Mystery

Chasing Vermeer
Blue Balliett
Illustrator: Brett Helquist

ISBN - 0 - 439-37297-6

"When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings students Petra and Calder together as friends, strange things start to happen.  The students find themselves at the center of an international art scandal.  Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?"

This book has wonderful ties to mathmatics, John Dewey and,  of couse,  art. 

The Wright 3
Blue Balliett

ISBN - 13:978-0-439-69368-4
ISBN - 10:0-439-69368-3

"Supersleuths Petra, Calder an Tommy have cryptically drawn into an art mystery involving a Frank Lloyd Wright architecual masterpiece, The Robie House.  When the kid's sixth- grade class attempts to save the house from demolition, eerie events are reported.  Can they pursue justice and escape with their lives?"

This book has wonderful ties to mathmatics, H. G. Wells novel The Invisible Man, John Dewey and,  of couse,  art and architecture. 

Puzzle

Spot the Difference for Adults: Old Master's Edition

ISBN -13:978-0-7607-9348-0
ISBN -10:0-7607-9348-4

Take a look at some of the world's most famous paintings..... now look again at the image below.  What is missing?

Who Can Open Michelangelo's Seven Seals
Thomas Brezina
Illustrator:Laurence Sartin

ISBN - 3-7913-3556-1

This book is a quick read with puzzles hidden throughout the book.  The main charcter (you) will travel through time in the magic art museum to discover Michelangelo's secret of the seals.

Color / History

Color - A Natural History of the Palette
Victoria Finlay

ISBN 0-8129-7142-6

This book traces the original stories and locations of many different colors.  It will take the reader around the world and travel through time.  Some colors history involve great mysteries, such as the secret color of royalty in China, while others have actually caused war and massacres, such as the Ochre war in Australia between the Aboriginies and Settlers.   This book is written at a high school reading level of difficulty. 

History / Mystery / Crime

Museum of the Missing
A History of Art Theft
Simon Houpt

ISBN 13:978-1-4027-2829- 7

"The past few years have been tough on Edvard Munch.  First the Norwegian Expressionist's painting The Scream was stolen in 1994.  Then it was recovered, and a different version was stolen in 2004.  It seems that Munch is gettin more than his fair share of attention from thiefs but he is not alone.  These days, no artwork is safe.The international police agency Interpol currently lists as stolen more than twenty - five thousand works of art. ... You could fill a museum."

In this book, journalist Simon Houpt investigates the story of modern art theft from the Nazis durring World War II to the grand art thefts of today.