Emily Ecton’s The Great Vandal Scandal is a very silly animal mystery for 9 year olds about a gang of pets who try to retire from detective work and last about five minutes.<\/p>\n
Butterbean the sausage dog, Walt the cat, Oscar the mynah bird and two rats called Marco and Polo have already been an International Crime Syndicate. They’ve been Ghost Investigators too. Now Oscar thinks it’s time everyone took up hobbies instead.<\/p>\n
Butterbean wants to be a therapist. (Madison, the girl staying with them, has actually booked her in to train as a therapy dog, which isn’t quite the same thing.)<\/p>\n
Then the gossipy white cat from the fifth floor drops some news. Biscuit, the Yorkie on the second floor, is about to be kicked out for barking. So much for retirement!<\/p>\n
Biscuit is in a state. He’s had a disastrous haircut (heavy bangs and bald little feet) and he’s convinced invaders gather at the loading dock every night. Thousands of glowing eyes, he says. SLAVERING JAWS.<\/p>\n
Getting to the bottom of it means sneaking out of the flat after dark. There’s a chaotic dash for the lift, a rat in a borrowed sailor shirt and an octopus called Chad who now charges in shrimp.<\/p>\n
It’s brilliant to read aloud because every animal has its own voice. Walt is dry and unbothered and always ready to go for the eyes. Oscar frets. Marco and Polo get over-excited about being spies and call everything a secret mission. Butterbean’s therapy technique is mostly deep cleansing breaths and asking Biscuit about his mother.<\/p>\n
The humans have no idea what’s going on, which is half the joke. Poor Madison only wanted to walk the dog before school. She ends up chasing a dachshund and a cat round the building and gets a late mark.<\/p>\n
There’s no real menace, at least early on. It’s false alarms, bickering and a lot of snacks. Who hasn’t had a friend who’s absolutely sure something terrible is about to happen?<\/p>\n
If you’ve got a reader who laughs at animals being very serious about very silly things, this is perfect.<\/p>\n
The pets have had adventures before this one. To go back a step, try The Great Ghost Hoax, where Butterbean is so bored she’s trying to tunnel through the carpet, and then there’s talk of a haunted flat in the building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emily Ecton’s The Great Vandal Scandal is a very silly animal mystery for 9 year olds about a gang of pets who try to retire from detective work and last about five minutes. Butterbean the sausage dog, Walt the cat, Oscar the mynah bird and two rats called Marco and Polo have already been an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12622,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":9098,"lr_next_read_anchor":"The Great Ghost Hoax","lr_seo_hook":"A therapy dog in training and a Yorkie convinced monsters are coming."},"book_tag":[18],"age_group":[24],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[302],"class_list":["post-9108","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-animal-books","age_group-books-for-9-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-emily-ecton"],"yoast_title":"The Great Vandal Scandal by Emily Ecton | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"A therapy dog in training and a Yorkie convinced monsters are coming. For ages 9+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n