Mystery Books for Kids

A great way to grow a reader is to expose your child to different genres. Instead of reading the same kinds of books over and over, try exposing them to something different, like non-fiction picture books or biographies. One genre that we have really enjoyed is mysteries. While we typically associate mystery books with older children (and I have a great series to recommend to you for them!), even young children can explore the genre through creative picture books. Here are some of our favorite mystery books for both sets of readers!

Disclosure: I received complimentary copies of LOL Detective Club books for review purposes; however, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Mystery Books for Kids

William, international cat of mystery, is called to Paris when the Mona Cheesa goes missing. Can he put together the clues and solve the case before the grand opening of museum’s special exhibit for National Cheese Week? William & the Missing Masterpiece includes wonderful scenes of Paris as readers follow William in his search for the thief. Kids will enjoy looking for clues along with William and learning his detective tricks, while grown ups will giggle at the clever cheese and art references throughout (such as artists Fifi Le Brie and Henri Roquefort) and the cat/cheese renditions of famous paintings. My 6 year old and 3 year old both really enjoy this book.

A really sweet book about solving mysteries as well as finding your place in the world is Hermelin the Detective Mouse. The residents of Offley Street are helped again and again by an anonymous (or should I say an anonymouse) hero who finds their lost items and even saves a baby’s life. But when they throw a party to thank him for his good deeds, how will they react when the guest of honor turns out to be a mouse?

I adore The Mystery of King Karfu (and its sequel The Mystery of the Monkey’s Maze). Seymour Sleuth is the self-proclaimed greatest detective in the world, though it seems most of his sleuthing is spent searching for snacks! Luckily his faithful assistant Abbott Muggs is always there to help Seymour solve the case and save the day. In The Mystery of King Karfu Seymour and Abbott travel to Egypt to unravel the mystery of the missing Stone Chicken of King Karfu. Young readers follow along in Seymour’s actual case book as he gathers clues, and they get to solve the final puzzle by decoding a secret message. This was one we read over and over.

I haven’t forgotten about older kids! If you have a child ready for chapter books, then you must check out the LOL Detective Club! I first ran across these mystery books on Instagram, where I follow blogger and author urthmama (Erika Finn). When she mentioned that she had just published a series about siblings who travel the world solving mysteries, I could hardly believe it! We love global adventure books, so I immediately wrote to Erika and she was kind enough to send me review copies. We love them!

Look at these lovely books that we just got from @urthmama! Can’t wait to read them! #mkbkids #kbn #momsoninstagram #kidbloggersofig #kidlit

A photo posted by Leanna || Parenting Blogger (@alldonemonkey) on Jul 23, 2016 at 9:15am PDT

Twins Lucy and Lottie and their older brother Ollie accompany their photo journalist father to exotic locales, and mysteries seem to follow them wherever they go. Luckily, the siblings are up for the challenge! After getting their feet wet with a dog-stealing case in New Orleans in Mardi Gras Mystery, they decide to form a detective club, named LOL for their initials (Lucy-Ollie-Lottie, or perhaps Lottie-Ollie-Lucy, depending on who’s talking!) I love that they explore different locations (like Paris in The Paris Puzzler and a nature preserve in Kenya in Cubnapping in Kenya), incorporated into the story in a very natural way. In that sense they remind me of the Pack-n-Go Girls books (see my review here), though the focus is more on the adventure rather than learning about the country in as much detail as the Pack-n-Go books. If you want a fun read to get your kids excited about becoming detectives and exploring the world, I highly recommend the LOL Detective Club (3 Book Series)!