter books. The first fifteen books in the series have received updated covers, and the series redesign continues with books 16-22, bringing new life to these perennial bestsellers.

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

56 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

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 3 out of 5]

Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton get mixed up in another mystery in this nineteenth entry in David A. Adler's series of beginning chapter-books devoted to their crime-solving adventures. Taking a sightseeing boat ride with Eric's mother and her friend, Cam and Eric help a wealthy lady when her poodle goes missing, and help to catch a thief, intent on stealing the poodle's jewel-encrusted collar...

Although I have a nostalgic fondness for the Cam Jansen books, as I read a number of the earlier titles when I was a girl myself, I have found, over the course of my project to read the entire series, that the stories get weaker as the series progresses. Cam Jansen and the Barking Treasure Mystery felt a bit like a rehash of the previous installment, Cam Jansen and the Catnapping Mystery , which also dealt with a stolen pet, and I had difficulty working up much interest in the resolution of the 'mystery.' I also found Mrs. Shelton's friend, meant to be comic relief I suspect, annoying. Young fans of Cam Jansen will most likely still enjoy this one, but I found it the low point of the series, thus far. If half stars were available, this would have been a 2.5 star book, but as they're not, I rounded up for nostalgia's sake.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading Cam Jansen in my childhood, though I don't think it was one of my favorite series. The mysteries aren't really for the reader to solve, and I think in that sense I preferred Encyclopedia Brown as a kid - I liked being able to guess what was going on, but you don't really know here until the end. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this when I was younger, especially learning about Cam's photographic memory ("Click!").

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cam discovers a thief on a boat tour when a poodle goes missing and she attempts to help the owner find the dog.

This one didn't seem to have clues to follow, or puzzles to solve, or the logical thinking that I like mystery books for students to have, but second graders did find it engaging, so there's that.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series for kids who are just getting into chapter books

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing memory matters

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because cam and her friends were helping a stranger find a dog. It was also like reading two mysteries, because they had to find a dog and they had to find the missing collar.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another Cam Jansen mystery where the clues didn't really lead to the culprit, because the reader wasn't given any clues in the first place. I've been using these books to teach my second grade son deductive reasoning, but this book didn't really employ any.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Shelton’s childhood friend, Mabel Trent, is visiting so Mrs. Shelton takes Mabel, Eric, and Cam to the city for a boat ride around the city. Waiting in line for tickets, they see a rich, well dressed woman with a gray poodle called Little Treasure. The dog’s collar is encrusted with jewels. The boat doesn’t allow animals, but the woman boards the boat anyway. She hid her dog in her purse, bought a ticket, and came aboard. Cam watches the woman talking to her purse and knows that Little Treasure must be inside. A woman’s voice comes over the boat’s intercom and tells the travelers about points of interest. At one point, when the rich woman leaves her purse to see a sight, Cam peeks inside. Little Treasure is gone! Cam thinks someone took the dog while they were looking at the fireboat. She goes through her memory bank to see all of the people near the purse at that time. As Cam and Eric eliminate suspects, the woman wanders around the boat calling for her dog. A growling animal in the bathroom turns out to be Little Treasure. Now, can Cam convince the boat’s captain that she has found the thief?
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun book in the Cam Jansen series. It's not as suspenseful, nor does it place Cam and her friend Eric in danger, like some of the other stories. But overall, it's an entertaining story and a quick read. Our girls love the Cam Jansen books and we will be sure to look for more at our local library.

[Edward Creter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has Cam and Eric on board a tourist boat checking out a pirate--and uncovering piracy of a different sort when a Mysterious Lady In Red (Why does she pop up in crime fiction so often? It's soooo Philip Marlowe) loses her poodle to poochnappers. So now Cam and Eric go "overboard" in their investigation of this disturbing crime!!! Great fun, actually.

[Misty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a girl with a photographic memory (hence her nickname, short for Camera). I'm sure we'll read others in the series. My five year old son loves mystery stories.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that the dog's name is Treasure.

[Artslyz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short mystery staring Cam Jansen, the girl with the incredible "photographic" memory. This one involves a missing dog collar on a boat tour that readers can solve themselves.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

this poodle goes missing and wears an expensive collar. they find the poodle with the thief in the bathroom.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to see if it would work for my early reader. Good vocabulary, catchy story. I put it down and my son immediately picked it up and started reading.

[Kay Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was ok. Good for young readers. I know some fans.

[Cher · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute cute books. My 2nd grader is starting to read chapter books and these are great!