The Great Puptective (The Great Puptective, #1)

THE GREAT PUPTECTIVE is a delightful graphic novel that will work well for early readers. Truffles the Cat is surprised by a new box in his home, and even more surprised to find that the box contains Poppy the Puptective. Poppy is ready for a case - after speaking with Truffles, their first case is to figure out their case. Truffles does not like Poppy, and he decides to set his own plans in motion, especially when their owner gets upset at him for the things he has done, such as knocking over a plant and a cake.

The Puptective is on the case, especially when the Blanket Bandit (aka Truffles in disguise) sets up elaborate traps and clues for her. When the Blanket Bandit's final trap works and Poppy gets taken away, Truffles begins to realize how much he misses her. He sets out, following the Puptective's teachings, to get her back.

What I loved: This is an adorable and silly graphic novel for young readers that is broken into chapters. Early independent readers who still appreciate a lot of pictures will be delighted to follow along with this story. Most panels feature brief text, and guiding text in between helps to facilitate the story where needed. This is great for readers who prefer to explore through pictures and are just beginning their foray into graphic novels and/or those who just love graphic novels!

The story is cute with plenty of silly moments that the readers will understand before the animals do. For instance, Poppy is confused about some pawprints and where they lead - but the reader will understand that they are, in fact, hers. Similar mishaps and misunderstandings give plenty of giggles along the way.

The images are simple but really pull the reader into the story with a very expressive Truffles and Poppy. They provide the context needed for the text, which will help fill in the blanks for readers being introduced to new words. The end of the story is sweet with Truffles coming around to Poppy, a familiar feeling for when children find that they actually like something new that seemed difficult or scary at first. The backmatter includes instructions for drawing the characters so that children can extend their fun by making up their own Puptective stories.

Final verdict: THE GREAT PUPTECTIVE is a delightful graphic novel chapter book that is sure to entertain young elementary school aged readers.