Popular Mystery Books for Children

Reading books is a great way to entertain yourself. Learning to enjoy books at a young age is something that will follow you throughout life. Mystery books are especially good for kids because in addition to the benefits of reading, they encourage critical thinking and analysis.

Realistic mysteries for children include classic series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. They are good for children starting in grade 3. Other mysteries for first grade up to 4th grade are Encyclopedia Brown and the Box Car Children series. The Goose Bumps series are appropriate for children, but use fantasy creatures and sometimes graphic descriptions. A good book for younger children is called The Dark, Dark Tale, which has suspense and a surprise ending. The Babysitters' Club is good reading for slightly older children.

Hank the Cowdog is a series of stories by author John Erickson. These books are among the funniest mysteries for children to read. They are fairly easy for third grade reading and are about a dog named Hank who is in charge of safekeeping on a Texas ranch. The Murder of Hound Dog Bates is a good book for fourth graders and older to read. In the beginning it does not seem to be very funny, but as the story continues, it becomes very funny indeed.

A good book will spark the child’s thinking of how to solve the mystery. In some stories, the reader can solve the mystery before the characters do, while others leave the end open to the reader's imagination.