Amy and the Missing Puppy (1) (The Critter Club)

I picked up this book for my almost-7-year-old because it had things I was looking for -- larger text, lots of pictures, puppies. This book, superficially, looks like a book aimed at 7-9 year olds. However, the opening chapter has a bunch of girls sitting around trying to figure out who they'll marry, using specific boys that they know -- older brothers, kids at school, etc. This is a conversation I wouldn't expect before age 10 or 11, yet the book is clearly aimed at a much younger group. It should have been perfect for my first grader -- a missing puppy, a mystery to solve -- but it totally misses the boat with all the older-girl stuff. Much better is Lulu and the Duck in the Park, which has all the same elements AND stays true to the target age group. Sorry: give Critter Club a miss.

PARENTS MUST READ THIS!!! You have got to be kidding me!! Suggested age is 5-9. I wouldn’t allow my 7 years old to read a sassy, boy talk sleep over, and marriage talk book like this. Luckily, I read everything before I give it to my kids. I was so disgusted by the content. It was not necessary to talk a out “future husband” at sleep over. Why don’t you write something more appropriate and stop exposing the kids to this kind of nonsense at early age? If you write children’s book, Callie Barkley,...have some values and write something good, positive, encouraging and not boy dreaming nonsense. Parents..skip this book and I would like to suggest reading everything before you give to your kids. You’ll never know what kind of nonsense and inappropriate things they’ll be exposed to even at early age. So disappointed. Do better author Callie Barkley.

My daughter received this in a Christmas Book Exchange. In the first chapter the main character is sitting around at a sleepover playing M*A*S*H with her friends, mooning over boys, and drying her painted finger nails. First of all, a child reading at this level wouldn’t even know what M*A*S*H is yet, then they all talk about crushing on a 12 year old boy. This author really missed the mark on this one. I tried to give it a chance because my daughter was excited to have a new book, but the content of the book was completely vapid, with the characters so generic, I was bored myself and reluctant to finish reading her the second chapter for bedtime.

This was a very cute book about a group of girls trying to find a lost puppy. The opening of the first chapter does have the girls playing a game of MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) and talking about boys that they like, but that lasts for all of 2 pages, and is never mentioned again throughout the book. Using this topic in the opening of a book aimed at lower-grade girls is a bit inappropriate, but since the theme did not return for the rest of the book, I chose to overlook it, and let my almost-8-year-old read it anyways. She gets just as much "boys are cute" influence from watching "Phineas and Ferb". There is not a lot of peril or drama in the book, and the girls enjoy gathering the clues to find the missing puppy.

End result? A good choice for my daughter, who is a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to peril and drama in her books. The A.R. level on this book is 3.3

The graphics seem like they’re for younger readers but the conversations and content is a little more than I want my six year old to be exposed to. She’s reads very well so maybe by the time another child can read this book they WILL be older, but the illustrations look very young. A little deceptive.

This was just ok. Think it's better for 8-10 year olds as far as content goes.

This is a great series about strong, adventurous girls that my 6 yo loves...she is a huge fan of Ivy and Bean and has no patience for the likes of Junie B. Jones...the Critter Club girls and adventures are just her speed! She reads them herself, but when I read them out-loud to her the dialogue and stories are good enough to be interesting to me and not make me cringe like other series marketed to this age-group do!

Very cute book! My 7yo loved it!

Book is a great read for my Kindergartener and 3rd grader. Cute story. Well loved. It is a very cute mystery.

Couldn’t actually read the book because the pages fell out.