The Cayuga Island Kids Series
$35.00 – $50.00The Cayuga Island Kids series features a diverse group of big-hearted friends who work together to solve mysteries, have adventures, and organize community projects. They are fact detectives who think, brainstorm, research, and collaborate to uncover answers and puzzle out solutions. Above all, they are kind, helpful, smart, and resourceful kids who have lots of fun together.
These chapter books are perfect for 7- to 10-year-olds in 1st through 4th grade.
“Any book that begins with a map of an island is my kind of story. Enliven that setting with a diverse group of characters who are consistently kind—and bursting with curiosity—and you’ve got all the elements of a series that is alive with adventure, friendship, and mystery.”
~ James Preller, author of the Jigsaw Jones mystery series
Book 1: The Mystery of the Barking Branches and the Sunken Ship
This entertaining mystery-history adventure is based on real events surrounding one of the biggest puzzles of the Great Lakes! The Cayuga Island Kids set off on a hunt for a certain kind of tree and instead unearth a cannonball thought to be from a treasure ship built right on their island that sank in 1679 and was never recovered. As they hunt for clues and follow leads, they discover that the island they live on is home to a whole lot of history. And, it turns out, a whole lot of mystery, too. We all have history in our own backyards, just waiting to be discovered by inquisitive, adventurous, and fun-loving fact detectives!
Book 2: The Adventure of the Big Fish By the Small Creek
Moving from knowing something has to be done to getting it done takes determination, teamwork, and sometimes, looking in a new direction. In this award-winning second book in the series, the Cayuga Island Kids rescue a mallard caught in the plastic rings from six-pack of cans. Moments later, a girl on a bike carelessly tosses a plastic bottle in the creek. That’s when they decide it’s time for action. How the Cayuga Island Kids go from fishing a plastic bottle out of the creek to bringing the community together to build a recycling bin big enough to hold plenty of plastic makes for a lively adventure. Young readers will be entertained as they come to realize the importance of brainstorming ideas, teamwork, the value of community effort, recycling, and the promise of new friendships. Best of all, readers will cheer on the Cayuga Island Kids as they come to realize that, although we are each just one person, together we can make a BIG difference.
Book 3: The Case of the Messy Message and the Missing Facts
It’s fall as Book 3 of the Cayuga Island Kids chapter book series opens. Julian explores food science as he experiments with recipes for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Being a cookie sampler takes Mac’s mind off his troubles with fractions. Yoko practices for the school play tryouts, and Maya helps Ms. Choi with the Make-and-Take-Club. Lacey, of course, is searching for the next mystery to solve. And then two of Ms. Choi’s glitter pens go missing. The clues and evidence point to a suspect, but are the Cayuga Island Kids jumping to conclusions? When a classmate jumps to conclusions and shares false information about Julian’s cookies, the kids join forces to set the facts straight. And while researching explorers for a school project, the kids uncover misinformation that blurs the truth, and makes the reasons for being a fact detective crystal clear. Sorting through clues and evidence—just like research—means making sure you have all the facts, and not just a fraction of the truth. Young readers will cheer for the Cayuga Island Kids as they embark on this adventure involving misinformation, faulty assumptions, flour bugs, glitter pens, and chocolate chip cookies.
Carrie Hitchcock –
A perfect read for all curious young scientists. This engaging journey through weather’s seasonal wonders deserves a place in school libraries and home shelves alike.
-Carrie Hitchcock, Reading Teacher
Melissa Maffei –
I really liked this book for its educational purposes. It has a lot of great weather terms and focuses on what you can do during each season. The artwork was also cute and fun. The only complaint that I had was the artwork focusing on the months of each season. It would tell you when the equinoxes or solstices would happen, but the page to talk about it would always be in the wrong months. It occurred to me that those monthly pages were meant to be together. I would not recommend reading this book as an ebook. But if you have the physical book, I would say get it. It is great for the class in talking about each season.
Becky Van Vleet –
Willy and Lilly invite you to enjoy the wonders of weather and the cycles of the calendar we experience all year long. This cleverly written book presents facts about weather in a fun and poetic way, to educate young children about our wondrous weather patterns. As the dog and cat follow Willy and Lilly around, participating in the weather changes, young readers will join right in the adventures through the full color illustrations which are a work of art to enjoy. The glossary of terms included in the back of the book is a nicely added feature.
Wendy Braun –
Witnessing the changing sunlight, knowing the tilt of the earth as it travels around the sun brings changes in our seasons and weather, I can’t help but think of God’s hand in the creation of our world. It’s truly miraculous!
Today I’d like to introduce you to a fun and simple book about weather: Willy and Lilly’s Adventures with Weather. It is written by Meteorologist and now Mom, Jennifer Stanonis.