The Treasure Hunt: True Stories of Treasures Lost, Stolen, and Found

by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe, Gordy Wright (illustrator)

Switch on your metal detector, grab your compass, and follow the clues. It’s time for YOU to do some treasure hunting of your own! Because X marks the spot . . . or does it?

Perfect for fans of Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid, this nonfiction adventure book will have 6-9 year-olds wanting to travel the world.

Following a trail of intriguing clues, take an epic journey around the world and discover heart-stopping true stories of treasure lost, stolen, and found.

Exactly where is Queen Nefertiti’s mummy HIDDEN?Can the Titanic’s treasures be SAVED from the waves?Could you help find a Viking HOARD with a metal detector?
Find out which artist’s work has been STOLEN more than 80 times and where you can DIG UP the tooth of a T. rex as YOU become the treasure hunter . . .

Countries around the world readers will
ScotlandNorwayEgyptIndonesiaIndiaColombiaMadagascarAnd many more
Kids will love this engaging and interactive book that's chock-full of information and facts. THEY are the treasure hunter, and THEY get to be a map reader, code cracker, and puzzle solver, searching for lost treasure and figuring out the mystery.

Genres: Nonfiction

64 pages, Hardcover

Published June 10, 2025

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6-year old and I loved this book! At his age, it definitely requires adult assistance but we loved working through the puzzles together. A great choice for kids between 6-12 years old. Any child (or child at heart) that loved Puzzle Island by Paul Ashead or the Graeme Base books will throughly enjoy the great mix of riddles and puzzles in The Treasure Hunt. What makes The Treasure Hunt a bit unique is how well it blends so many topics into one book that still interests kids — art history, pirates, geography, military code breaking and encryption, Norse history, dinosaurs and so much more! Even with all of the various topics, the story didn’t feel disjointed as the main character group was working to solve puzzles that took them to various parts of the world. I also appreciated the clues at the end of the book that we could reference for some of the harder puzzles. My son’s only disappointment is that he wanted the stories to continue and was a bit sad when the book ended. Here’s hoping that a follow up book will come along soon.

Thank you to Leisa Stewart-Sharpe, Hodder Children’s Books and NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calling all treasure hunters and puzzlemasters! Join your best friends Saksham and Zuri as you jet around the world solving mysteries left for you by a mysterious figure you think might be the ghost of Captain Kidd trying to recover his lost treasure. Along the way, you will learn a lot about other treasures, real and imagined, throughout world history as you crisscross the globe solving these different kinds of clues.

A great nonfiction adventure book for upper grades, this text will have your students flipping madly through the pages as they try to figure out all the clues. I delighted in the riddles and cryptograms sprinkled in between interesting tidbits of history. This could give you some great ideas for a breakout room classroom activity, or brain teasers for your kids throughout the year.

*I was given an advanced copy for review purposes*

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is SUCH a fun book!

I spent over a full hour just reading, ~examining the clues~, and Googling more facts about all the hidden, mysteriously vanished, and/or stolen treasures throughout history. With awesome facts and vibrant illustrations, this is a wonderfully immersive and engaging read for the history-loving, budding archaeologist kiddos out there. Explore for yourself!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Treasure Hunt: True Stories of Treasures Lost, Stolen, and Found by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe (author) and Gordy Wright (illustrated) is a globetrotting nonfiction adventure perfect for curious readers ages 6–9—though I had a blast reading it as an adult! Fans of Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide will love exploring real-life mysteries across countries like Scotland, Egypt, Indonesia, Madagascar, Norway, India,and Colombia while uncovering tales of lost cities, pirate gold, lost cities, shipwrecks, dinosaur fossils, and even missing masterpieces. The book also teaches kids about wide ranging topics like board games, map reading, riddles, ciphers, hieroglyphics, Morse code, and geocaching—making it as interactive as it is informative.

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlesbridge, and Leisa Stewart-Sharpe for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Treasure Hunt: True Stories of Treasures Lost, Stolen, and Found will be published June 10, 2025.