Pansy at the Palace: A Beverly Hills Mystery By: Cynthia Bardes, Kim Weissenborn Star Rating:

Purchase Amazon

Spoiler Disclaimer

Synopsis

Pansy, a little, brown poodle, never though she would get adopted until a little girl named Avery comes to the animal shelter and takes her to live in the Palace Hotel in Beverly Hills. Pansy loves her new life and easily befriends nearly everyone at the hotel, but soon after her arrival, the guests' jewelry begins disappearing. Pansy smells something fishy and puts her nose to work, helping the police solve the mystery.

Review

Pansy at the Palace is a delightful children's picture book about the adventures of a little, brown poodle named Pansy. Pansy is the first person narrator, and she begins her story with her adoption at the animal shelter by a little girl named Avery who takes her to live at the Palace Hotel in Beverly Hills. With so many unwanted pets in the world, I really appreciated the author's advocation of pet adoption, even for wealthy folks who can afford to buy one instead. Pansy is very happy in her new life at the hotel with Avery, but one day, the hotel guests' jewelry starts disappearing. Pansy literally smells something fishy and swoops in to save the day by catching the thief.

The illustrations are positively adorable. The pictures are very emotive. You can really see how much Avery loves her new friend, and how happy and excited Pansy is. The illustrations are done in a style with soft colors that make them very pretty and pleasing to look at. They bring the characters to life and instill a lot of warmth in the story.

The $17.95 cover price (at the website) may seems a tad pricey, but the book is beautifully put together in a hardcover format with thick, sturdy pages reminiscent of card stock. It should stand up well to the wear and tear of little hands turning the pages.

This was Cynthia Bardes first book, and she did a wonderful job with it. I really enjoyed both the story and the illustrations. Together, they left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and I'm sure children would have fun with this cute book too. I hope Ms. Bardes might have more adventures in store for Pansy, and if she does, I would be very interested in reading them.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the author's PR director via the publicist, Bostick Communications, in exchange for an honest review.

Visit

The Official Pansy at the Palace Website