ABOUT THE BOOK. A Home Party Kit for. By Annie Barrows + Sophie Blackall EVERYONE LOVES IVY + BEAN!

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1 ome arty Kit for K : $14.99 ges 6 10 uided eading Level: y nnie arrows + ophie lackall U K Watch out, you diabolical masterminds! here s a new detective on ancake ourt: ean! he laughs at danger! he solves even the most mysterious mysteries! What? here aren t any mysteries? hen ean and her assistant, vy, will make some! V LV V +! vy and ean are irresistible. Kirkus eviews, starred review Will make readers giggle. ooklist, starred review ust right for kids moving on from beginning readers. ublishers Weekly, starred review Defies expectations of what an early chapter book can be. LK./VD rt ophie lackall chool Library ournal

2 by annie barrows + sophie blackall K KD! h boy! We are going to solve mysteries! We are going to be tough! We are going to uncover secrets! We are going to sneak and spy and follow the clues! We are going to nab the suspects, discover the answers, and know too much! We are going to have a blast! Why? ecause we are private investigators, that s why! V ow, everyone knows that private investigators wear hats. r sunglasses. r both at once. artly, they do this to look tough and cool, but the real reason is to hide their eyes. hey don t want other people to know where they re looking. f you re spying on ammy La arba, you don t want him to know it. o you pull your hat low or you put on sunglasses, and ammy La arba doesn t have a clue. ut what if you don t have a hat or a pair of sunglasses? asy-peasy! Learn how to walk with a book in front of your face. ou can spy over the top of it, and other people will think you re reading! lso, grownups love to see kids reading, so they ll be happy. W D: et a not-too-heavy book and hold it up in front of your face. Keep the top edge of the book just below your eyes. tart walking, very slowly (or you ll smack into something). Look over the top of the book most of the time (or you ll smack into something), but every three steps, glance down at the book super-quick, so you ll look like you re reading. he more you practice, the easier it gets. o start practicing! ll private investigators have to learn how to snoop. nooping is the same thing as noticing, especially noticing things that other people don t want you to notice. o get good at snooping, you need to train yourself to look and remember. o here s a fun game that gives you practice at looking and remembering. W D: et out at least twenty little things on a tray or table. othing fancy, just stuff like nickels and raisins and combs. lso get out a towel and a clock and a piece of paper and a pencil. Look at the little things for 30 seconds (half a minute), and then cover them up with the towel. ow, write down as many as you can remember. Did you get them all? Wow, you re practically a spy already. V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall ou can add more things or you can shorten the time to 20 seconds if you want to make it harder. ou can also take turns with another person if you like that kind of thing.

3 DU DD U KW V WLD D? t s true. rivate investigators often nab their suspects by dusting for fingerprints. What they really do is powder for fingerprints, but they call it dusting for some reason. t s pretty fun, and you can do it, too. or once in your life, you don t need to wash your hands before you begin. t s better if your hands are kind of dirty and sticky (not wet, though). et some baby powder and a soft paintbrush. hen get something smooth and dark, like a dark plate or mug or plastic bottle, and press your thumb hard into it. prinkle a little powder over the place where you pressed your thumb and then brush the powder off with the soft brush. h my gosh! Do you see the thumbprint? ou ve found your suspect! h. Wait. t s only you. ut still, it was fun. D--UL- : rownups have pretty boring lives. hey get up, go to work, eat dinner, and fall asleep, day after day. o wonder they think sleeping is fun. ut you can help them by making their lives more interesting. ou can make a mystery for your grownup. our mystery can be super-easy or super-complicated or somewhere in the middle. ou don t want to scare your grownup, you just want to make them wonder. or example, moving something in your house is an easy way to make a mystery. ake something that s right out where everyone can see it (but not something that your grownup is touchy about): a picture, a vase, a book, a coffee mug. ow, move it. urn it around or put it somewhere else. rownups don t pay a whole lot of attention to what s going on, so you might have to be patient, but eventually, they ll notice. nd then, they ll wonder. ou can make a more complicated mystery by putting odd things together. Like, for example, sticking a quarter into the peanut butter (use your own quarter). r putting a fork in the mailbox. r blowing up a balloon and putting it in your grownup s car. r you can make a super-complicated mystery by leaving notes in odd places. or instance, you can write ust see red about on a piece of paper and leave it in the refrigerator. hen write the can, and abel wants to know on another piece of paper and put it under the soap. hen write if the secret is and drop it in the middle of the floor. t ll drive them bonkers! What a laugh! V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall f you do all these fun things, you ll practically be a private investigator, just like ean,.., and her assistant, vy. ongratulations and don t be a stooge!

4 K D! est your uper leuth skills! Use the ecret ode below and the clues in parenthesis next to each question to fill in the blank mystery terms. or example, if the letter in the clue is an, fill in the blank with a z. seret de =z =y =x D=w =v =u =t =s =r =q K=p L=o =n =m =l =k Q=j =i =h =g U=f V=e W=d X=c =b Z=a an object, observation, or piece of information that helps to solve a mystery or puzzle is the arrangement of events in a story (XV) is another name for a detective (V) unknown (V) is something that is secret or related to the mystery (DV) is someone who saw something is a person who gathers information and investigates a mystery (WVVXV) W K: 1. clue 2. sleuth 3. mystery 4. witness 5. detective V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

5 W DV! L UD VUL ow that your detective caps are on, try writing a story of your own. e sure to review the major elements in a story with students before beginning. Use this writing worksheet to get started! K L: : : L: L: LU: V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

6 U U! ee if you can find all the words hidden in the puzzle below. hen see if your friends can do it. r better yet, have a race to see who can solve the puzzle the fastest! V+ K WD L L U X K Q L Q K Q D V V Q D Q V L X U W Z K L V Z U X U Q W D Z Z V Z K U WD K V D V K U L W DVU K rt ophie lackall V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD

7 D-U-W V V egin by getting into mystery solving spirit! Write your name on the sign. hen decorate the sign anyway you like. ou can include pictures of things you like, things you like to draw or anything you feel like! igator rivate nvest V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall..

8 V+ DU Whether you are looking for clues or hiding from a suspect, every private investigator needs a disguise sometime. ut out these disguises, glue them together (or to a popsicle stick), and take photos of your sneaky new look! V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

9 V+ DU ut out and tape to your face! V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

10 V+ DU ut out and glue to a popsicle stick. V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

11 V+ DU ut out and glue to a popsicle stick. V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall

12 LK LK DV L UD VUL n vy and ean ake the ase, ean uses some creative detective lingo as she investigates the mystery happening right in her neighborhood in ancake ourt. ow many of the words below have you heard before? ow many have you used in sentences? e the best and most convincing super sleuth you can be by learning how to work these words into your investigations. LU: n object, observation, or piece of information that helps to solve a mystery or puzzle DV: person who gathers information and investigates crimes : omething that is secret or unknown; a problem needing to be solved LU: nother name for a detective W: omeone who saw something related to the mystery U U When she was a kid, W never once went to camp. he never took any classes. he never played a sport. he wasn t a irl cout. Whata weirdo. ow she lives in orthern alifornia with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at anniebarrows.com. U LLU LKLL once spent a week inside a giant shrub with all the other kids on her block. he leaves draped like curtains so you were invisible when you crawled inside and you could climb the trunk and slide down the outside. t was brilliant. he lives in rooklyn now, in a house. f, after discovering this about her, you still wish to learn more, visit her at sophieblackall.com. V + K : ook #10 y nnie arrows + ophie lackall LK./VD rt ophie lackall