The Mystery of the Stolen Painting

Greetings from Somewhere #3

by Harper Paris, Marcos Calo (Illustrator)

Excited to be in Paris, Ethan and Ella are on the hunt for a secret bakery and a stolen painting in the third book of Greetings from Somewhere, a chapter book series about mystery, travel, and adventure.

Ethan and Ella are excited to get to Paris—they’ve only ever seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower! After arriving, the twins receive an email from their beloved Grandpa Harry. He tells them that there’s a secret bakery near the Louvre museum—so secret, in fact, that you need a password to get inside. Lucky for the twins, their dad wants to take them to see some artwork at the Louvre.

But while they’re browsing paintings at the museum, alarms suddenly go off, the building is evacuated, and tons of police show up outside. A painting has been stolen! And Ethan and Ella are on the case! Can they manage to find the stolen painting and the secret bakery without giving themselves away?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Greetings from Somewhere chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Chapter Books, Childrens, France, Middle Grade, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS!!!

This one was better than the first two hands down! There was a stolen painting, a mysterious secret crepe shop and a hint as to a bigger mystery for later books. I loved it. I will hopefully be reading the rest of the books in the series eventually. :)

- Richard

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, even though the parent in me might wince a little at many of the books we've been reading with these junior detective types wandering about on their own and getting into potentially dangerous situations, I've been willing to go along with it in most books -- usually, the adults have to be out of the way for the kids to be heroes (I mean, just look at Harry Potter). However, I just can't be enthusiastic about a book that has such young children purposely disregarding their parents' instructions for their safety in such a cavalier fashion. In most books like this, the kids don't have a lot of boundaries, the parents are out of commission in one way or another, etc -- or the kids are older and trusted to have a bit more autonomy anyway. Here, these kids are eight years old, they are in a foreign country, and they promise their father they will stay put in the square (to watch a street performer) while the father meets a friend at a nearby cafe. But they don't. Instead, the kids 1) trail a woman they believe to be involved in a massive art heist 2) to a building that appears abandoned and spy on the nefarious meeting going on inside 3) are almost caught by the bad guys 4) miraculously stumble upon the secret crepe cafe their grandfather told them about that is (coincidentally) right next door (how fortunate it is also run by a kindly elderly couple who feeds them crepes) and 5) after a long focus on crepes, finally remember to call the police about the thieves being next door and 6) are declared anonymous heroes for the tip. The parents are none the wiser and the kids are delighted that mom and dad never found out. I'd be one thing if the parents were just of the "free range" persuasion and told the kids it was okay to go exploring, but when the kids clearly have boundaries and are ignoring them (not to mention other obvious "no-nos" like going to isolated buildings alone with strangers) and then wink-wink behind their parents back that they got away with it, that's just not the type of message that I want to see in a book aimed at this young age group. The other book in the series we just read (The Mystery Across the Secret Bridge) didn't have that issue so I'll hope this is a one-off. These aren't super well written books, but I appreciate that the kids are learning about different parts of the world, and they hold my son's interest so we will try a few more.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

3rd book in the series about Ethan and Ella, twins who are travelling around the world with their parents (their mother is a travel writer) and solving mysteries. This time, in Paris, France, the twins are looking for a hidden bakery that is one of their grandfather's favorite hidden gems in Paris . . . and at the same time, trying to solve the mystery of a painting stolen from the Louvre . . .

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good transitional chapter book, it has big print and plentiful black and white illustrations. The pictures are appealing and interesting, with for instance maps where appropriate and cool aerial views of the city Ethan and Ella are visiting. I didn't read the whole thing, but my son read me parts out loud and he finished it over the course of two nights. It's part of a series, with what seems like seven books out already at this point and the eighth on the way. I thought the concept of traveling to different places while solving mysteries was interesting (kind of like Magic Tree House but more modernized), and the story was quite decent, if somewhat predictable and a tiny bit forced in places as the author is trying to fit in the local scenery and customs. My six year old loved it and asked to get the other books in the series. These are from the same publisher as The Kingdom of Wrenly, another new series that he's greatly enjoyed. I was slightly more impressed by the Wrenly books, but both series are a great addition for children in the awkward stage of finding the easy readers too childish but the proper 'big kid' books too daunting.

