The Curse of the Cobweb Queen

by Geoffrey Hayes

Book Overview

Illus. in full color. In the fourth Otto & Uncle Tooth adventure, the seafaring sleuths, along with Otto's spunky cousin Olivia, sneak into Mookey Swamp to retrieve a stolen pearl from the wicked... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679838783
• ISBN13: 9780679838784
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 2 to 3 years

Customer Reviews

Excitement, Adventure - a review of "The Curse of the Cobweb Queen"

If you haven't run across Uncle Tooth books before, you should know that they are fun mysteries geared for younger children (say 4 to 9 y.o.). In this tale, Uncle Tooth, Otto, and Olivia solve the mystery of the purloined pearl. How did it vanish from the train? Where could it have gone? Answer: Turns out that the pearl is at the lair of the (spooky music here) Cobweb Queen, a villainess that Uncle Tooth has tussled with, and lost to, before! As a reader/primer, I have to say that it is a good challenge for early readers. There is a great deal of dialog and whole pages of text; though I should add the print is still quite large. My own daughter is only six, and we cope with the amount of text by taking turns. Sometimes we alternate pages, and sometimes we take on the roles of the various characters. A sample of the text follows so you can judge for yourselves: They stepped through the castle entrance into a dark hallway. There were things lying on the ground - small, round, dark things. "Eenie Meanies!" whispered Uncle Tooth. Otto shuddered. "You didn't tell me there were going to be monsters," he said. Uncle Tooth poked an Eenie Meanie with his sword. It didn't move. "They are the Cobweb Queen's guards," he explained.... As to the previous reviewers comments that there is boy bashing, I have to laugh because I thought just the opposite. It seemed to me that Otto was rather condescending towards Olivia - just because she was a girl. He says things like: "Are you trying to be a detective or something?" And in fact, when it comes to going to the island, Auntie Hick is portrayed as a wilting flower who can not contemplate such a venture and who must lay down and rest. And when little Olivia shows up at the docks, Otto asks her what she is doing there. When she answers that she wants to go along, Otto answers: "But you'll spoil everything!" But that is okay, because in the end, Olivia saves the day... or at least saves Otto from a dungeon. So my take on the 'bashing' is that this book is making an effort to break down stereotypes, rather than to create them. Four Stars. Good Read-aloud. In general, I think it is an early mystery book that most children would enjoy. In any case, a definite step up from other early readers: this one has excitement and a plot worthy of kids.

Very good book

My son loves the story and it is even OK for adults to read over and over and over. Also a good intro reader for my son.