The Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball

Cam Jansen Mysteries #6

by David A. Adler, Susanna Natti (Illustrator)

Mysteries follow super-sleuth Cam Jansen everywhere she goes...even to the community hobby show. Cam and Eric are checking out a sports memorabilia booth when a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth disappears. Can Cam catch the thief and recover the Babe's ball?

The Cam Jansen books are perfect for young readers who are making the transition to chapter books, and Cam is a spunky young heroine whom readers have loved for over two decades.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, Sports, Juvenile, Baseball

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

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]

Attending the local community hobby show, Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton are there when a valuable baseball, signed by Babe Ruth himself, goes missing. Cam immediately suspects that the boy in the bright green jacket that she sees leaving the community hall has taken the baseball, and she and Eric pursue him. But when they catch him in the park, he reveals that he is carrying a different baseball. Has Cam made a mistake, or is something else afoot...?

Originally published in 1982, Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball was the sixth entry in author David A. Adler's beginning chapter-book series about this fifth-grade sleuth and her photographic memory. I recall reading many of these books when I was a young girl, and I am currently revisiting them as part of a project to familiarize myself with series intended for readers ages six through eight. Recommended to fans of Cam Jansen, and to anyone looking for mysteries for young readers who are just getting going with chapter-books.

[Ryry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one in second grade, freakin classic. W books. Cam Jansen had that photographic memory, it was crazy. Click.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)

*Please Note that the following review is the general review on the Cam Jansen Mysteries *

I loved this series as a kid. I believe I was about 6 to 8 when I read these books and it would be the beginning of my love of mysteries. Cam Jansen, about 10 years old, uses her photographic memory to solve mysteries. They remind me of Agatha Christie novels but for children beginning to read chapter books. I would call these one step above the easy readers.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine times out of ten, my boys will ask me to pick something for them to read. I’m not quite sure why they prefer me to choose, but hey, I’ll take it! And let me tell you, I take the job seriously. I don’t want to give them something they don’t like, making reading feel like a chore to them! So I’m on a mission to read as many of the children’s chapter books I have at home (and there are seriously hundreds) in the hopes of giving them good, personalize recommendations. It’s almost baseball season and my 1st grader’s reading skills are growing like crazy and I think he will be ready to graduate to chapter books soon. So I thought I would start my quest with this book. I’m going with 4 stars because each chapter ends with a nice hook that will keep the reader coming back for more. The vocab is a little challenging, but not so challenging as to deter a young reader. The chapters are short and succinct. The mystery is clearly explained and the logic is easy for a young reader to follow. I will be putting this on the recommendation list for my 7 year old.

[Anna Salvesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam, Eric, and the Jansens were at a baseball ceremony and the owner had a baseball signed by Babe Ruth that he got when he was a little boy. The audience did memory tricks with Cam using baseball cards. Then Mr. Baker yelled "where's my baseball?" Cam and Eric figured out who stole the baseball. When the thief saw Cam and Eric talking to a security guard, he started to run. Cam and Eric followed him all the way to the park. There were two kids playing with the Babe Ruth ball, and there was a man sitting on the bench. They figured out it was him.He had a baseball in his pocket signed by Little League, and when the kids threw the ball too far, he swapped the Babe Ruth ball with the Little League ball. He went home, and Cam and Eric followed him.

[CTWard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alder's "Cam Jansen" series are great chapter book starter reads for children ages 7 to 10 who enjoy mysteries. The series provides great situations that promote problem solving skills to readers and attention to details in situations where problem solving is necessary. A female protagonist leads each of the books, but does not stop the individual books in providing interest to readers across genres and themes.

[Kaylee Klaassen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Grade Range: 2nd - 3rd
Chapter Book

I love the Cam Jansen books. I remember reading all of them when I was growing up. I loved this particular book about the Babe Ruth Baseball. It is amazing to me how great Cam Jansen's memory is. I wish I had an amazing photographic memory! I think the relationship between Cam and Eric is really sweet too! This book kept my attention and on the edge of my seat as Cam and Eric were solving the mystery of the missing Babe Ruth Baseball. I would definitely recommend that this book be read by students!

