Precious & The Zebra Necklace

This a prequel series to "The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency" books & tells of young Precious Ramotswe's detectve adventures.

I read this book to my class the week before Mother's Day. The students actually applauded the ending. We had so much fun sharing this delightful story together. For my 2nd and 3rd graders, it was the perfect balance of suspense, adventure, and delight. The story is such a sweet mystery that I shared it with my own mother, who also enjoyed the story. McCall Smith uses an endearing, grandfatherly writer's voice in his stories of young Precious Ramotswe which my students enjoyed greatly. This is a fun and joyful read.

I read a lot of Alexander McCall Smith and, having lived in South Africa, the stories about Precious Ramotswe have entertained me for some time. However, when I read this book I was unaware that it was a children's book. It is a short, simple story, set in Botswana, about a young African girl. It has an easy to follow plot, clearly described characters, and beautifully drawn landscape. As a child's book I feel it is good, as an adult's book it is somewhat wanting.

A nice story of the young Precious.

Easy to read novella; however I found the ending a little abrupt.

My 8 year old granddaughter read this and she loved it!

My 7 year old simply loves these books.

wonderful story and age of words used.

The book is exactly what we were looking for.

It was a most enjoyable childrens book, One that parents would enjoy reading to their children. It is sweet, beautifully written, a perfect first incite to a detective story, without anything threatening happening to the children in the story. It also gives an incite to African village life,as well as what having a friend should mean. I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading it to my grandchildren.

My 6yr old son and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. We say down on a rainy day and finished it in one sitting. Precious is such a wonderful character who goes about her day with kindness and always finds a mystery.

Is this meant to be a children's book? It seemed to be. Still, it was a simple, sweet, quick read but appeared to be geared to children.

I bought this to update my collection of No.1 Detective books and was not disappointed with the content