The Pets You Get!

 

Written by Thomas Taylor

Illustrated by  Adrian Reynolds

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A guinea pig may be soft and cuddly but nowhere near as exciting as a dog.  Dogs can do so many fun things.  Too bad big sisters think they are not as clean or quiet as guinea pigs.  But then there are bears.  Who wouldn’t want a bear as a pet?  They would be great company when watching the sunset.  But big sister thinks they are too big to snuggle up with at night.  Why would you ever want a boring pet that sleeps most of the time when you can have a dragon?  A dragon that breathes fire from his nose?  Totally awesome!  That sister!  She says dragons are make-believe and then she, gasp, kisses her guinea pig!  YUCK!  Why would you settle for a boring guinea pig when there are so many exciting pet possibilities?  You could choose a panther, rhino, dinosaur or a snake.  But no, sister still thinks guinea pigs are the best pets and she puts her pet guinea pig on brother’s knee.  Hey!  This guinea pig is not quite as boring as he thought.  It jumps and runs.  It plays chase, well more like catch although it is not so easy to catch.  That guinea pig is really, really good at hide and seek.  What a great sister!  She is sharing her guinea pig with brother….although he still thinks a dragon would be a great pet.

The wonderful illustrations in this fun book would make decoding easy for any second grade child as picture cues are very clear (CCSS 2.RL.7).  As a read aloud, this book would be fun for both the reader and the listener.  The changes from boring pet guinea pig to wildly exciting, fire breathing dragon make expressive reading almost as easy as breathing.

Although Thomas Taylor authored The Pet’s You Get, he is also an illustrator.  You may have seen his first commissioned work, the cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. That tidbit alone makes it worth picking up this book to see what other sorts of creativity are rolling around in this imaginative mind.

  • Pets You GetTitle:  The Pets You Get!
  • Author:  Thomas Taylor
  • Illustrator:  Adrian Reynolds
  • Publisher: Andersen Press USA
  • Reviewer:  Sandi Waymire
  • Hardcover:  unpaged
  • ISBN: 978-1-4677-1143-2
  • Genre:  fantasy

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