Ten Great Mysteries for Little Kids
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By Jen Collins Moore
I have two avid readers at home, and there’s little I enjoy more than reading aloud with them. I’ve already posted a list of 11 Great Middle Grade Mysteries, and it’s long past time for my list for younger readers.
How young? Kids vary all over the map in terms of what they have the attention span for and what they find engaging. In my family, these books were a hit with the kindergarten through third or fourth grade crowd.
Do you have favorites I missed? Please share them in the comments. My family is always looking for a great new read!
1) A.B. Greenfield’s Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective follows the adventures of Pharaoh’s beloved cat as he grudgingly breaks from his pampered routine to save a kitchen girl unjustly accused of stealing royal jewelry. It’s equal parts funny, smart, and sensitive with a mystery I enjoyed as much as my son did.There are three books in the series so far and I have my fingers crossed Greenfield is planning more.
2) John Patrick Green’s The InvestiGators is my son’s current favorite series. It’s a seven-book graphic novel series following two undercover alligators as they fight crime. Sound zany? It is, but in a brilliant form. There’s funny wordplay, goofy illustrations, and characters my son can’t get enough of.
3) Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s Nate the Great series began in 1977 and it remains a classic. Nate is a self-styled brilliant detective who’s also a regular kid who must leave a note for his mother when he goes out on an investigation. He solves cases for the neighborhood kids ranging from missing pictures and escaped pets to knocked-over trash cans and lost gifts, all with a dry humor that kids and adults will love.
4) Tom Angleberger’s Inspector Flytrap series. A plant detective? It’s true. This zany series follows a mystery-solving potted plant and his clue-eating goat assistant. They’re books that get kids laughing out loud as they puzzle through a mystery. What’s better than that?
5) Ron Roy’s A to Z Mysteries series has been a staple in our house for years. With titles like The Absent Author, The Bald Bandit, and The Canary Caper, they are traditional mysteries following three friends as they tackle mysterious goings on in their suburban Connecticut town. The books follow a reliable format that makes them an easy go-to when looking for books to fill my son’s library bag or read-aloud shelf.
6) Ron Roy’s Calendar Mysteries series is an A to Z Mysteries spinoff for even younger readers. Following the younger siblings of the detectives in the A to Z Mysteries, these puzzles are more gentle, focusing on mysterious gifts and missing pets.
7) Geronimo Stilton’s eponymous Geronimo Stilton series includes an astonishing number of titles featuring the editor-in-chief of The Rodent's Gazette in New Mouse City. There are zany adventures, often including a mystery, with graphics and illustrations that entice even reluctant readers. The series has books for every taste (pirates, dinosaurs, haunted hotels, South America, Halloween, ancient Egypt, mountain climbing, and on and on) which means there’s sure to be a title to delight any child.
8) Mac Barnett’s Mac B.: Spy Kid series has been described as James Bond meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid for good reason. The plots are bizarre in a good way, the books are filled with fun historical facts, the writing is laugh-out-loud funny.
9) Laura James’ Fabio, the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective series stars a Hercule Poirot-style fussy Flamingo and his giraffe sidekick as they investigate stolen jewels, missing water, and a singer who is MIA. The books have a vintage fabulous-Florida feel that readers love.
10) Donald Sobal’s Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective series is just as you remember: seemingly impossible cases that the reader is invited to solve before ten-year-old Encyclopedia reveals all. The first book appeared in 1963, so there are elements which feel dated, but the model of reading for clues and attempting to solve makes for active reading and discussing.
Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash