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

De la hora del cuento: La letra "F"

Cuentos Gustavo: el fantasmita timido Por Flavia Z. Drago Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2020. Libro ilustrado. "Conoce a Gustavo. Ɖl es un fantasma y como a cualquier ser paranormal le encanta hacer lo que le es normal: atravesar paredes, hacer volar objetos y brillar en la oscuridad. TambiĆ©n le encanta tocar el violĆ­n. Pero Gustavo tiene un problema. Ɖl es muy, muy tĆ­mido, y aunque su deseo mĆ”s grande es tener amigos, nunca se ha atrevido a hablarle a ninguno de los monstruos en su pueblito. Con el DĆ­a de Muertos cerca, ¿se atreverĆ” Gustavo a dejar que lo vean?" --Editor Cuentitos ¡Yo sola! Por Sumana Seeboruth y Maribel Castells Concord : Barefoot Books, 2023. PequeƱo libro ilustrado. "Yo sola. ¡No, no, no! Puedo hacerlo. ¡Vete, vete, vete! Esta niƱa no quiere que la ayuden ... hasta que su hermana mayor necesita ayuda. ¡El trabajo en equipo es divertido!" --Editor Otros libros sobre la letra "F" El bosque en familia Maisy juega fĆŗtbol Lo...

Review: The House with Nobody in It

  The House with Nobody in It By Jon Klassen Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2026. Board Book.  The House with Nobody in It may very well be your child's first ghost story. The simple story begins with the narrator explaining to readers that this house used to have someone in it, but there is now nobody there. Toddlers and preschoolers will love contradicting this statement as they peek through the house that the board book forms, as the ghost is clearly visible throughout the story.  This unique and imaginative board book is the perfect thing to read during Halloween season! The book itself plays into the experience, with cutouts and clever turns that make it especially interactive. The illustrations are superb, simple but well crafted, adding to the story's theme as a whole. This will likely be a book that gets many repeat reads!

From Story Time: The Letter "F"

Preschool Time Family of Friends Written by Varsha Bajaj Illustrated by Ishaa Lobo New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025. Picture Book. Isha can't wait for her birthday party. Nani, her fun-loving grandmother, is coming all the way from India to be there! So when Nani has to postpone her trip, Isha is crushed. She no longer feels like celebrating. Fortunately, she has a whole neighborhood of friends to cheer her up, and they all work together to make her day truly special. This moving intergenerational story shows the impact that chosen family can have and is a wonderful reminder to appreciate all the important people in our lives. --Publisher Preschool Time Found By Salina Yoon New York: Walker Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Bloomsbury, 2014. Picture Book. Upon finding a toy rabbit in the forest, Bear tries his very best to return it to its home but by the time its owner appears, Bear has become attached to Bunny. --Editor Toddler Time On All Fours By Gaƫtan DorƩmus Brooklyn...