*I received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Who says you cannot be a spy and a mom? Secret Agent Josephine, is a children's novel that incorporates a sassy spy mom who juggles between saving some priceless art pieces from an infamous smuggler and spending time with her beloved daughter in Paris. The pictures were cute, and I adored the small French phrases trickled throughout. This would be an adorable nighttime read for small children!

My daughter loved this funny, girl power book. She loves that she learnt few words in a different language and the illustrations kept her amused. Great for kids who dream of being a spy.

Bug and her mom go to Paris, France for to catch the bird smuggler. Illustrations had things to do in Paris. There are some basic french phrases mentioned in the book. Story was silly. But kids may enjoy it

Thanks to netgalley

I was looking for a kickass female lead my students could look up to. Instead I found Sophie Kinsella's vapid shopaholic character disguised as a spy.

I really liked the blurb for Secret Agent Josephine in Paris but was ultimately disappointed. I was looking for some girl power, as this female spy and her daughter (codename: Bug) travel to Paris on assignment to track down Sean Slippy, a renowned smuggler of forged art and rare birds. While it had potential, Secret Agent Josephine wasn’t the role model I was hoping she’d be. Instead of using her quick wit to apprehend this international smuggler, upon reaching Paris she decides to go shopping and sightseeing.

I did like the use of a case file to provide background information about Slippy but the interesting bits of information about him found in the file had no bearing on his eventual capture. It would have been useful to know ahead of time that several conversations would be in French. I’m sure I couldn’t pronounce the names of some of the locations they visited, so had I attempted to read this book to a child they would have been laughing so hard at me that they wouldn’t have gotten anything from the story anyway.

I’m unsure why this mother is taking her daughter undercover on spying missions but it’s a good thing she did as she’d probably still be locked in Slippy’s bathroom if it wasn’t for Bug’s assistance. I expect children will enjoy searching for Slippy poking his head out behind objects in the illustrations.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Xist Publishing for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.

This book does not know if it wants to be a picture book or a chapter book. And it is successful at neither. Mom and Bug are on a secret assignment to catch a bird smuggler. They fly to paris and hunt down clues and complete the assignment. The pages are colorful, but they are way to full. No time to nail down just one concept. Plus french language is thrown in as if all readers will know what it says. There is just too much here, or not enough.

I wanted to love Secret Agent Josephine in Paris by Brenda Ponnay. A picture book about a fabulous spy catching baddies internationally seemed to cool to pass up. Unfortunately, the execution of the book left a lot to be desired.

Each element of this book missed the mark for me. The story follows Secret Agent Josephine as she attempts to capture an international smuggler. Along the way, she takes inexplicable breaks for shopping and sight-seeing, ultimately stumbling into the capture of the villain by more luck and chance than actual skill. It was frustrating to see a female protagonist care more about frivolities than the actual plot of the story. It seemed at first as though Josephine may have been playing it cool to lure the bad guy into a false sense of security, but it seems as though the idea was just a ploy to get to a sequence of photographs where the villain is hiding in the background—a cheap joke that comes at the expense of Agent Josephine’s credibility.
The illustration style feels flat and generic. The subject matter and amount of text seemed be to suitable for older picture book readers, but the simplicity of the actions and solutions make it feel like it is aimed a much younger audience.

Ultimately, Secret Agent Josephine in Paris begins with a killer premise, but doesn’t rise to the task.

There is value to cute and clever in longer picture books/early chapter books so long as there is a little substance supporting them. Where is the substance to this book.

The illustrations did not load properly in my kindle and the text was a little all over the place and oddly spaced so that it made reading it actually difficult and fruatrating. It seems like a really cute story, and from other reviewers, it seems I missed out! I hope to find a copy at the library eventually to give it a real go.

As I always say, it’s good when the title tells you everything you need to know.
All it took was the first sentence to include the phrase “mermaid piñata” for me to know how quirky this was going to be. After all, when the villain is nicknamed “The Cupcake Kid” and likes stray puppies. . .
A flower shop is a good place for a villain to hide as he observes the ditzy agent sent to catch him. Wasn’t at all surprised by the supposed twist. Bug’s arm would have given out long before the fifty-seventh yarn throw. From a story point of view, it’s not well-plotted, to the point where even kids would question some of her decisions.
The flower shop showed a lot of beautiful colors, but some pages were just too cluttered.
2.5 pushed up to 3/5

Clever with fun, engaging illustrations. Tween girls will enjoy this relatively benign Parisian caper. Secret Agent Josephine, a fashionista, sets off for France with her young daughter to apprehend Sean Slippy, smuggler of rare birds and forged art. Slippy sets a trap for her but never fear--Josephine is ready and devises a creative escape. Slippy is ultimately caught. Tongue-in-cheek, this humorous tale is slightly reminiscent of the old "Get Smart" TV series as far as campiness. However, the realities of today's headlines may put a damper on this story.

This is a cute picture book about a mother and daughter spy team, going to Paris, France, in search of a bad guy. In the meantime, they wonder around and look at the sights of Paris, and we get to see them too.

Great way to show the sights and beginning introduction to French. The story itself is kind of silly, but that's ok.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a cute short read. I love that it is a mother daughter spy book. And while on the hunt for bag guys, it's good to see they donned different disguises while passing famous places in Paris, I also enjoyed the fact that the books offers crafty ideas that are useful for fun art projects.

*** 4.5 Stars ***

Get ready to visit Paris through pictures. This was a fun adventurous spy picture book set in Paris.

Josephine was quirky, fun-loving, and smart main character. Her adorable daughter was nice little spy who also helped her mother in her work.The duo together did sightseeing in Paris and also worked on their mission.

I liked the famous places in Paris pictured in the book. Museums, famous church, garden and monuments. I never visited Paris before and never knew the places mentioned in this book, so I just googled everything and checked it out. There were also basic French greeting phrases in the book that could be taught to children. So I feel, this book was fun way to teach children about places in Paris and little basic French.

All the crafty tricks of Josephine can inspire children. The book also give a message about never give up, stay cool in difficult situation and always double check your list whenever you are going out or planning a trip.

Fabulous illustrations. All pictures of places, and street, outfits of characters were very colorful and beautifully illustrated.

There were fun things in the book like spy gears, Super-expanding spy bag, disguising outfits of secret agents, Top Secret file about thief, that will catch children’s eyes. I loved her red scooter that is on the cover.

One thing only, I knew this basic greeting phrases in French but some children might not know about them, so I think little info and meaning about them at the end of the book, as an exercise or learning tip would have make it great.

Overall, it was entertaining and crafty picture book with bit of education that children especially girls interested in spy books would love to read.

This book had some great images and when they weren't out trying to catch the baddies, the book gave an overview of some of the activities you can do in Paris along with some of the tourist sites to see, so not only is the story fun, there is a bit of education thrown in there too! 4 stars from me.

I read this book for review and I thought that it was absolutely adorable! My girls will love Secret Agent Josephine in Paris! The illustrations are adorable: colourful, quirky, well done, and a perfect match for the story. The story is absolutely delightful! I love that it incorporates French words and locations around Paris. I’m excited that there are other Secret Agent Josephine books; I plan on picking up Secret Agent Josephine’s Numbers next.

This odd little children's book rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning. Frivolous and uncomfortable.