The arrival of a new pet, especially a rambunctious puppy, disturbing the life of a more mature animal, is a popular topic in 
early and intermediate graphic novels and Tysoe throws in a fun little twist to this theme in this new series.
Truffles, a fluffy orange cat, is completely taken aback when his human, Sasha brings home a box which contains… Puptective! Puptective is a little white puppy with mouse-like ears, a “detective hat” and boundless enthusiasm. She sets out immediately to “puptect” and quickly annoys Truffles with her noise, enthusiasm, and proven innocence in the matter of smashed flowerpots. Truffles tries to get Puptective into trouble, trap her, and finally, when all his efforts fail, sets in motion a diabolical plan to get rid of Puptective forever!
But… maybe he actually kind of likes the little puppy? Can Puptective’s detective lessons help Truffle put things right and bring his new friend back home?
There are instructions for young readers to draw the two main characters at the end of the book. Tysoe, while sticking to the familiar formula of an excitable puppy and annoyed, older cat, presents the story with a fresh perspective. She flips the gender stereotypes that usually go with pets, cats being female and dogs male, and Puptective’s naive but surprisingly effective detection skills are portrayed with heart and humor.
The art is heavy on comic circles, with big eyes, wide pupils, and emotions conveyed with some skillful placement of eyebrows. Puptective prances through the story surrounded by exclamation points as she bounces with excitement, shock, interest, and delight. Although in galley format, the finished book will be in full color and the examples of the final art primarily show panels without borders. They are defined by simple colored backgrounds against a white page, making the characters and their word bubbles pop. Periodically, the story expands into a full page colorful setting, but the action mostly moves from one simple panel to the next. The text is simple and in a large, easy-to-read font.
While there are plenty of similar titles like Dear Beast, Pepper & Boo, Peanut, Butter, & Crackers, and Doggo & Pupper, this new series has an additional touch of humor with the detective theme and there is always room for another funny, animal-themed beginning graphic novel series. Elementary school libraries and public libraries with a large population of beginning readers will definitely want to add this one to their shelves.
The Great Puptective
By Alina Tysoe
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024
ISBN: 9781665938242
NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9), Middle Grade (7-11)
