The Mystery of the Lion’s Tail

Harper Paris's The Mystery of the Lion's Tail is a gentle safari mystery for 5 year olds about twins who want to see one thing more than anything else. A lion!

What happens

Ethan and Ella Briar are travelling around the world with their parents. Their mum writes about the places they visit. This week they're in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and there's a bird the size of a pterodactyl at the bedroom window before breakfast.

Their guide Kafil takes them out to look for the Big Five. A rhino at the watering hole. A buffalo with little birds picking bugs off its back (and its nose!). Elephants spraying each other with water. But no lions anywhere.

Then Grandpa Harry emails. Years ago, he says, a lion scientist found lions for him and Grandma. So the twins start Operation Lion. Ella makes a list in her notebook. Ethan keeps catching a golden tail swishing in the bushes. Or is it a branch?

It's a lovely first chapter book. The chapters are short, most of them end on a little question, and there's a fun fact on nearly every page. Did you know a lion's roar can be heard five miles away? Or that lions sleep about twenty hours a day?

The twins are sweet together too. Ella is organised and a bit of a know-it-all. Ethan would rather be reading his comics. They bicker, but they're a team.

There's a warm visit to a Maasai village as well. The twins make friends with Amina and Jomo, who are about their age, and swap presents before they go. It's a nice gentle look at another way of life.

If your reader loves animals, or is already planning their own trip around the world, this is super easy to enjoy. Read it together, or let a newish reader have a go on their own.

What to read next

The Briars' travels carry on in The Mystery of the Icy Paw Prints. This time they're in snowy Alaska, where a very homesick Ethan and Ella fly past the tallest mountain in North America in a tiny plane.