View source for Missing (Mystery Pups) by Jodie Mellor and Penny Dann

{{infobox1
|title= Missing (Mystery Pups)
|author= Jodie Mellor and Penny Dann
|reviewer= Sue Magee
|genre=Confident Readers 
|summary= A nicely-pitched early reader which will appeal to girls who love animals and magic.
|rating=4 
|buy= Maybe
|borrow= Yes
|pages=112 
|publisher= Simon and Schuster Children's Books
|date= March 2009
|isbn=978-1847382269 
|cover=1847382266
|aznuk=1847382266
|aznus=1847382266
}}

Lauren and Megan are playing with their puppies whilst they wait for their friend Caitlin.  Once she arrives the girls will be magically whisked away to Sleuth City where they and the pups will be called upon to investigate yet another mystery.  This time the cat star of an animal blockbuster has been stolen from underneath everyone's eyes on the set of her latest movie.  It's going to be up to the girls and their magical pups to find the missing cat before the studio is faced with paying an enormous ransom demand.

The book is perfectly pitched at the early reader and particularly the girl who loves animals and magic.  It's the third book in a series and whilst it might be pleasant to have read the earlier books it's quite easy to catch up with the background.  There's a big thumbs up to the publisher too in that it's commendably free from marketing blurb, suggestions that there are toys which ought to be acquired or tempters for the next book in the series.

Spread over a hundred and ten pages of text and eleven chapters the book is just long enough to give the emerging reader the confidence of having got a 'proper book' under their belt without being put under too much strain.  The chapters are of a good length but every double page spread has a quirky illustration by Penny Dann which gives some clues as to content and breaks up the text well.

The text is clear and with double-line spacing.  Most of the vocabulary will be well known to the new readers but there are occasional words to extend the range.  Some adult help might be needed initially but it won't be long before the book can be read alone.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.  We also have a review of [[Diamond Dogs! (Mystery Pups) by Jodie Mellor and Penny Dann]].

For more canine fun for this age group, we can recommend [[The Wish Puppy (Molly's Magic) by Holly Webb|The Wish Puppy]] by Holly Webb.

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[[Category:Jodie Mellor]]
[[Category:Penny Dann]]
[[Category:Emerging Readers]]