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Item - The Secret of The Chatter Blocks

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Series: A Toy Mystery Gamebook — no. 1
Author: Bosco, Don
Illustrator: Bosco, Mark
Date: December 14, 2019
ISBN: 9811417245 / 9789811417245
Publisher: Don Bosco
Length: 62 pages
Advertisement Blurb: This is a short TOY MYSTERY gamebook for young readers. You choose what happens.

Kei and Will are students at the School of Amusement Arts in New Toy-ko City. They help Professor Felicity Nora investigate unusual cases involving toys and puzzles. A rare set of Chatter Blocks has been stolen. These Blocks talk when you roll them like dice. Help Kei and Will catch the thief and recover the Blocks. But careful, the Perplexity Gang is involved!

There are a few different endings. See if you can help the characters solve the case, catch the thief, and learn the secret of the Chatter Blocks.

This gamebook has been designed for younger readers, ages 8 to 10. It can be read alone, in a group, or during bedtime reading. It introduces young readers to the interactive fiction genre.
hadlee73's Thoughts:

The Secret of the Chatter Blocks is the kind of short gamebook for younger readers that would make a fun exercise for a teacher to do with their students during a class. The book is short enough to read out in one or two sessions (depending on the amount of discussion) and yet identifying all of the clues to solve the case is challenging enough not to be a total walk in the park.

The book is well-written with several elements of humour dotted throughout to keep the entire thing light-hearted. The story is about the theft of the Chatter Blocks, items which speak words when rolled like dice, and while it is a simple investigation of 'interview the suspects, compare stories + evidence and then solve the crime' Don has also inserted some interesting backstory for the blocks themselves so that they aren't just some plot device that you don't think of again after their initial introduction.

I would probably recommend the book for the 7-8 age group, though readers up to 10 may enjoy it too. And, as mentioned above, it would make an excellent one-off class activity for primary school level or for a parent to do with their child.

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