Greetings from Somewhere: The Mystery of the Stolen Painting by Harper Paris, illustrated by Marcos Calo, 115 pp, RL: 2

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In April of this year, I reviewed Books 1 & 2 of the new Greetings from Somwhere series of early chapter books (and part of my new Bridge Chapter Books Label) of books by Harper Paris, illustrated by Marcos Calo and fell in love with them. Book 3, The Mystery of the Stolen Painting, takes traveling twins Ella and Ethan to Paris and is a great summer story!

While I love the fact that, thanks to their journalist mother's new assignment, a column titled "Journeys with Jo," the twins get to travel the world and take readers with them, what I especially like is the way that author Harper Paris  slips in historical, geographical and cultural facts about the places the children are visiting in a way that organically enhances the story rather than weighing it down. And the end of each book includes a glossary that allows readers to keep up with the foreign phrases and terms used in the book. Add to this Grandpa Harry, retired archaeologist and former world traveler, who stays in touch with the twins via email as they travel, slipping suggestions into every email that send them on mysterious missions. In The Mystery of the Stolen Painting, Grandpa Harry, who proposed to his wife in Paris, sends Ethan and Ella on the hunt for a secret crêperie owned by old friends. Not only is the location of the shop a secret, the twins need to give a secret password at the door! The hunt for the crêperie also sets them on the path of an art thief who has stolen a painting from the Louvre Museum!


Coming August and September, 2014!



Coming December, 2014!




Source: Review Copy

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