Calendar Mysteries – September Sneakers

Ron Roy's September Sneakers is a back-to-school mystery for 5 year olds that starts with an empty hamster tank and a tiny green trainer.

What happens

Bradley has been looking after Goldi, his class hamster, all summer. She lives in the barn, and Pal the dog is so fond of her that he lets her walk up his nose and sit on his head. (Who knew dogs and hamsters could be friends?)

Then on the first morning of the new school year her tank has gone. In its place is a bright green trainer about three inches long, with an orange lightning bolt on the side. Bradley feels rotten. He was the one in charge of her.

And it isn't just Goldi. In class, lots of children have lost something overnight. A basketball. A swimming costume off the washing line. Grandma's birthday flower. Every time, somebody has left a little green trainer behind.

Then the new teacher lifts the hem of her long skirt. Ms Tery is the tallest woman Bradley has ever seen. And on her feet are giant green trainers with orange lightning bolts!

So the four friends decide to follow their teacher home after school. That's a VERY bold plan for your first day in a new class.

Brian sneaks into the supermarket behind her and comes out thrilled. She's bought carrots and broccoli. Orange and green, just like the trainers! The others aren't sure that counts as proof (it's still one of the best bits).

It's the kind of mystery a young reader can properly join in with. There are clues everywhere, from a flyer by the shop door to a pair of brand-new trainers dangling from a tree. Lucy climbs up with a stick to knock them down, and Pal's nose gets a big part to play too.

Ms Tery is great fun. She makes up rhyming class rules, swoops round the desks like a pterodactyl and can't stand spiders. Is she really the trainer thief? Your reader will be desperate to know.

If your reader is about to move up a year, they'll recognise the new-teacher jitters as well. Bradley really hopes she'll be as nice as last year's teacher.

This is the ninth Calendar Mysteries book and you don't need the others to follow it.

What to read next

Fancy another case about pets going missing? The Canary Caper hands it to the big kids. Josh, Dink and Ruth Rose (the twins' big brother, Lucy's cousin and Nate's sister) are hunting for a canary, a cat and more vanished pets all over Green Lawn.