Text Leveling System

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake!

RDQ:	890	Max Word/Sent	37	Total Words	1434		Diff Words	564
Lex	720	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	889	62%	Hi freq	221	39.2%
AR	3.4	Long Sentences	2.3	Low Freq occurs	97	6.8%	Low freq	69	12.2%

THE CASE OF
THE MISSING
GARLIC BREAD
IDAVILLE looked like any other seashore town its size -
on the outside. Inside it was like no other place in America. 
For more than a year no one had gotten away with 
breaking the law there.
Idaville's chief of police was Mr. Brown. He had a 
secret. Whenever he or his officers came up against a case 
too difficult for them he knew what to do. He went home 
and talked to his only child ten-year-old Leroy.
Over dinner Leroy solved the case for him.
Leroy never spoke a word about the help he gave his 
father. He didn't want to appear different from other fifth
graders. But there was nothing he could do about his 
nickname Encyclopedia.
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with 
facts from A to Z just like Encyclopedia's head.
He had read more books than almost anyone and he 
never forgot what he read. He was like a bookmobile that 
runs on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
From fall to spring Encyclopedia helped his father 
capture crooks. When school let out for the summer he 
helped the children of the neighborhood as well.]] 
Every morning he hung his sign outside the garage.
BROWN DETECTIVE AGENCY
13 ROVER AVENUE
LEROY BROWN PRESIDENT
No Case Too Small
25 Per Day Plus Expenses

One morning in late June Encyclopedia and Sally Kimball his partner were seated in the garage when Josh Whipplewhite entered. Josh wore a mad and hungry look.
"You missed breakfast?" asked Encyclopedia.
"No" grumbled Josh. "Lunch."
"It's only ten o'clock in the morning!" exclaimed Sally. "You must have just flown in from France!"
"Naw I never left Idaville" Josh replied. "But part of my lunch took off."
He explained. His mother had been fixing the food for his birthday party which was to start at one o'clock. She had made a big loaf of garlic bread and a chocolate cake. She had put them on the windowsill for a minute to get them out of the way.
"The cake and the garlic bread disappeared as if they'd flown - pffft!" Josh said. "My party's ruined!"
"You can have a party without garlic bread" Encyclopedia pointed out.
"But not without a birthday cake" declared Sally.
"Uh-uh" corrected Josh. "It's the garlic bread I'll miss. I'd rather have it than cake anytime."
He put a quarter on the gasoline can beside Encyclopedia. "I want to hire you" he said. "Find the thief!"
"Did you see anyone around your house at the time?" asked Encyclopedia.]] 
"Three or four big boys" said Josh. "I didn't pay much attention. But one of them was called Bugs."
"Bugs - Bugs Meany!" cried Sally. "I knew it."
Bugs was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Pretzel Makers. They always tried to make dough the crooked way. The only things they hated more than honesty were soap and water.
Encyclopedia had dealt with Bugs in the past. Almost every week he had to stop the Tigers from cheating the children of the neighborhood.
"I'm pretty sure the Tigers made off with your garlic bread and birthday cake" he said. "Come with us."
The Tigers' clubhouse was an unused toolshed behind Mr. Sweeney's auto body shop. Bugs Meany Duke Kelly Spike Larsen and Rocky Graham were inside sitting on orange crates and chewing parsley.
Bugs chewed a little faster when he saw Encyclopedia Sally and Josh approaching.
"What's this?" he called. "Winter must have come early this year. The nuts are falling out of the trees."
Encyclopedia was used to Bugs's greetings. He ignored the remark.
"This is Josh Whipplewhite" he said. "Earlier this morning you four stole a birthday cake and a loaf of garlic bread from his kitchen windowsill."
"Stole?" exclaimed Bugs. He smote his forehead as if he couldn't believe anyone would accuse him of stealing. "We've been right here in the clubhouse all morning eating rabbit food. Got to get our vitamins."
"You unwashed ape" said Sally. "You're lying."]] 
Bugs tilted his nose. "What makes you so sure Miss Smarty?"
"Your lips are moving" snapped Sally.
Bugs grew red. "You prove I'm not honest in word and deed and us Tigers will buy this little whipple-dipple kid another cake and a loaf of garlic bread."
"Agreed" said Encyclopedia quickly. He moved off to the side and powwowed with Sally and Josh.
"All we have to do is sniff their breath" whispered Josh. "Garlic leaves a terrible smell."
"They thought of that" Sally said. "They're chewing parsley on purpose. Parsley will sweeten even a camel's breath."
"Well somebody ought to take a whiff just the same" Josh said. "But not me. It's my tenth birthday and I want to live to be eleven."
Sally looked at Encyclopedia. The boy detective looked away. He had no desire to have his nose bitten by an angry Tiger.
"Boys" Sally said disgustedly. "All right I'll do it."
She marched up to Bugs. "Open your mouth if you dare you runaway from a bathtub."
Bugs seemed to be waiting for the command. He opened his mouth willingly.
Sally put her nose close. She did the same with Duke Spike and Rocky. They breathed heavily into her face and grinned.
She returned to Encyclopedia and Josh defeated.
"The parsley got rid of the evidence darn it" she said. "Bugs's breath is better than usual."]] 
"There goes my lunch party" groaned Josh.
"Not yet" said Encyclopedia. "I think I can prove the Tigers stole the garlic bread and birthday cake."

