When I see a new book from Sara Varon, I'm automatically on board. Each book is a unique experience. This one has a decent mystery. Lots of low brow humor for kids. And a resolution that encourages thinking about others. Solid choice for young readers

Sweat Pea is not a detective. In fact, she's not even a scientist. She's a dog that loves singing in choir and digging through the trash for snacks, often feuding with raccoons that search for craft material. But her nose may come in handy when a Golden Bone used to give all the dogs clean teeth and bad breath goes missing. She can sniff the trail, and try to ask questions when the path gets cold.

The story takes it time to get to the theft in question, with the bone taken from the local museum. If Sweet Pea doesn't find the bone in time, the choir will have to cancel due to cavities. Not to mention the bad breath may kill the town anyway since no one wants to smell tooth decay from a sad dog. You get plenty of panels and a few red herrings that make for a fair-play mystery.

I love the art, and the betrayal Sweet Pea feels after the theft. She says that everyone in town is NICE. Sweet Pea can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt the dogs. It is relatable if you believe in a social contract. And sure enough, they find a compromise after leveling a death glare at the thieves, because increased tooth decay is something that hurts everyone in the town.

A bit rambly, without tight storytelling. Time is spent with these characters before the mystery gets started, and some of it, like our detective dog eating trash, made me a bit queasy. The creatures look more like random animal shapes than specifically dog-like, and there's an odd emphasis on crafting. The story flips between treating them like animals -- the need for the golden chew bone for dental health -- and not (they paint). I'm not sure who the audience for this would be.

Detective Sweet Pea: The Case of the Golden Bone was a cute story, but nothing impressive. I think it will go over well with the lower elementary students, but will struggle to find an audience with the older kids. The drawings were somewhat rudimentary, with arrows denoting motion and pointing to the obvious.

In what I hope will be a long-running series, Sweet Pea is tasked with using her keen sense of smell to find the Golden Bone, a shared chew toy that keeps the dogs that live in her town happy, and their teeth shiny and white. I got a kick out of all the "snacks" Sweet Pea finds in the trash. This is a fun graphic novel for middle-grade readers or younger.

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!