Duncan Cameron's Shipwreck Detective [With Compass, Dive LogWith Fold Out Map of the World]

I bought Shipwreck Detective for my 11 year old daughter. She thoroughly enjoyed the images in the book and the storyline that included a mystery to solve. She loved pouring over the pages, the envelopes with clues and the diary entries. Adding characters to the storyline helped keep her interest as she poured over the material, all of which was presented in a very engaging way. Now that she's solved the mystery (she used the additiional clues on the website to do so), I'm wondering how often she'll look at the book. My guess is she'll pull it out when friends come over and help them figure out the mystery.

Your favorite uncle has died, and written a will describing a mystery treasure. Your job is to figure out where the treasure is located based on the clues in the book. This book is written journal-style, with lots of flaps, letters in envelopes, and other pieces to explore. There's a compass built into the front cover. Read this book with a child. Learn about scuba and wreck diving, history and archaeology. Solve a mystery. This is wonderful, educational fun for a smart 8 year old, or a typical 10+ year old. Do it together, you'll both benefit.

The conceit behind "Duncan Cameron's Shipwreck Detective" is that professional diver Duncan Cameron discovers a mysterious note in his Uncle Joe's sea trunk: "A small fortune in gold could be yours--if you are smart enough to find it. I'm leaving a list of shipwrecks and a riddle--the rest is up to you." Young readers get to join Duncan as he searches for clues to the location of the treasure around the world at some of the most famous shipwrecks in history, from the Antikythera wreck of a Roman Corbita that sank 70-80 BCE and the HMS "Edinburgh," torpedoes by her own crew to avoid capture during World War II (the shipwrecks are real, but the facts been adapted in some cases to accommodate the storyline). Inside the journal you find a compass, charts, flaps, your own personal dive log, an old fashioned map of the world, and much more. That is the reason this book comes with an elastic strap to keep it shut when you are not working through everything, otherwise the photographs, post-it notes, and other goodies could end up on the floor (do not worry; everything that is important is duplicated underneath the removable goodies so you cannot ruin the experience when somebody else loses things for you). Basically you look over Duncan's shoulder while he and Helle investigate the shipwrecks and work out the clues to find the treasure. That search is the narrative thread for this engaging book illustrated by Cameron with text by Richard Platt, but that serves as a context for telling young readers all about what professional divers do when they check out shipwrecks. We get to learn about the symbols and abbreviations used on Admiralty charts, a swimming robot named "Nemo," star gazing, compass deviations, sailor's knots, and the tropical fish of the Coral Sea & Great Barrier Reef. The text is printed like it is handwritten and is accompanied by photographs, drawings, and various charts and diagrams. If you are familiar with publications from DK then you will not be surprised at how "Shipwreck Detective" has wall-to-wall illustrations on each two-page spread, although the balance is more towards the drawings by Cameron than the photographs of museum treasures we usually find in their books. Those of you who want to skip ahead to the end of the book to find out the solution to the mystery and the location of the treasure will be bitterly, but appropriately, disappointed, because the answer is not there. Duncan succeeds and there is a giant clue when you get to the end, but to find out if you were right you have to go check out a special DK website for the book (I was actually reminded of the end of "The Da Vinci Code," which would be another clue that will be lost on most readers). The front cover is thick enough to include the a compass, but it also helps make the book something of a writing table when it is open, so this books is especially suited for long car trips. Cameron and Platt have come up with something that stacks up pretty we