Author: Colleen AF Venable
Illustrator: Stephanie Yue
© Date: 2010
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Pages: 46
Chapters: No
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 7-11 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Yes, facts on specific animals and information about another topic like jobs working with animals.
Summary from Book: There’s a sandwich thief in Mr. Venezi’s pet shop, and everyone is a suspect-from the chinchillas to the goldfish. Never fear! The world’s fluffiest detective is on the case: Sasspants, PI(G). By day, Sasspants is your average book-loving, gizmo-inventing guinea pig. By night, she solves pet shop mysteries with the help of her sidekick, Hamisher the hamster. Our furry little heroes wills top at nothing to find the sandwich thief.
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read these awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: We have read these numerous times and laugh every time. The humor is well done, the drawings are entertaining, the mysteries are fun, and Hamisher’s exuberance is hard not to love.
Family Unit: A variety of animals live in the pet shop. They move around between cages to converse and do what needs to be done. Sasspants had a cage to herself, but Hamisher hangs out all the time in there once they become friends.
Conflict/Social Issues:
- The chinchillas are initially too cool for Sasspants, but eventually they have enough respect to be nicer.
- Some jokes are made about a particular animal’s tendencies, like the snake wanting to eat Hamisher the hamster.
- Some conflicts are due to not trusting newcomers in the pet shop, like the ferrets and Violet the assistant.
Positive Items:
- Despite her initial reluctance on friendship, Sasspants and Hamisher become best friends. They watch out for one another and discover that they are an inseparable pair.
- While all of the animals in the pet shop are rather different, they accept one another for who they are, watch out for each other, and work together for the good of the pet shop and Mr. Venezi.
- The pet shop animals have personal growth as they learn new things throughout the series.
- Mr. Venezi is not the most knowledgeable pet shop owner, but in the end, things work out for him with a little help from the pets and his relationship with the successful bookstore owner next door.
Items of Interest:
- Book 1: When the letter G falls of the Guinea Pig sign on Sasspants’s cage, Hamisher the hamster is thrilled to have finally found the detective to solve the mystery of Mr. Venezi’s disappearing sandwiches. Sasspants does not see herself as a detective, but agrees to help to get Hamisher to leave her alone. Mr. Venezi runs the pet shop but does not have the best animal knowledge, he is a bit confused, but always nice. Due to his animal confusion, the pets are not always in the proper cages receiving the proper food. The pets still appreciate him though. When a child grabs one of the chinchillas by the tail, the chinchilla does not want to go home with the kid but her pride prevents her from peeing on him, Sasspants fires a water bottle so the kid thinks that the chinchilla pees on him, and puts the chinchilla down. Each animal has a unique personality and are more helpful than others. Eventually Sasspants solves the mystery. Sasspants does not claim to be Hamisher’s friend, but after the mystery is solved, Hamisher believes that they are best friends.
- Book 2: Hamisher keeps trying to find another mystery for Sasspants to solve. Sasspants would rather read a mystery novel until the mice start disappearing and a ghost is speculated as the culprit. The ghost bit is not scary, a weird shadow is seen and cold air is felt, but it is mostly silly. The chinchillas are kinda the cool kid types of the pet store. Sasspants solves the mystery, the mice have been slowly disappearing to go live in the new bakery next door. And the mystery shadow was just the scuba guy decoration from the fish tank.
- Book 4: Mr Venezi is trying to hire an assistant, but his unique interview techniques make it tricky to find the perfect person. In walks Viola who has a knack with animals and gets the job. Sasspants is the only animal that does not adore Viola. Mr. Venezi doesn’t think that Viola needs him to run the shop, so he sadly leaves. Viola stops working and spends her time watching soap operas with the chinchillas and Mr. Sparkles. Sasspants and Hamisher follow the clues to find out why Mr. Venezi is missing. Sasspants and Hamisher lead the other animals in executing a plan that will bring Mr. Venezi back. The animals all hide just long enough for Viola to think that everyone is missing, so Charlotte the bookstore owner will tell Mr. Venezi that all of the animals are lost. Mr. Venezi says that they are just sleeping because Viola didn’t properly say good morning to them. The animals all come back out, and Mr. Venezi looks forward to seeing the animals the next day.
- Book 6: Mr. Venezi is no longer selling pets in his pet store, he is just selling pet supplies. Sasspants and Hamisher are retired detectives and trying other hobbies. The chinchillas and Mr. Sparkles the mouse are living with Viola, but still come to work with her and enjoy watching tv at home. Mr. Venezi has a crush on Charlotte who owns the bookstore next door. She seems to have a thing for Mr. Venezi as well, which is making her reluctant to tell Mr. Venezi that she is moving to a bigger store. Mr. Venezi hasn’t been paying the bills because he doesn’t seem to understand what they are and is not generating much income at his store. After a night of trying to sell pet supplies door to door at 2am, his walrus toothbrushes mysteriously left the store and cash filled his register. He returns the next day to find all of his aardvark neckties gone and more cash in his register. The landlord tells Mr. Venezi that he has a week to pay his overdue rent money, and even called Mega Pet Mart who agreed to take all of his animals. Mr. Venezi thinks that all of the cash that keeps appearing is part of a dragon stash, so he won’t pay anything. Sasspants and Hamisher come out of retirement to help Mr. Venezi. Sasspants and Hamisher create a plan for all of the animals to help Mr. Venezi and Charlotte. After the pet store and book store are combined for a larger bookstore with pets to play with and read to, the lingering mysteries get solved. Sasspants and Hamisher were selling Mr. Venezi’s items online to make money. The end of the book shows the new sign for Mr & Mrs Venezi’s Books and Pets and Pets Stuff going up.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Hamster and Cheese – Book 1
- And Then There Were Gnomes – Book 2
- The Ferret’s a Foot – Book 3
- Fish You Were Here – Book 4
- Raining Cats and Detectives – Book 5
- Going, Going Dragon! – Book 6