The Case of the Missing Cookies

Gr 1-3–Before the students in Mr. Jeb’s elementary school classroom can enjoy their prize for winning a reading contest, they must find the parts that went missing. With their teacher’s encouragement, the students, who are diverse in ethnicity and ability, combine their math skills with detective work to narrow down the suspects. This fifth book in the “Mini Math Mysteries” series can be read as a stand-alone. Readers must answer seven questions that appear throughout the book on the bottom of the beautifully illustrated pages. Correct answers advance the story. Incorrect answers prompt readers to “think again.” The questions incorporate subtraction using a number line, addition into double-digit numbers, counting by twos, and grouping and sorting by color and number. The ending is humorous and surprising.