Review: The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton

Publisher: Atheneum Books

Pages: 256

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Butterbean knew she wasn’t always a good dog. Still, she’d never considered herself a BAD dog—until the morning that her owner, Mrs. Food, fell in the hallway. Admittedly the tile was slipperier than usual, mostly because Butterbean had just thrown up on it.

Now Butterbean and her fellow pets have to come up with a grand plan to support themselves in case Mrs. Food is unable to keep taking care of them. When they discover a mysterious man in their building who seems to have lots of loot, they plan a heist. Oscar the mynah bird is the brains of the operation. Walt the cat has the necessary slyness and slink. Marco and Polo are the reconnaissance rats. And Butterbean...well, no one would ever suspect a cute little wiener dog, right? Can these animal friends can pull off the heist of the century?

Kritters Thoughts:  A dog, a cat, a bird and two rats all in one NYC apartment.  Their owner takes a fall and leaves them to get treated and they quickly wonder about their future.  They band together to make a plan to make themselves rich, so they can take care of themselves.  When a young girl enters the picture, they worry a little less, but still take matters into their own hands.

What a fun and sweet book told through the perspective of the animals.  I am a dog owner and animal lover, so I loved hearing life through their eyes.  It made me giggle quite a few times when I thought about how my crew would operate without humans.  

The one thing that I didn't completely love about the book was the names of the animals.  For some reason it was hard for me to keep them all straight.  I don't know why I couldn't do it, but I wish their names had matched their personalities or type of animal a bit better!

I would recommend this to many young readers.  With a love of animals and a fun heist plot line, this is a great read for adults to read to a child or an early reader.  

Rating: a great YA read

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 47 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.