Key to the Treasure

Peggy Parish is best known for her Amelia Bedelia series. However, she also wrote a less well known series of mystery chapter books for children that are often forgotten.

Key to the Treasure (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)is the first in a series of mysteries about three children, Liza, Bill, and Jed. The first book is the best in the series.

The book starts with the children on an annual summer visit to their grandparents. The story combines the children's summer adventures with their search to solve the mystery. The mystery surrounds a story that grandfather has told them every summer about a treasure hunt left by a relative headed off to the Civil War. The first clue is lost and the treasure is never found. Generations of children have hunted, but never located the treasure. An accident provides the children with a chance no previous hunters have had in the quest.

I have had great luck getting reluctant readers engaged in this book. The book is a great independent read as well as a read aloud. It is a great chance to discuss prediction, setting, and characters.

Additional books in the series include:

Clues in the Woods (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)

The Haunted House (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)

Pirate Island Adventure (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)

The Mystery of Hermit Dan (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)


The Ghosts of Cougar Island (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries)