Young Readers Gather at the "Sherlock Sam" Book Series Launch At Kinokuniya

Even as a grown adult, Red Dot Diva found local "Sherlock Sam" children's book series (published by Epigram) a smart, funny and invigorating read.

All thanks to its creative team - the husband (Adan Jimenez) and wife (Felicia Low-Jimenez) writing duo who call themselves A.J. Low and local-based illustrator, drewscape (Andrew Tan). The three of them seem to have a quirky blend of synergy which resulted in the light-hearted and entertaining book series.

(Click here to check out out Red Dot Diva's review on the first book "Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloom in Katong".)

The "Sherlock Sam" official launch held at the Kinokuniya flagship store's Crossroads area last month on March 16th was no less fun!

A.J. Low - the Writers of "Sherlock Sam" - on Food, Books and Mysteries

A locally published children's illustrated detective fiction book series has captured the hearts and imagination of many young readers recently.

The adventures of precocious 10-year-old "Sherlock Sam" and his trusty sidekick robot, Watson, were penned by "A.J. Low". 

Instead of just one person, the moniker "A.J. Low" belongs to two personalities - an adorable husband and wife team whose real names are Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low. Both USA-born Adan and homegirl Felicia have quite a few years of experience working in bookstores, and "Sherlock Sam" is one of the creative results of their shared love for books and geek-pop-culture. 

Together with illustrator drewscape and homegrown publisher Epigram Books, the team has made "Sherlock Sam" a jaunty, often tongue-in-cheek tale of mystery-solving - Singapore-style.

Book Review: Get Your Kids Reading with "Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloom in Katong"

While reading "Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloon in Katong", the first book of Epigram Book's new children's series by A.J. Low, Red Dot Diva found herself hurled back in time to when she was a long-haired little girl, devouring book after book that were investigative in nature.

Her love for investigative novels started early with Enid Blyton's "The Secret Seven", followed by "Famous Five", and progressed to a little of Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew. Later on as a pre-teen, she especially enjoyed reading "The Three Investigators" series, relishing the more intricate plots and their witty dialogue.

These detective-mystery novels brought her farther along her book journey towards Dame Agatha Christie's works and inevitably, to one of her favorite writer of all time - Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation - the wonderfully eccentric master detective, Sherlock Holmes.

So it was of little coincidence that the Chinese name of "Sherlock Sam"'s main character is Cher Lock ("It's SHER-Lock!!!"). An intelligent, precocious young boy who's also growing up to be the typical Singaporean foodie, Samuel considers Sherlock Holmes (and Batman) to be his detective heroes.