Encyclopedia Brown facts for kids

Cover of the first Encyclopedia Brown book from 1963

Encyclopedia Brown is a popular series of books about a young detective named Leroy Brown. People call him "Encyclopedia" because he is super smart and knows a lot about many things. The series has 29 children's novels. Donald J. Sobol wrote most of them, with one book co-written. The first book came out in 1963. The last one was published in 2012 after he passed away.

The Encyclopedia Brown books led to other cool things. There was a comic strip and even a TV show. There were also puzzle and game books based on the series. Donald Sobol wrote the first Encyclopedia Brown book very quickly. It only took him two weeks! Later books took about six months to write. The main company that published these books was Bantam Skylark.

How the Books Work

Each Encyclopedia Brown mystery book tells its own complete stories. You don't need to read earlier books to understand what's happening. The main characters and places are usually explained in every book.

Solving Mysteries with Encyclopedia

The books have many short stories, usually ten or more. Each story is a new mystery for Encyclopedia Brown to solve. The cool part is that you, the reader, can try to solve the mystery too! There's always a small clue or something that doesn't make sense in the story. This is how you can figure out the answer. This style is like Donald Sobol's other series, Two-Minute Mysteries.

Many mysteries involve Encyclopedia helping his dad. His dad is the police chief in their town. Encyclopedia also often outsmarts the town bully, Bugs Meany. Bugs is the leader of a gang called the Tigers. Encyclopedia's best friend and partner is Sally Kimball. She's also his bodyguard! Encyclopedia, his dad, or Sally always solve the case. They find the hidden clue or mistake. The answers are in a special section at the back of the book.

Why Encyclopedia Brown is Important

The Encyclopedia Brown books have stayed popular for a long time. They are loved by many readers.

Awards and Education

In 1976, the Mystery Writers of America gave Donald Sobol a special Edgar Award. This award honored him and the Encyclopedia Brown series.

Teachers have used Encyclopedia Brown in classrooms. The books help students learn important skills. For example, they teach how to write reports. In 1986, a company called Society for Visual Education made a filmstrip series. It came with audio tapes and workbooks. These were for elementary and middle schools.

The filmstrips used four Encyclopedia Brown stories. These included "The Case of the Missing Statue" and "The Case of the Kidnapped Pigs." The series showed students how Encyclopedia Brown writes his reports. This included choosing a topic and gathering information. It also taught how to take notes and make an outline.

Other Adventures

The Encyclopedia Brown stories have been made into other forms of entertainment.

Comic Strip Fun

An Encyclopedia Brown comic strip

From 1978 to 1980, Encyclopedia Brown was a daily and Sunday comic strip. Universal Press Syndicate shared it with newspapers. Frank Bolle drew the pictures. Donald J. Sobol was listed as the writer. Later, when the strips were put into books, Elliot Caplin was credited. The comic strips used stories from the Encyclopedia Brown books. They also used stories from Sobol's Two-Minute Mysteries.

TV Series Mysteries

A live-action TV show called Encyclopedia Brown started in 1989. It aired on HBO. Scott Bremner played Encyclopedia Brown. Laura Bridge played Sally. The show had 8 episodes. Howard David Deutsch produced it, and Savage Steve Holland directed. Some parts of the series were filmed in Provo, Utah.

The series began with a special hour-long episode. It was called "The Case of the Missing Time Capsule." This episode first aired on March 2, 1989. It was shown over 200 times on HBO! The other six episodes were 30 minutes long.

• 1. "The Case of the Missing Time Capsule" (March 2, 1989): Idaville is celebrating its 100th birthday. A time capsule from the town founder is stolen! Encyclopedia and Sally investigate.
• 2. "The Case of the Missing U.F.O." (March 9, 1990): Strange things happen in Idaville. A flying saucer appears in the sky. Encyclopedia and Sally try to solve the mystery.
• 3. "The Case of the Amazing Race Car" (March 16, 1990): Someone steals Davey's race car. Encyclopedia Brown steps in to solve the mystery.
• 4. "The Case of the Ghostly Rider" (March 23, 1990): The ghost of the WildCat Kid haunts Old Glennville. Can Encyclopedia and Sally save the day?
• 5. "The Case of the Flaming Beauty Queen" (June 5, 1990): Encyclopedia investigates fires in the library. He also looks into a hidden money case.
• 6. "The Case of the Incredible Culpepper" (July 10, 1990): A mountain lion is stolen from a magic show. Encyclopedia and Sally find the suspects. They solve the crime and return the lion.
• 7. "The Case of the Burglared Baseball Cards" (September 1, 1990): Encyclopedia looks into a late-night theft. A valuable collection of baseball cards is stolen.
• 8. "Encyclopedia Brown, The Boy Detective in One Minute Mysteries" (direct-to-video): This includes five stories from the books. These include "The Case of the Scattered Cards." Many of these episodes were also released on VHS.

