A to Z Mysteries – The Kidnapped King

Ron Roy's The Kidnapped King is a royal mystery for 5 year olds in which the new boy at school turns out to be a prince.

What happens

It's the last afternoon before the spring holidays when Dink gets called to the head teacher's office. Waiting there are his mum, a tutor called Joan Klinker and a boy in a long blue robe and sandals. Sammi has come to learn American ways, and he's moving into Dink's spare room for a while.

He's a funny, rather sad little boy. He makes up rhymes to remember new words ("Dink" rhymes with "stink"!). He's allergic to fur, so Dink's guinea pig and Josh's basset hound are a problem. And he asks who's going to dress him, because back home he has five servants of his own.

Then he tells them why he's really here. His father is king of a small island country, and his parents have just been kidnapped. Sammi was sent away to keep him safe.

The next morning his bed is empty and the back door lock is smashed.

What follows is a lovely clue trail. Sammi leaves tiny pieces of coloured glass from his precious kaleidoscope, and a French lesson turns out to matter much more than anyone expected. Josh's dog sniffs out half the clues (he deserves a medal). And Mr Linkletter at the hotel is very funny about a bit of chewing gum on his shoe.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

This one is about kidnapping from start to finish. Sammi's parents are taken before the story starts, Sammi is snatched from his bed in the night, and he's found tied up and gagged near the end. For a while Dink can't find his mum either, which is a worrying moment. Everyone ends up safe, and the tone stays gentle. But a child who worries about being taken from home, or about a parent not coming back, might find it unsettling.

If your reader already loves these three friends, though, it's a really gripping one. And Sammi is a very sweet character to meet.

What to read next

Still hungry for Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose? The Missing Mummy has a woman snatching a child mummy right in front of them on a museum trip to Hartford.