A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Pet – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Tickling tentacles, needle-sharp teeth, fun.
Children’s book title: A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Pet by.
Children’s author: Ali Rutstein.
Children’s illustrator: Tommy Doyle.
Genre: Picture book.
Published by: Allen & Unwin.
ISBN: 9781761181436.
Recommended for children aged: 3-6 year-olds.
First published: Paperback November 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: Children who enjoy fun bedtime reads.
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Our review:
Tickling tentacles, needle-sharp teeth, guinea pig gangs, and bad bunnies—a beginner’s guide to choosing the perfect pet for your family, presented with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.
Hilarious illustrations of ordinary pets behaving mischievously and children playing with wild, scary animals make this a fun book for preschoolers who are dreaming of a pet. On a more serious note, it encourages discussion about the pros and cons of different pets, highlighting the importance of finding ideal traits, such as “quiet, peaceful, and cheerful” animals.
It playfully explores personalities, good and bad, with amusing observations—for instance, guinea pigs: “They hang out in gangs, making sinister squeaking noises.”
A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Pet includes snippets of clever, playful scenarios, such as a child playing hide and seek with a tiger—after all, most of us would hide from a tiger! The danger is humorously flipped on its head, presenting the tiger as cuddly and fun-loving.
Children will laugh at the quirky descriptions, such as “a sweet, earthy aroma.” The bright, colourful illustrations enhance the text, for instance, depicting a stench in vivid detail.
Parents in the story are understandably concerned about the inappropriate pets, while the children are enamoured with them. Being a cat lover myself, I particularly enjoyed the description of a kitten. The use of deep, warm colours in some of the hilarious illustrations will captivate children aged 2–6, making the book enjoyable with or without focusing on the storyline.
Many thanks to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.
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