Skip to main content

Five Faves: Mysteries for Younger

October is a great time to read a mystery! These picture book mysteries are the perfect way to introduce young readers to the genre, just in time for spooky season.

Written by Josh Funk
Illustrated by Brendan Kearney
New York: Union Square Kids, 2022. Picture Book.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast wake up one day to find that the Great Light in the refrigerator is missing! As they trace the light to Las Veggies, Pancake and French Toast must enlist all their friends to retrieve the bulb from Caper and his vegetable henchmen!

Written Josh Crute
Illustrated by Jenn Harney
Salem, MA: Page Street Kids, 2021. Picture Book.

When Deer wakes up and realizes that one of his antlers has been stolen and replaced with a tennis racquet, he panics! Racing around to his friends in the woods, they each realize in turn that they have all been hornswoggled, bamboozled, skunked! Wacky words are used and defined as the animals try to solve the mystery of the missing items. 

Written by Eddie Muller and Jessica Schmidt
Illustrated by Forrest Burdett
Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Kids, 2023. Picture Book.

When hard-boiled private investigator Kitty Feral's partner Mitch the Mutt goes missing, the cat faces dead end after dead end. Deciding to take on a second, potentially connected case of a missing candy shipment, Kitty interrogates the "usual suspects" to get to the bottom of the disappearances and save Mitch and the candy from the bandits. The case gives young readers an introduction to noir and detective fiction tropes and vocabulary, and an afterword gives more information on the noir genre's origins.

By Albert ArrayƔs
Boisbriand, Quebec: CrackBoom! Books, 2021. Picture Book.

Chickens are beloved and revered in Chickentown, and every year the hens compete for the Golden Feather award for the best hen of the year. A few days before the competition, hens start disappearing mysteriously, with a set of clues pointing to the culprit. The local witch and her hen set out to find the kidnapper, though it may not be who you expect!

By Christie Matheson
Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2024. Picture Book.

In this fall mystery, when a group of mice goes missing, the squirrels in the forest set out to figure out what happened to them! As each successive group of animals appears and is investigated, they are introduced with the collective noun for that animal.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

If You Like...Ladybugs

Spring is almost upon us! We'll have more rain instead of snow, flowers will start blooming, and more bugs will be out. Ladybugs are some of the prettiest insects--and the least intimidating for those more wary of bugs. If you like ladybugs, check out these books! Ladybugs Do Not Go to Preschool Written by Ali Rutstein Illustrated by NinĢ‹a Nill Richmond, VA: Bright Light, 2024. Picture Book. Ravi loves ladybugs--he eats aphids instead of cornflakes for breakfast, brushes his mandibles instead of teeth, and has a ladybug costume complete with wings and antennae. He is certain that ladybugs don't have to go to preschool, and when Mom says that Ravi still has to go to school, he is nervous. However, thanks to Mom's patience and gentle encouragement, Ravi makes some new friends and realizes that preschool might be a good place for ladybugs after all. A Perfect Spot By Isabelle Simler Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2022. Picture Book. A ladybug is ready to ...

You Need to Read: Percy Jackson

I was a kid myself when  The Lightning Thief  by Rick Riordan was published, and it didn't take long for the Percy Jackson series to take the world by storm. Being the son of a Poseidon, Percy Jackson has some unique challenges as a half-blood. Here's some books that I think could've helped Percy when he was on his adventures trying to save the world: Greeking Out: Heroes and Olympians Written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes Illustrated by Javier Espila Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2024. Informational. 191 pages. Percy, I know Chiron did a good job teaching you about mythology in Latin class, but this book is sure to be good to have on hand while you're traveling across the United States. Greeking Out  is written in a kid-friendly voice with vivid illustrations and a sometimes-snarky tone (much like Percy himself). It also presents real-life creatures and places along with the information about Greek mythology. The Homework Squad's ADHD Guide to School S...