Kitten Kaboodle: Mission one: The Catier emerald by Eileen O'Hely

Ill. by Heath McKenzie. Walker Books, 2014. ISBN 9781921529931.
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Chapter book, Humour, Animals, Crime. Misty is walking down a dark alley when surprised by a gang of ferocious dogs. Kitten Kaboodle comes to the rescue. After all a pampered kitten is not match for Tyson, Boxer, Bruiser, Rasputin and Goliath. So begins the funny adventures of Kitten Kaboodle, called into action when the members of DOG are out attacking cats. His mission is to infiltrate their headquarters and find out what they are up to. In the middle of his discussion with his boss, they are interrupted by an emergency call, and Kaboodle readies himself for the task. In doing so he follows a group of kidnapped kittens to where the DOGS are training them to be cat burglars. Fun and mayhem occur.
The humour of the text is underlined by the charming McKenzie drawings which are found on most pages. The chapters are short and in large print, most suitable for an able first time independent reader. The descriptions of the things Kaboodle gets up to, compared with the way he is treated at home by his doting owner, will cause whoops of delight from the readers.
The array of equipment used by Kaboodle will intrigue the reader, as will the adventure he finds himself in.
A second in this new series, Mission two: the lightning opal follows soon.
Fran Knight