Peggy’s Impossible Tale is told in the voice of a remarkable guinea pig. Full of action and surprises, it is guaranteed to captivate the attention of beginning readers. Peggy learns how to communicate with the loving family that adopted her, and she goes on to win a much-coveted prize for her accomplishments.
Lucy wants a pet more than anything, even though her mom always says no. But one night, Lucy hears a scratching sound from behind her wallpaper, and a ghostly cat named Silvring appears. Silvring takes Lucy on an adventure and introduces her to a world filled with secret pets just like hers. Not all the secret pets are as friendly as Silvring, though.
A little boy offers advice to his cat, which is lost in the city, from taking shortcuts through safe alleys to finding a friend in the park.
Nine-year-old Rudi and his beloved dog Hanno escape from Nazi Germany, but Rudi soon learns he’ll have to protect Hanno from an entirely new threat in this thrilling reimagining of a little known World War II event.
Espen Dekko’s gently heartbreaking and heart-lifting story hits the perfect note as it explores death in an accessible, child-friendly, and nonfrightening way. By writing from the dog’s perspective, Dekko makes it easier for children to understand and accept Paws’s decline and death. Beginning with Paws dreaming of chasing rabbits and ending with Edward dreaming of Paws chasing rabbits, the story has a circular structure that is satisfying and reassuring, as it conveys the boy’s acceptance of the loss of his beloved pet. Richly colored illustrations by Mari Kanstad Johnsen have a simultaneously retro and contemporary feel, perfectly highlighting the joy and love at the heart of this boy-dog relationship. This book is an excellent choice for any children or adults dealing with or talking about loss, or for lessons about the life cycle of living things.
A lonely pet fish longs to know what exists in the world beyond her bowl. “I wish I could see over there / Behind the wall, / Behind the chair.” She imagines a giant tree, a wooly goat and a purple sea. She wonders if there could be someone out there who looks like her, so she leans close to the glass and hears some fish-like cries! “Hello? Is someone there?” she hears. “Are you a bird? / Are you a bee? Or are you a fish with fins like me?” She realizes there’s another fish close by and his name is Mike! When Mike asks what her world is like, the amazing watercolor fish has a great idea. “I ll show Mike what I think could be!” Using watercolors, she paints a picture of a world with trees and swirling rainbows. Every day she paints more, “birds that swim, / ships with wings, / and books that do all sorts of things!” Then Mike uses his paint to illustrate more than just the water and the door.
The Amazing Watercolor Fish/El Asombroso Pez Acuarela has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.
We set off, very slowly. Mouse walks at a snail’s pace. He stops at lamp posts and fences and sniffs for a long time. Sometimes he looks up at me and then I usually say something. I maybe say “”old man”” in a very nice voice, not my usual one.This is a book for anyone who knows what it is to love an old, slow dog, with ears as thin as pancakes.
Bob has decided to be a pet-sitter. He can’t wait for all the cute hamsters and bunnies to arrive! But look out! Here come three noisy goats, one very grumpy bear, and yikes! Is that a troll at the door? It’s fairy tale chaos!
Colette can’t find something to talk about with the new kids in the neighborhood…so she invents a pet! Her fib quickly escalates, and suddenly her parakeet is a larger-than-life world-traveler named Marie Antoinette. Have her new friends figured out her secret? What will they do?
When a tiny stray kitten turns up on the doorstep, Hina and her mother take the kitten in. Hina makes a home for her and learns all about caring for a living creature. Then one day the kitten goes missing.