Read Ada Twist and the Disappearing Dogs free in the Little Reads app.
Andrea Beaty's Ada Twist and the Disappearing Dogs is a funny little mystery for 6 year olds about a young scientist who won't jump to conclusions.
Pets are going missing all over Blue River Creek. Sofia's dog, Pup, has vanished. So has Iggy's cat, Bricks. The wall at the back of the pet shop is covered in posters of lost animals.
Her friends are certain someone is stealing them. Then they decide it might be a robot. Or aliens in a spaceship. (Aaron draws every single idea, getaway car and helicopter included.)
Ada isn't so sure. She's a scientist, and scientists follow the facts. So out comes her notebook and the scientific method, one step at a time.
It doesn't go smoothly! There's a trap in Ada's front garden, disguises made from shrubs, a walkie-talkie that mostly picks up quacking and a very stinky spray. It ends up all over her big brother Arthur, who had told her to stop using his tennis racket in her experiments.
Ada gets things wrong too, which is part of what makes her so lovable. She reads her way through an entire set of encyclopedias and comes back knowing that a group of zebras is called a dazzle. What she doesn't find is anything useful about missing pets.
Have you got a child who asks "why?" about absolutely everything? They'll feel right at home with Ada. Every question she asks seems to lead to another.
Her friends each bring something different. Rosie builds things, Iggy loves buildings, Aaron draws to help himself think and Sofia keeps everyone going. Ada's great-aunt Bernice, who dug up a dinosaur tooth with a spoon, has some wise words about getting the facts first.
There's a kind message tucked into the fun as well, about how scary stories can spread and upset people who've done nothing wrong. The chapters are short and full of sound effects (BAM! QUAAACK!), so it's a lovely one to share out loud or for a newly confident reader to try on their own.
If this one goes down well, Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants brings back Ada, Arthur and Bunsen Burner the cat for another puzzle, and this one starts before breakfast.
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