Movie Plans

In June 2013, Warner Bros. bought the rights to make an Encyclopedia Brown movie. Matt Johnson was in talks to write the film. Roy Lee and Howard David Deutsch were announced as producers. Howard David Deutsch also produced the 1989 TV series.

The Encyclopedia Brown Books

Here are the Encyclopedia Brown books in the order they were published:

• Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (1963, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67200-1)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch (1965, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67202-8)
• Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues (1966, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67204-4)
• Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man (1967, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67206-0)
• Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All (1968, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67212-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace (1969, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67208-7)
• Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day (1970, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-525-67210-9)
• Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down (1971, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-553-15721-3)
• Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way (1972, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-553-15737-X)
• Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case (1973, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-553-15723-X)
• Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand (1974, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-553-48133-9)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles (1975, illustrated by Leonard Shortall ISBN: 0-590-43343-1)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor (1977, ISBN: 0-553-15586-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown Carries On (1980, ISBN: 0-02-786190-2)
• Encyclopedia Brown Sets the Pace (1981, ISBN: 0-02-786200-3)
• Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake (1982, ISBN: 0-590-07843-7) (Co-written with Glenn Andrews)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Handprints (1985, ISBN: 0-553-15739-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Treasure Hunt (1988, ISBN: 0-553-15650-0)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers (1990, ISBN: 0-688-09012-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Two Spies (1995, ISBN: 0-385-32036-1)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of Pablo's Nose (1996, ISBN: 0-385-32184-8)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog (1998, ISBN: 0-385-32576-2)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Slippery Salamander (2000, ISBN: 0-385-32579-7)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs (2003, ISBN: 0-385-72931-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case (2007, ISBN: 978-0-525-47924-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth (2009, ISBN: 978-0-525-42100-9)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs (2010, ISBN: 978-0-525-42210-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime (2011, ISBN: 978-0-525-42211-2)
• Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme (2012, ISBN: 978-0-525-42582-3)

Other Books and Media

Besides the main mystery books, there are other related works:

• Encyclopedia Brown's Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1979, ISBN: 0-440-02329-7)
• Encyclopedia Brown's First Book of Puzzles and Games (1980, ISBN: 0-553-15300-5) (Written by Jim Razzi, based on Sobol's series.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Second Book of Puzzles and Games (1980, ISBN: 0-553-15099-5) (By Jim Razzi.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Third Book of Puzzles and Games (1981, ISBN: 0-553-15077-4) (By Jim Razzi.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Fourth Book of Puzzles and Games (1981, ISBN: 0-553-15110-X) (By Jim Razzi.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Second Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1981, ISBN: 0-440-02260-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Crimes (1983 ISBN: 0-553-15160-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Spies (1984 ISBN: 0-553-15257-2)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Sports (1984 ISBN: 0-553-15269-6)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Animals (1985, ISBN: 0-553-15346-3)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Third Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts (1985, ISBN: 0-688-05705-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Comic Strips #1 (1985, ISBN: 0-553-15228-9) (A collection of newspaper comic strips, mostly based on Sobol's stories.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Comic Strips #2 (1985, ISBN: 0-553-15217-3) (Another collection of comic strips.)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Cars (1987, ISBN: 0-688-06222-9)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Outdoors (1988 ISBN: 0-553-15598-9)
• Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Strange But True Crimes (1992, ISBN: 0-590-44148-5)
• Encyclopedia Brown and his Best Cases Ever (2013, ISBN: 978-0147508713) (This book celebrated Encyclopedia Brown's 50th anniversary. It includes a letter from Donald J. Sobol and 15 selected cases.)

The puzzle and game books were sometimes sold in sets with the original mystery books. Encyclopedia Brown books are also available as ebooks, audio CDs, and audio cassette tapes.