Peko Pal
The Great Gizmo Derby
When wheels start vanishing from every soapbox car in town, inventor Mia Ortiz has to clear her rival's name before the big race. Her homemade gadgets and a very unexpected suspect crack the case wide open.
- Ages
- 6–9
- Length
- 29 min, 7 chapters
- Feel
- Gentle
- Wi-Fi to play
- Not needed
Why parents pick it
Mia Ortiz builds gadgets in her garage, and when wheels vanish from every soapbox car in town, she solves it with a notepad, a magnifying glass and a homemade alarm. It is a gentle detective story where careful looking, not blame, finds the answer, and a rival is treated fairly.
Good fit if your child…
- likes inventing, tinkering and figuring out how things work
- enjoys a mystery with clues to piece together
- is curious about animals and how people can help them
Listen to a preview
From Chapter 1
Mia Ortiz's garage smelled like sawdust and hot glue, which was exactly how she liked it.
Every wall was covered in her inventions. A mechanical arm that could fetch the remote control. A birdhouse with a tiny solar light. A bicycle horn that played four different songs, though two of them didn't work anymore. Mia called her garage the Lab. Her little brother called it the Junk Cave. Mia didn't mind. Junk was just parts that hadn't found their purpose yet.
"Did you hear?" Jonah burst through the side door without knocking, the way he always did. Jonah was Mia's best friend, and he had a talent for finding things out before anyone else. "The Great Gizmo Derby is back. Five days from now, at the fairgrounds."
What happens
Mia Ortiz loves her garage workshop, which she calls the Lab, and this year she is determined to build a soapbox car with a real steering wheel for the Great Gizmo Derby, just five days away. Her best friend Jonah hunts down parts, and the plan is going well until Mia wakes to find her car's wheels gone, along with wheels and parts from racers all over town.
Suspicion falls on her rival Dev Patel, whose car is untouched, though Mia doesn't believe he would cheat. She follows the clues with homemade gadgets and careful thinking. Listeners get a funny, cozy mystery that celebrates curiosity, fairness, and teamwork.
For the grown-up
What they get from it. Children see a clue-by-clue way of solving a problem: observe, write it down, test an idea, gather proof. The story also shows standing up for someone wrongly blamed and helping a rival.
Before you play it. It stays gentle. The tension is a town suspecting one boy, a night-time stakeout and a deadline, and no one is hurt or in danger.
Ask your child afterwards:
- What clues did Mia notice, and what did each one tell her?
- Why do you think Mia believed Dev when others did not?
- If you could invent one gadget for a mystery, what would it do?
Chapters
- The Great Gizmo DerbyAn inventor's garage, a big race in five days, and a steering wheel that almost works.
- Something Is MissingFour wheels are gone overnight, with no open door and no footprints.
- Clues in the GrassTiny prints, a shiny scrap and a peanut butter smell point somewhere unexpected.
- The Tin Can TrapMia and Jonah build a rattling alarm from tin cans and wait out the night.
- The Shiny DenOne peek under an old shed shows where the wheels went.
- Setting Things RightWheels go home, a wrongly blamed boy gets an apology, and a deadline looms.
- Race DayRace day arrives with a steep hill, a new award and some surprises.
Themes
Common questions
- What age is The Great Gizmo Derby for?
- It is written for ages 6–9.
- How long is The Great Gizmo Derby?
- 7 chapters, about 29 min in all.
- Is The Great Gizmo Derby scary?
- It stays gentle. The tension is a town suspecting one boy, a night-time stakeout and a deadline, and no one is hurt or in danger.
- Does it need Wi-Fi?
- No. Once it is on the Pal, it plays without Wi-Fi.
Playing it on the Pal
Press the button to play or pause. Tap left or right to skip back or ahead 15 seconds, double-tap for the previous or next chapter, or triple-tap left to start the book over. Up and down switch to another book. It picks up where you left off.