In Erich Kästner's classic children's mystery, Emil must deliver an envelope of his mother's hard-earned money to his grandmother in Berlin. After boarding the train, he pins the envelope inside the jacket of his blue Sunday suit and takes his seat across from a man in a bowler hat. Emil quickly falls asleep—and when he awakens, the money and the man have both disappeared!

Emil and a resourceful gang of detectives track the skulking thief. Gustav, a fourth grader, learns of Emil's predicament and uses his automobile horn to mobilize his many friends—among them a brainy boy called the Professor; a loyal secretary, little Dienstag; and Emil's saucy bicycle-riding cousin, Pony Hutchen. The joyous romp reaches a crescendo when over one hundred bustling children wait outside the Hotel Kreid at eight in the morning for the thief to appear. 

Originally published in 1929, this quirky book reveals the touching bond between Emil and his widowed mother. All of Kästner's young characters are good-hearted, and their lives are full of the innocence and possibility of youth.

From the dust jacket of the Barnes and Noble reprint