Donald J. Sobol, known for his classic Encyclopedia Brown children’s books died today at the age of 87.  I am sure almost everyone my age who ever visited a library as a child had to have read at least one of his books, as they were almost required reading for any kid who loved mystery and adventure books and who had not yet cut their teeth on later classics such as Sherlock Holmes and the like.  Encyclopedia Brown was every bit the sleuth as Mr. Holmes and was constantly called upon to solve crimes or find lost possessions or people not only by the local neighborhood kids, but also by his father, a police officer, who turned over unsolvable cases to his son who always came to the conclusion that would save the day or arrest the criminal.  Perhaps the greatest thing about these stories was that it was up to the reader to solve each of the ten mysteries in a book, as Sobol always provided enough clues and hints to lead to a logical conclusion.  Once you thought you had figured it out, you flipped to the back of the book, checked the case you were working on, and read the solution to see if you were right.  Some of the cases were extremely easy to figure out, and some were complete mindbenders, but you always felt incredibly smart when you had cracked the case just as well as Encyclopedia had, and that sense of accomplishment kept bringing me back time and again to each of the over 20 books he wrote.  I honestly can not think of another author who so encouraged critical thinking for children and helped them have as much fun reading a book and learning things than Sobol was able to do.  With fewer and fewer children reading these days, the best way to honor his memory would be to introduce some of his books to your kids or a friend’s kids as his books are good enough to easily get them hooked on reading which will hopefully lead to a lifetime enjoyment of this wonderful hobby