Chasing Vermeer (Scholastic Gold)

Excellent book

I use this novel for small guided reading groups. When I taught 5th and 6th grade some years they liked it some years not so much. This past school year I used it for my highest 4th grade reading group, they loved it

*Disclaimer: This is from an adult's perspective. A young reader might have a very different reaction to this book.I was so excited by this book when I started reading it -- it sets up interesting characters, an exciting mystery, and a visual puzzle for the reader to solve through the illustrations in the book. I loved the initial character development of Petra and Calder, two smart young people who have very different ways of thinking. It was fun using the pentomino code to decode the letters in the book, and to try to solve the hidden puzzle in the pictures. And I loved that the mystery was based around art history. But as I read on, I became disappointed. The character development fell flat. The visual puzzle was not quite as challenging as I'd hoped (though still satisfying). And, most disappointing of all, the mystery was really not as exciting as initially promised (trying to turn the nitpicky art historical issue of painting attribution into a big international scandal just didn't work for me).Despite these disappointments, I still believe this book has something special to offer, with its unique approach, and its two main characters who really think about the world around them, and use all their intelligence and intuition to solve the mystery.

This is a delightful story for it's age group, and the puzzles, in addition, add to the adventure. But most of all, I am delighted that it brought attention to the "real" arts, in this case a particular work of Johannes Vermeer. I think I may have had more fun creating my lesson plans!A few years ago I also enjoyed an adult fiction by Tracy Chevalier about the same artist and another of his famous paintings, Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was later made into a beautiful "art" film starring the very handsome and tremendously talented actor Colin Firth.It is always a pleasure to shed light (no pun intended) on the work of a great master artist.

This is the first in a series of three books. The book itself is an mystery, but the pictures also are a mystery. Crack the code with the pictures and you add to the story. Elizabeth Balliett writes a fast-moving story that carries you along with Calder and Petra to find out who is at the center of the Vermeer heist. The ending is especially intense, keeping you wondering who is actually guilty. A great read!

Storyline and writing is entertaining for the average 3rd-4th grader. Great writer for introducing chapter book reading to young students. Author was once a teacher herself. Blue seems to have a wide range of cultural knowledge that she incorporates into her books.

The book itself is excellent, but the copy Amazon shipped me arrived with crumpled corners and a rip in the cover, and the replacement copy I ordered came similarly damaged. Extremely disappointed.

My 11 year old daughter had to read "Chasing Vermeer" for school. She gives the book five stars because the book kept her in suspense at all times. She says it ended with a cliffhanger and she is looking forward to reading the series. I commend her teacher for recommending the book, as the introduction to the book led my daughter to a book series that she might not have ever picked to read on her own.

Llego a tiempo y en perfectasCondiciones

I read this book ages ago, and I was fascinated by him always having a pocket full of pentominoes. My brother is also interested in that kind of stuff, so when I'd gotten him some pentominoes, I also got him this book to explain why.

Buy this book,people.it is soooo cool. lol l l k uni h h ugh h h h h h h

My daughter loved this book and has since borrowed the others in the series to read them. Highly recommended for pre-teens

ペトラはいつも答えの出ない疑問でいっぱいの少女。チャールズ・フォートの本を読んで超常現象の存在を信じるようになりました。コールダーはペントミノ占いに凝っています。２人は大学町にある小学校６年の同級生。　　さて、フェルメールの絵が輸送中に盗まれるという事件が起きました。「フェルメール作とされている35作品のうち真筆は26作品だけである、それらが正しく鑑定し直されれば絵は返す」という犯人から新聞社への手紙が届き、にわか美術評論家による真贋論争が世界中に巻き起こります。コールダーとペトラも盗まれた絵を探そうと活動を始めます．．．　　絵が盗まれるまでの序盤はかなり長く、沢山のエピソードが盛り込まれて話の方向が見えないところがありますが、事件後からはぐんぐんとストーリーに引っ張られます。実在するチャールズ・フォートの本、盗まれたこともずば抜けて多いフェルメール作品は、実際ＩＲＡの政治的要求の人質となったこともあります。そうしたリアリティーと、２人が偶発的に見える出来事の必然性とペントミノの予言を信じて事件を解明しようとするファンタジックな謎解き部分に、Series of Unfortunate Events（世にも不幸な物語）で有名になったBrett Helquistによる挿絵が相俟って、不思議な雰囲気を醸し出し、「答えられる」ことよりも「問いかける」ことの大切さを説く著者によって児童書ながらも知的で奥行きの深い世界が築かれています。　　挿絵に隠された暗号はそう簡単ではないのですが、解答サイトが本文に明示されています。 ペントミノの通常の遊び方も出版社のサイトでわかります。色々なことをインターネットで調べてみたくなるように工夫されているのですね。