The Great Pet Heist, a tail worth reading for ages 9-13

There are some books that elementary aged students like to read that demo up. For one reason or another, they’re accessible to older ages through their humor or heart. The Great Pet Heist is a book that mid-elementary through lower middle school readers will really enjoy. Will it demo up to those older readers?  

The Great Pet Heist is by Emily Ecton with illustrations by Dave Mottram. The book is told from the viewpoint of the pets. There’s Butterbean, a decent enough dog who knows she’s a little mischievous, but not really bad. Oscar, the brainy bird, Walt, the surly cat and Marco & Polo, a pair of rats round out the crew who all live near one another in a high rise building.  

Mrs. Food, the human who normally feeds them hasn’t been around for a while. They’ve heard talk that she’s in the hospital and might not be coming back. Thankfully, they do have a pet sitter who walks Oscar, talks sweetly to the animals and seems to be a good soul. Some of the pets are crafty and realize that this good life could come crashing down if Mrs. Food doesn’t come back. They’d all end up on the streets, in a shelter or separated from the inter-species family that they have now.  

The pets hear about a resident who seems to have lots of money. Specifically, they have lots of loose coins in a large bag, in addition to having a very distinct smell. They all hatch a plan to break into this person’s apartment and steal the money. Just how these pets will facilitate spending, saving and investing the money isn’t discussed. However, as long as these crafty critters can get the cash the rest will seeming come together, won’t it? 

If you as our 10-year old the answer then the answer is a resounding, yes. He read the book in about three nights and loved it. It took us a little longer to read it, but we still enjoyed it. For us, the book really started to find its feet three chapters in. There is a lot of dialogue in the book and for most readers that’ll be OK. The younger readers, those who are 8 might struggle with some of the interaction, but will really enjoy the humor. There are many characters to keep track of and some of the dialogue moves very quickly. When the characters are first getting established it’s tricky. Once the plot is moving the dialogue and personalities of the pets really shine in their chatter.  

Each page is about 10 pages long and most chapters have an illustration or two in them. It’s not an illustrated heavy book and definitely for readers, even though those younger kids might want to read it. The text is on par for third graders to be able to read it. Those fourth graders and up will be able to easily read it. If you’re in seventh grade or older then the book should be very easy and you’ll read it for comic comfort food.  

As older readers dig into the book it’s easy to compare it to Pets, the movie. That’s logical, but The Great Pet Heist takes place entirely in their high rise apartment building. Once the characters and their personalities are rooted it’s easy to see more than one book happening with them. I’d place bets on ‘tail’ or ‘tale’ being somewhere in its title also.  

There are affiliate links in this post, because, pets.