📚 Book📚 Kids · Ages 7–10Mystery

Chasing Vermeer (1994)

About This Book

Petra and Calder, two sixth-graders at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, use pentominoes, pattern recognition, and sheer determination to investigate the theft of a Vermeer painting while the adult experts flounder. The mystery weaves through real art history and the real streets of Hyde Park, Chicago, with puzzles hidden in Brett Helquist's illustrations on every page. It's a book that makes you want to look more closely at everything.

Why It's a Classic

Blue Balliett was a teacher at the Lab School where the book is set, and her insider knowledge gives the story an authentic, specific sense of place that generic school settings lack. The book's greatest innovation is its use of pentominoes, geometric puzzle pieces that Calder uses as a thinking tool, which turns abstract pattern recognition into something tangible and playable. Balliett treats art history with genuine seriousness, folding real details about Vermeer's techniques and the provenance of his paintings into the mystery without ever making it feel like a textbook. The partnership between Petra (intuitive, literary) and Calder (logical, mathematical) models two different ways of thinking that are equally valuable. Helquist hid a coded message in his illustrations throughout the book, adding a meta-puzzle layer that rewards extremely careful readers.

Fun Fact

Balliett taught at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools for years, and many of the locations in the book are real places her students could visit. The illustrator Brett Helquist hid a pentomino code in his illustrations that, when solved, reveals a secret message. The book's publication year is actually 2004; the 1994 date sometimes cited refers to when Balliett first began developing the concept while teaching.

Parent Note

There is no violence or frightening content. The art history and puzzle elements are intellectually engaging and may inspire trips to art museums. Best suited for ages 9 and up, as younger readers may find the conceptual layers challenging.