The Case of the Cursed Dodo

The Endangered Files, Book 1

By: Jake G. Panda

Narrated by: Michael McConnohie, J.W. Terry, Dave Mallow, Molly Brandenburg, Antoinette Attell, Ian Whitcomb

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World meets The Maltese Falcon with plenty of jokes and gags to keep you laughing out loud. If you loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Zootopia this is the audio adventure for you!

The Case of the Cursed Dodo is a hilarious throwback to old time radio serials starring a hardboiled Winnie-the-Pooh. His name's Jake G. Panda, and he's a wildlife investigator. He works at a flophouse for endangered critters called the Last Resort. He's the hotel snoop. The resident fuzz.

It's his job to keep these unusual guests safe and out of harm's way. This first installment of The Endangered Files is a wild and woolly mystery involving a missing guest, a green bird, and a bunch of double-crossing critters all hot on the trail of a valuable artifact called The Cursed Dodo.

This audiobook is designed to introduce young listeners to the subject of endangered species in a fun and informative way. So join this tough talking panda detective and a cast of endangered creatures on a globe-trotting audio adventure that will appeal to the kid in all of us.

The complete list of narrators includes: Michael McConnohie, J.W. Terry, Dave Mallow, Molly Brandenburg, Antoinette Attell, Ian Whitcomb, Barbara Watkins, and Bobb Lynes.

©2014 Jake G. Panda (P)2017 Jake G. Panda

Audio Cartoon a winner.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Case of the Cursed Dodo to be better than the print version?

Have only listened to the Audio..... My suspicion is that kids would enjoy the Audio more after reading the book.

What other book might you compare The Case of the Cursed Dodo to and why?

Sort of a animated version of many of the classic detectives.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The variety of narrators bring depth to the story especially to children.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire book is a delightful experience that anyone could enjoy.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

Full of surprises, suspense, and FUN

What an original story! We meet Jake, a hard boiled panda detective, who's hot on the trail to solve a mystery, and to save endangered species while he's at it.

Completely imaginative tale, with a wide range of different characters/animals. Full of puns (which I love if handled masterfully, and Jake does not disappoint).

The sound effects, added music, enhanced background accents were right on the money as only this experienced, talented producer knows how to do. Each scene, every chapter was brought to life, sparkle, and adventure by this fantastic achievement.

I enjoyed this story better by listening to the CDs. :)

Can't wait to hear more of Jake G. Panda's tales. This was classic, and FUN!

(Says it's for kids -- are you kidding me? It's for everybody!!!)

More than an audio-movie

Very fun format - more like listening to a movie than a book. Kids would love this one full of lot of animals and action and sound effects!

THIS AUDIOBOOK IS ADORABLE!

**I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jake G. Panda. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.**

I’m not going to lie: I signed up for this tour by accident. I was distracted and got a little click-happy in one of the Audiobookworm's’ emails, and once I realized it, I almost canceled...

...I'm really glad I didn't!

THIS AUDIOBOOK IS ADORABLE!

For me, this was Indiana Jones meets Dick Tracy meets Zootopia. I giggled quite a bit during my listening experience and couldn’t help picturing Jake G. Panda in a fedora and coat. He’s your genre-typical hardboiled detective who’s been softened around the edges to make him more enjoyable for children. As an adult, I found him (and the other characters) to be delightful and can’t wait to introduce The Endangered Files to my nieces! The mystery in “The Case of the Cursed Dodo” was genuinely intriguing and I could see this being an excellent opportunity to get kids curious about endangered species. This was an example of educational + adventure done right, and had the perfect old-timey radio series feel to it to fire my imagination!

My one complaint about this audiobook was the format. As unique as the noir-movie-script approach was, it didn’t read as well as a ‘regular’ story. The sound effects were fun, but they didn’t do a great job fleshing out scenes and they seemed to stand in place of actual narrative description. This style also made it hard to get to know the characters; they moved ‘on and off screen’ with the speed/frequency one would expect from a movie, but in a strictly audio format, that tendency made it really difficult to get to know the cast. Speaking of cast, I did enjoy the variety of voice actors. There were a few too many male characters for my taste, but they were done really, really well!

Bottom line: “The Case of the Cursed Dodo” was just a fun book. The characters were creative and the plot was fun. If you choose to pick this up for yourself or a child in your life, I’d suggest trying the print version first and only picking up this audio version after you’ve gotten familiar with the characters. Recommended for those who love noir and Zootopia!

Review first appeared on the "Notes from 'Round the Bend" blog

fun times!

really enjoyed listening to this book narrators kept me giggling, intrigued story kept me hooked really easy to sit and just laugh. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.