Read Pumpkin Falls Mystery 4 – Truly, Madly, Sheeply free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Truly, Madly, Sheeply by Heather Vogel Frederick is a mystery for 10 year olds about missing pumpkins and strange happenings at a sheep farm.
Truly would quite like an ordinary autumn. School, swimming and helping in the family bookshop would give her enough to do. Pumpkin Falls has other ideas.
Her aunt True and new uncle Rusty have bought a farm that needs a lot of work. Her grandparents join Truly to look after it while the couple are on honeymoon. Looking after the sheep turns out to be only part of the job.
Someone is taking the pumpkins displayed outside local shops. Something spooky also seems to be trying to drive the farm's new owners away. The Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes have more investigating to do.
If your reader likes a mystery where they get to know the whole town, there's plenty to enjoy before anyone solves anything. News travels from the knitting shop to the bookshop almost immediately. Everyone seems to know everyone else's business.
The family has plenty of opinions too. Truly's dad doesn't think a trip to a sheep farm years ago makes his sister ready to run one. Aunt True is very happy to disagree (having worked with yaks also gets a mention).
You hear all this through Truly's thoughts. She notices the grown-ups arguing and the little things her siblings say at exactly the wrong moment. It's the sort of breakfast where nobody gets to make a grand announcement without someone interrupting.
The autumn setting gives your reader somewhere to settle into. Visitors arrive to see the changing leaves and the town takes its Halloween celebrations very seriously. Missing pumpkins matter when everyone is getting ready for the big event.
There are quite a few people to keep track of. This is a later Pumpkin Falls book and the opening refers to earlier mysteries, so it may suit a child who enjoys getting involved with an established group.
The setup includes possible hauntings. Truly's father's wartime loss of an arm is also mentioned, with his prosthetic hand part of an ordinary family meal. Those details may be worth knowing if either subject worries your reader.
For a different kind of farm story, they could try The Nine Lives of Montezuma from the library. That one follows a cat's adventures and survival, with animal deaths that may be upsetting.
A library hand-picked by an English teacher, delivered through a calm, ad-free app. If your child already loves reading, we keep up.
7-day free trial. Then £7.99/month.
