I received an electronic ARC from First Second Books through NetGalley.
Readers meet Sweet Pea before any mischief happens. They get to see him, his friends (new and old), and his town. Varon sets up humor and red herrings then introduces a theft. The Golden Bone that cures dogs' ailments goes missing. The museum curator asks Sweet Pea to use his nose and sniff out the culprit. After several dead ends, Sweet Pea uses his ancestor's journals to figure out the case. By the end, the bone is back, toothaches are ending, and the various animals are working together. The artwork is fun to look at and tells the story to support the dialogue. I love the ending where other animals show up to ask Sweet Pea to solve their cases. Great segue to future books in the series.
A fun, light read for mid-elementary level.

This book is just fun. Can humans have a treat that keeps their teeth nice and healthy from just chewing it? Asking for a friend. All jokes aside kids will love the graphics, and color used in this book. I love how all the creatures are living together in relative harmony. And sometimes those who don’t get along can still show compassion when compassion is needed. I hope that this is the first book of a series, because I would love to see some more of detective Sweet Pea’s adventures.
Thank you so much to First Second Books an Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This book was so much fun! It is silly at parts, but that's part of what made it such a great read. I don't know why I found the animosity between Sweet Pea and Wayne (the raccoon) so funny but every time they were on the page together I ended up with a smile on my face. I think this book is perfect for readers in elementary school. It's more complicated than a picture book, offers additional vocabulary/sight word knowledge with all the labels the author included on many of the pages, and there's a mystery with a rather humorous resolution. And it's filled with Sweet Pea doing the gross things dogs do sometimes - mostly searching through garbage cans for treats and rolling in gross smelling things. This is a definite "must" for any school or classroom library!