[Eshab.716 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Book Review:

The Mystery of the Stolen Painting, by Harper Paris, begins when the twins (Ethan and Ella) go to Paris. As the story began, I did not like the feeling of pain and sorrow that Ethan and Ella felt when they moved away from their grandparents. The twins get an email from their grandfather that there is a secret crêperie and use clues to find out about the thief. It was a little boring how they put it as a crêperie and not anything else. The twins solve the mystery, caught the thief and the cops put the thief(s) in jail.The parents do not know that the kids solve the mystery. Parents never find out. This is true. Parents only know about half of what goes on in the lives of their children. Only the wise grandpa knows that they solved the mystery of the stolen painting.

To people who like France, paintings and mystery.

Readers who like mystery, a little bit of geography and excitement will love this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little series that I'm reading to A (summer before 2nd grade and beginning of 2nd grade). We came upon this series looking for books to learn about Paris, France. This is a quick to read chapter book with lots of black and white pictures to go along with the story. It's a great way to learn about other countries. As we read, we look at the world map to see where the twins, Ethan and Ella, are having their adventures.

[Linda Klinedinst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Book #3 in the Greetings From Somewhere Series by Harper Paris

I dearly love this Book - it is so good.

I highly recommend this Series - there are 10 Books in the Series.

I give this Book 5/5 Stars

I am getting these books through Evergreen Library System and picking them up when they come in at my Local Library.

I will be continuing reading the rest of the books in the Series

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is so much fun. I love that the stories teach a little bit about each country in a way that is accessible to the target age. My 6 year old is full on obsessed with this series now.

My only minor issue is that these 2nd grade kids keep running off without their adults in countries/cities where they don't speak the language but I think that's easily addressed by adults having conversations with their kiddos that the behavior isn't ok .

[Jaclyn Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book about Paris! Certainly the theft of art from the Louvre made this book feel timely. What I especially loved about this book (great for Grade 2 or read aloud) is how instructive it is. as the children explore Paris with their travel writer mother and their history professor father, there are little lessons about the culture. The one that I really appreciated was where the street signs are located in Paris! Really fun and informative for my kids.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kids time in Paris and they witness a painting being stolen from the Louve. These are such fun books! Can't wait to keep reading although I wish they would stop disobeying their parents and running around solo!

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for an early chapter book reader.

[Blair Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for children. My nephew and I really love this series!

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erin requested crepes after this one, so....I think if a book makes you want to eat crepes, then it's a winner.

[Tower Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

M and P

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The kiddo loved it. It seemed a bit underdeveloped, but I am a grown woman and this is an early chapter book with pictures on every other page, so it is what it is.

[A-drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

reading this series to A during 2nd grade (7 years old)
teaches about geography and specific countries

[Wandee’s Thoughts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes me want to have the mom's job so bad! Them exploring Paris as a family was so cute and the mystery fo find the missing painting along with the secret Cafe was fun

[Vidhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was mysteriously great😃

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little story with a mystery.

[Teresa Gellenbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this series to my (then) 6 year old son, although my 3 year old daughter often listened in too. We loved them all and looked forward to each adventure. The kids liked the illustrations (several of them, great for early chapter readers) and the chapter lengths were great for their attention spans. Highly recommend this series!

[Kate McGinty aka Caryn Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethan and Ella are visiting Paris when they learn about a painting that's been stolen from the Louvre Museum. No problem; Ella remembers a vital clue that could help these twins be the ones to find the lost art.

This story is full of adventure and mystery, while the lack of real peril keeps it from being truly scary. Paris makes a good setting, and the author and illustrator bring it to life well. This is the third in the series, and while it did stand on its own, I felt a bit as if I were missing something, not having read the first two books. This may be a set to read in order.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken]

This is a new series we stumbled upon while searching for more Magic treehouse books that we hadn’t read yet.

Eleanors says: I think I will love this new series. I hope I do because this first book we read was really good. The twins got to go to Paris with their mom and dad. They get to travel to places because their mom writes about places she travels. My favorite part was when they saved a picture from being stolen. This was a fun book and I hope all the other books will be just as good as that one.

[Kim Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in this series. It is a pretty quick read and I love how the author describes the surroundings while still keeping the writing at a level for younger readers.

[Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twins seem to like to solve mysteries.

[Rachita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!!!