[Mary Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to collect books like this for those rare nights my kids want me to read them to sleep. They are long enough that it’s fun for me, but short enough we can get it done in less than 20 minutes. This was my first cam Jansen book in 20 years. They are fun for kids who like encyclopedia brown or Nate the great.

[Sarah Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cam Jansen uses her quick thinking and photographic memory to solve mysteries in the Cam Jansen series. In this book, Cam tries to solve the mystery of the missing baseball that was signed by Babe Ruth. Cam thinks she knows who threw it.. Is she right? Read to find out!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cam and Eric are at a museum of sorts when Cam displays her memory by telling facts on the back of baseball cards. But when the display owner's signed Babe Ruth baseball disappears, Can and Eric are on the case. A great mystery series to read with my 1st grade daughter.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for my 2nd grader!

[Cameron Stuart Parr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ei3isii

[Brianna Kolodziejski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Girl had everything figured out! When reading the Chapter books in elementary school i wish i could've had a photographic memory! Would've made learning so much easier! Great Read!

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

She really has acute judgement which helped her solved this puzzling case!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part is that Cam's patents love who she is, and that she says click.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a Babe Ruth baseball is stolen from a museum can Cam solve the mystery?

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detective book, starting Cam Jansen, a bright little girl with a photographic memory.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a famous baseball player. Cam breaks into an apartment with nobody knowing and finds the baseball.

[Hugo Bolton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like this book much .figured it out almost straight away

[Jgramley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. My brother reminds me a lot of Cam Jensen without the photographic memory. Both super intelligent though. Great, quick read filled with baseball facts and of course a mystery.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book with one of my reading groups. This group had a third grader and a fourth grader and we each found the book to be kind of boring and predictable.

[Rah Reads]

A great story to read with children just beginning to read chapter books!

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Cam and Eric talk with Mr. Baker at the hobby show, Mr. Baker notices that his autographed Babe Ruth baseball is gone. Just then, Cam sees a boy in a green jacket hurriedly leaving the arena. Cam remembers that the boy's jacket pockets were empty when he stopped to look at Mr. Baker's display. Now, one of them has a bulge. Cam and Eric follow the boy to a nearby playground. The boy denies having Mr. Baker's baseball, but he does pull a "Little League Slugger" from his pocket. While Cam and Eric watch, the boy exchanges his “Slugger” for a ball that rolled away from two children playing catch. Cam uses her deductive powers to find the boy's apartment and Mr. Baker's autographed baseball.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun mystery in the Cam Jansen Mysteries series by David A. Adler and Susanna Natti. We've read most of these books and have really enjoyed them all. This was a tricky mystery to solve and although I saw it coming, our girls were stunned. It's an entertaining story and we are looking forward to reading the few we haven't read yet.

[Lenae Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam Jansen seems to be an ordinary little girl but there is something unique about her. When she was at the community hobby show, Mr. Baker's baseball signed by Babe Ruth suddenly went missing. Read this book to find out how Cam Jansen, a fifth grade girl with a great photographic memory, solved the theft.

This was a cute read. I would read more of these books.

I think teachers could use this in lower elementary. It is a very easy read. It would be good to start introducing chapter books using this book.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 2 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 15 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[Kaylan Nurse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can Jansen is always up to something. After the special Babe Ruth ball goes missing, she's on a hunt for it and it's thief. A lesson in social studies can be taught using the information about Babe Ruth and history! Students love to learn about important people and their contributions to history. They could also re enact the story!

[Kara Laidig · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was younger I read all of Cam Jansen's books and loved them. This took me back to my childhood. Cam has a remarkable memory and helps an old man find his stolen baseball.This book can teach kids that it is not right to steal things. It shows the consequences for stealing but also how it makes the person, that you stole from, feel.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I learned was that Cam was at a baseball exhibit somewhere and the guy who was the worker at the baseball exhibit and someone stole the Babe Ruth Ball that was signed by Babe Ruth back when the worker was a kid.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the Hall of Hobbies. It is a hall where people brought collections of things they had and put them in the hall. One collection was a baseball collection and someone took the Babe Ruth baseball.