HOW?

(Turn to page 114 for the solution to
The Case of the Missing Garlic Bread.)]] 
KITCHEN
BASICS
JOSH Whipplewhite took Encyclopedia and Sally home with him. Excitedly he told his mother how the detectives had bested the Tigers.
Mrs. Whipplewhite looked amazed. She looked more amazed after counting the money that the Tigers had given Josh.
"There is just enough to buy ingredients for more garlic bread and another birthday cake" she said.
She turned to America's Sherlock Holmes in sneakers. "You must be as good as Josh has been telling me" she said. "But I don't understand about the Tigers. Why did they pay for what they stole? They're big and strong. They could have chased you away."
"They know better" Josh said beaming. "Bugs Meany has tried his bullying act several times. Sally squashed him flatter than a prune Danish every time they fought."
Josh wasn't fibbing. Sally was the best athlete in the fifth grade. And she was the only one boy or girl under twelve who could punch out Bugs Meany. - Whenever they had tangled Bugs had ended on the ground mumbling]] 
"Deal the cards" or some other line from dreamland.
"You two are quite a team" Mrs. Whipplewhite said to the detectives. She brought out milk and oatmeal cookies and placed them on the kitchen table. "Perhaps you'd like to help make Josh another birthday cake and garlic bread. You could -"
"Mom" Josh broke in. "They're detectives. They have a business to run."
"Oh but we'd like to help" said Encyclopedia who was always eager to learn. "Besides business will be slow for a few days. Whenever Bugs is caught at some mischief he lies low for a spell."
"And with the Fourth of July approaching a lot of kids have left the neighborhood" Sally put in. "We could go without a customer for days."]] 
"Then perhaps you'd like to help make the food for the party?" Mrs. Whipplewhite asked.
"That'd be neat!" exclaimed Encyclopedia.
Mrs. Whipplewhite got out a red crayon and a sheet of paper. "If we're going to do a lot of cooking we'd better have some rules" she advised. She made up a sign and tacked it onto the kitchen bulletin board. It read:

1. Always wear oven mitts when you are putting things into and taking them out of the oven. Ask for help if you need it.

2. Handles on all pots have to be turned toward the back of the stove so nothing will be knocked over.

3. Plan ahead. Read the recipe all the way through before you start. Get things ready.

4. The main rule: Clean up as you go.

Mrs. Whipplewhite taught all the children how to use knives and a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler. Here's what she told them:

Always work away from yourself and make sure your fingers aren't where they might be cut.

Use sharp knives. (They're much safer than dull ones.)

Always use a cutting board. (Never cut on the counter!)]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several unrelated ideas

Captions

Chapters

Features

Topic

Mystery

Recipes

Cooking

Stealing

Problem Solving

Crime

Detectives

*Home Arts & Food

*Citizenship & Laws

Low Frequency Words

advised	agency	approaching	bested	breathed
danish	dealt	detective	dipple	disgustedly
dreamland	encyclopedia	encyclopedia's	evidence	excitedly
expenses	fibbing	flown	garlic	gasoline
graham	heavily	holmes	honest	honesty
idaville	idaville's	ignored	ingredients	kimball
knives	larsen	leroy	mischief	naw
neighborhood	nickname	oatmeal	ought	parsley
partner	peeler	powwowed	president	pretzel
prove	prune	purpose	recipe	rover
runaway	sherlock	smote	solution	spike
squashed	sweeney's	sweeten	swivel	tangled
tilted	toolshed	unused	unwashed	whiff
whipple	whipplewhite	willingly	windowsill