It’s no mystery. Everyone will love these detective books for kids! Find picture books, easy readers, and short chapter books on this list!
Whether you’re looking for a short read-aloud to read to your children or an easy reader your kids can read on their own, you’ll have plenty of preschool books to choose from on the list below.
Detective Books for Kids
Below, I’ve featured just a handful of detective books that your kids are sure to love.
You should be able to find them at your local library or bookstore. If you can’t find them locally, you can click each image cover to purchase them on Amazon.
The Detective Dog
When Detective Dog Nell puts her nose to the task, there’s no mystery she can’t solve. Whether she’s tracking the missing shoe of her human, Peter, or locating some lost honeycomb, all Nell has to do is sniff, sniff, sniff and she’s hot on the trail.
Baby Monkey’s adventures come to life in an exciting blend of picture book, beginning reader, and graphic novel. With pithy text and over 120 black and white drawings accented with red, it is ideal for sharing aloud and for emerging readers.
Before Mira became the first young girl to be Royal Detective of Jalpur, she was just a townsperson with an eye for detail who liked helping her friends. Mira uses all her senses-eyes, ears, and sometimes nose!-to find clues that others might have missed.
Goldilocks is a brand-new detective on her very first case. What has happened to the missing grandparents? And why are bears living in the grandparents house? If anyone can solve the case, Goldilocks can.
When a detective goes undercover, it usually means they are in disguise, right? Not if it’s Detective Dinosaur! How this charmingly clueless gumshoe goes undercover—in the most surprising ways—is the kind of irresistible goofiness beginning readers love.
Someone stole a cake from the cake contest who could it be? Twelve animal bakers are potential suspects but Detective Duck uses his deductive reasoning skills to quack the case. After all, the thief left hairs behind so the thief wasn’t a bird. Follow along as he subtracts each suspect one at a time to reveal just who the culprit was.
When Harold the fox is invited to a costume birthday party, he and his friends come up with fantastic outfits. The party starts off really well but when the birthday boy’s cake is stolen during a game played in the dark, everyone is a prime suspect in the mystery of the missing cake. Can Harold piece together the clues to solve the mystery and save the party?
A pigeon private investigator emerges from retirement to track down a birdnapper with the help of his feathered friends. A cute chick reports the crime and makes herself useful enough to become a partner in the detective agency, which by the end of the book is back in business.
Everyone knows that 7 is always after him. Word on the street is that 7 ate 9. If that’s true, 6’s days are numbered. Lucky for him, Private I is on the case. But the facts just don’t add up.
When Officer Panda notices some strange fingerprints in his neighborhood, he sets out to solve the curious case. Children will giggle along as they help Officer Panda figure out who’s been leaving mysterious prints everywhere.
Nate the Great has a new case! His friend Annie has lost a picture. She wants Nate to help her find it. Nate the Great must get all the facts, ask the right questions, and narrow the list of suspects so he can solve the mystery.
Judy Moody is in a mood. A sleuthing, Nancy Drew kind of mood. So what’s a WBMS (world’s best mystery solver) to do? Go find a mystery, that’s what!
Help Whobert Whover, Owl Detective, keep his woods safe in this hilarious who-who-dun-it. What happened to Perry the Possum? Whobert Whover, Owl Detective, is on the case!
There’s a sandwich thief in Mr. Venezi’s pet shop, and everyone is a suspect, from the chinchillas to the goldfish. Never fear! The world’s fluffiest detective is on the case: Sasspants, PI(G).
Which of these books about detectives will you read first?
Let’s Track What You’re Reading!
It’s fun to track what you read to your preschoolers throughout the school year. It’s even more fun to have your preschoolers track the books they enjoyed.
Parents and teachers can use the Reading Tracker to record the titles of each book they read as well as the date and number of pages.
Children can use the My Book Review page to track the books they listen to and then color a face to show whether they liked each book or not.
If you track what you read, you’ll be amazed at how many books you read each day and month!
Tara is the brains behind Homeschool Preschool, where her journey from preschool and public school teacher to homeschooling mom of three fuels her passion for early childhood education. With a blend of expertise and firsthand experience, Tara’s writings offer practical tips and engaging resources to support families in creating meaningful learning adventures at home.
