Gemma is a mermaid who lives in the Atlantic Ocean with her family and friends. Can you guess who the youngest sister is just by looking at them? Here’s a hint: the granny mermaid has starfish on her tail, and each starfish represents one year of life. The second mermaid has 15 starfish, so she’s 15 years old. The other sisters are 18 and 22 years old.
One day, Gemma went to a mermaid party, but one of the guests wasn’t a real mermaid. Can you spot who it was? It was the shark! Sharks aren’t mermaids, after all.
Gemma’s mom, Fiona, owns a jewelry store for mermaids. One morning, she discovered that the most expensive necklace was missing. Detective Fisher came to help and questioned three suspects. The store next door’s owner said he left at 8 PM, the guard claimed he was patrolling another floor, and the cleaning lady said she left at 4 PM. Who’s lying? It’s the guard! Fiona’s shop is a one-story building, so there is no other floor.
Gemma was swimming with dolphins when she saw two guys, Nick and Rick, in trouble. Which one should she save first? Rick, because his inflatable boat was damaged, and a shark was nearby. Gemma saved both guys and brought them to shore.
Nick took a picture of Gemma without permission. He agreed to delete it if she solved his riddle: “Salty water everywhere but not a sea in sight. What am I?” The answer is tears!
Rick asked Gemma on a date, so she went to a witch to buy a potion to get human legs for 24 hours. To meet the witch, Gemma had to find a key and solve a password riddle: “What has 88 keys but cannot open a single door?” The answer is a piano!
The witch offered Gemma a deal: solve a riddle to get the potion for free or become her servant forever. The riddle was: “Two in a hole and four in a pack, six in a trio you see. Eight’s a quartet, but what you must get is the name that fits just one of me.” The answer is half!
Gemma got the potion and turned into a human. She had three paths to reach Rick: a village with vampires, a path with toxic flowers, and an enchanted forest that cancels magic. Which path should she choose? The village, because it’s a sunny day and vampires are probably sleeping.
Rick and Gemma met at a restaurant called Three Mermaids, but there were only two mermaid statues. The owner, Victor, knows this and uses it as a strategy. People notice the mistake, come in to tell him, and often stay for lunch.
Rick, a detective, got a call about a poisoned apple. The house owner claimed his housekeeper tried to harm him. Rick figured out the owner was lying because the apple wasn’t brown, meaning he bit it just before calling the police.
Rick and Gemma had a picnic in a sunflower field, but something was wrong. The wind was blowing the clouds one way, but the sunflowers were moving the other way. That’s impossible!
Gemma woke up to find Rick missing. An evil elf had taken him and challenged Gemma with a riddle: “I can be red, blue, purple, and green. No one can reach me, not even the queen. What am I?” The answer is a rainbow!
The elf cloned Rick, and Gemma had to find the real one. The real Rick was the only one who looked completely human.
Rick and Gemma hid in a castle during a rainstorm and found seven ghosts. They also discovered a painting with a plastic cup, proving it wasn’t from the 16th century as claimed.
To escape the castle, Rick and Gemma had three options: a tunnel with fire, a room with snakes, or a portal to a black hole. They chose the tunnel and used water from a fountain to put out the fire.
Gemma’s spell was ending, but the witch offered to make her human forever if they solved a riddle: “How to poke a balloon without popping it?” The answer is to let the air out first!
At the airport, a lady’s bag was stolen. Rick found the thief by noticing the elderly woman’s bag was too big to fit in the girl’s purse.
Gemma received a postcard from her sister that looked like she was in danger. But it was just a show for the sea creatures, and her sister was safe!
Starfish Age Puzzle: Create your own mermaid family using paper cutouts or drawings. Assign each mermaid a different number of starfish on their tails to represent their ages. Can you arrange them from youngest to oldest? Share your mermaid family with a friend and see if they can guess the ages based on the starfish!
Detective Adventure: Pretend you are Detective Fisher and create a mystery story with your friends or family. Each person can play a different character, like a shop owner, a guard, or a cleaning person. Make up clues and see if you can solve the mystery together. Remember to think about the details, just like in Gemma’s story!
Riddle Time: Try coming up with your own riddles and share them with your classmates or family. Use objects or things around you as inspiration. For example, “I have keys but open no doors. What am I?” (Hint: Think about the piano riddle from the story!) See who can solve your riddles the fastest.
