Nature Mysteries

Help solve the mystery with the detective dog, set sail on an exciting adventure in the flying bath and cook up a feast for a very fussy king! This collection includes stories from four of Julia's illustrator partnerships: David Roberts, Sara Ogilvie, Catherine Rayner and Rebecca Cobb.

In this series opener, Koko Dodo the cookie chef has a big problem. Today is the day of the royal cookie contest, and someone has stolen his top-secret fudge sauce! Luckily, a spy enters the scene just in time (or rather, crashes in on her roller skates): Didi Dodo! This might be Didi's first case ever, but she has a daring plan to help Koko. Koko would prefer a safe, simple, sure-to-work plan, but without another option, he and the amateur sleuth take off on a wacky caper full of high-speed chases and big belly laughs....

Adventure-loving penguin Jackson dreams of being a secret agent like his Uncle Bryn, who works for the Frosty Bureau of Investigation. Jackson and his gadget-inventing best friend, Quigley, might officially be too young to join the FBI, but they aren’t going to let that stop them! They just need to come up with the right plan to prove they are worthy. But when one of Q’s inventions goes dangerously wrong, Jackson suddenly finds himself dropped right in the middle of an FBI stakeout. There’s fishy business afoot at the city’s aquarium....

Marine biologist Doc Ford invites Maribel, Luke, and Sabina to a remote island in the Bahamas where lionfish, a beautiful and venomous inhabitant of the South Pacific that has invaded Florida and the Caribbean, are not just upsetting the balance of nature by damaging the coral reefs - their sting has put several people in the hospital. What Doc and Captain Hannah Smith don’t mention is that the island is riddled with limestone caves, once home to a band of pirates, and stories of Spanish gold have lured outlaw treasure hunters to the area.

After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin the beetle surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But James can't go through with the plan without Marvin's help. And that's where things get really complicated (and interesting!)

Natalia is not the kind of girl who takes risks. Six years ago, she barely survived the house fire that killed her baby brother. Now she is cautious and always plays it safe. For months, her coworker Wyatt has begged her to come hiking with him, and Natalia finally agrees. But when a wildfire breaks out, blocking the trail back, a perfect sunny day quickly morphs into a nightmare. With no cell service, few supplies, and no clear way out of the burning forest, a group of strangers will have to become allies if they're going to survive.

Lost in a dark, spooky forest! So I sought shelter in a crumbling old mansion. But I quickly discovered that it was haunted - by cats!

Baker Street mice - beware! So far the twins are safe. They'll stay that way if you do what we say. We've decided to make your Baker Street cellar the headquarters for our gang. Everybody must be out in 48 hours. It's Basil's job to move you all out, just the way he moved you in. Better make it fast! And leave the furniture - we need it. This is the only warning you'll get. And listen - if you don't follow our orders, you'll never set eyes on those twins again!

Except Brodie can't move on. Not just yet. As wonderful as his glimpse of the afterlife is, he can't forget the boy he left behind. The boy he loved, and who loved him in return. The boy who's still in danger. So Brodie breaks the rules of heaven. He returns to Earth as a spirit. With the help of two other lost souls - lovable pitbull Tuck and surly housecat Patsy - he is determined to find his boy and to save him. Even if it costs him paradise. Even if he loses his eternal soul. Because it's what a good dog would do.

Every shadow hides a secret, and every whisper is a potential threat. I’m an enchantress, who’s stuck with an insufferable wolf shifter. An unsettling dark power threatens to consume the town of Ravensgate. We're plunged into a web of deceit, rituals, and rogue magic practitioners. Working together isn't a choice—it's a necessity. But as our battles force us together, I'm torn between our burning animosity and our burning passions. To save Ravensgate, we must combat our enemies and our own desires, but if we falter, the darkness will claim us all. Do we have the strength to face the ...

Katie’s new puppy, Koko, has run away, and now the white doggie is lost! Pedro and Katie pair up to investigate. They are hot on Koko’s trail, but some clues lead nowhere. Still the detectives won’t give up.

Thar she blows! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are on an Alaskan whale watching adventure. On their first day, they see a mother orca and her calf. But the next day, the baby orca is missing! The calf needs its mother’s milk. Can the kids solve this whale of a mystery?

Blue River Creek has a problem: there's a pet thief on the loose! Or at least, Sofia and Iggy are convinced that there is, once their pets go missing. But as a scientist, Ada knows it's important not to jump to conclusions and to follow the facts. How will they find out what really happened to the town's pets? By using the Scientific Method, of course! Through making a hypothesis, collecting data, and experimentation, the Questioneers must find the missing animals before even more pets disappear!

Kristen Stevenson is excited to host the first ever Midsommar Garden Festival at the Nature Station. Even though preparations are made, the weather is warm and sunny, and crowds are flocking to the festival, the festival committee chairperson is raining on their parade. When she later turns up dead, Kristen and her friends not only work to continue with festival duties but also start looking into the committee chairperson’s death. Was a disgruntled committee member to blame, or is the culprit closer to home? As Kristen asks questions around Eklund and digs up clues, she races to figure ...

Beware of avalanches! When the magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie back in time to the highest pass in the Swiss Alps, they discover an ancient monastery filled with monks and Saint Bernard dogs. Annie can’t resist offering to train a wild young dog named Barry, but he is quite the handful! Before the night is over, Jack and Annie will be forced to use some crazy magic!

Marlborough House is the home of Edward, the Prince of Wales (second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria). He lives there with various children and family members. Unbeknownst to the human royals, there is a corresponding clan of noblemice living there as well. At the moment, the human royal family is hosting the visiting royal family of Bohemia, along with that family’s corresponding group of stowaway noblemice. However, the teen noblemice of both houses have vanished without a trace, and everyone fears that one of the royal dogs may be responsible. Can Basil help?

In this hilarious chapter book mystery, meet a girl whose parents have been kidnapped by disreputable foxes, and a pair of detectives that also happen to be bunnies! When Madeline gets home from school one afternoon to discover that her parents have gone missing, she sets off to find them. So begins a once-in-a-lifetime adventure involving a cast of quirky and unforgettable characters.

It's the weekend—a perfect day for a sail off the coast of Maine. But there's something fishy going on with the local dolphins and Abbi, Lydia, and Daniel are determined to find out why. Are the dolphins twisting, leaping, and whistling because they're playing? Or is it a warning of nearby danger? And if it's danger, how can the kids get grownups to believe them? Abbi and her friends are diving head first into this mystery!

A new Pete the Cat mystery in paperback for the first time! Alex and his friends witness a pig falling from a speeding red truck. Working with the police and an animal rescue group, the kids get permission to keep the pig. But after a local TV station runs a story about the rescue, the angry truck driver shows up at Alex's house, determined to take the pig to slaughter. Who is this man? What is he hiding? Pete uses his skills to solve the mystery but, as usual, his humans don't understand. When the dangerous situation turns deadly, can Pete save himself?

When there's a bank robbery in the country village where Djuna lives, and one of his dog's best friends gets shot in the escape, the boy makes up his mind he'll find out who did it. His chum and his dog, Champ, are in on the hunt, and two heads and a keen nose are better than one. The boys remember something queer they noticed about a truck with a covered load that passed them on the road when they were going fishing.