I usually don’t write about books, but this series of books goes along great with getting kids outside and exploring nature.  It also provides excellent information about some of our National Parks.  These are fiction books, but the author, Aaron Johnson, took great care to incorporate factual information about the park each book uses for the setting.  Kids can easily relate to the characters in the books.  They can also picture themselves on similar adventures.  These books are great for sparking kids’ interest in exploring the outdoors.

Summary of the Book Series

These books are about a boy named Jake who is on a two-month summer road trip with his mom and dad going to different national parks.  The setting of each book is a different national park.  They are not doing this road trip alone.  Jake’s aunt, uncle, and cousin Wes are joining them, and they are friends of his parents and their daughter Amber.   The kids are all around the same age.   The parents created a challenge for the kids to help them become more independent, build trust, and go on their adventures without the adults.

Jake’s grandpa, who died last year, planned the whole trip for them before he died. He also created a scavenger hunt for them, which turned out to be more than normal. Between the scavenger hunt and the challenge the parents made, the kids found themselves in various dangerous situations, finding clues and solving a mystery.

At the same time, another story is being told about something that happened over a hundred years ago. This story is about an orphaned boy who made his way to Colorado to find a life for himself. When he got to Colorado, he got caught up in a dangerous situation with people trying to catch him.

The two stories are related to each other, which is part of the mystery of figuring out their connection.

Who Should Read This Book

I read the first book in this series to my second-grade class as a whole class read aloud.  My students liked it and wanted me to read the next book in the series, but I didn’t have the next one.  The third-grade teacher in my school also read this book to her class.  The book is a great read-aloud book for elementary.  I don’t know if second grade is the best choice for who to read it to, but 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders would understand it better than younger students.  This book is also suitable for reading in literature circles if that is something you do with your students.  For parents, this is a good book to read together at bedtime with your kids.

I provided a link to their website for more information about this series: National Park Mystery Series Website. 

To Purchase these books here are paid links to Amazon:  Book 1    Book 2    Book 3   Book 4    Book 5

Printables to go with Book 1: Mystery in Rocky Mountain National Park

Book 1

I created a list of ideas for things to do when reading book one in the series and questions to accompany each chapter. The following are some links to free printables you can use.

• List of ideas: National Park Mystery Series Mystery in Rocky Mountain National Park activity ideas
• Chapter questions with lines:  Chapter questions with lines
• Chapter questions without lines: National Park Mystery Series_ Mystery in Rocky Mountain National Park Questions
• Answers to chapter questions:  National Park Mystery Series_ Mystery in Rocky Mountain National Park Answers
• Character description sheet:  Character Description
• Setting description sheet:  Setting description
• Setting and summary sheet:  Summary and setting of each chapter
• Summary sheet:  Summary of each chapter
• Ordering the clues sheet:  Clues and their order found worksheet
• Answers to ordering the clues:  Clues and their order found Answers