Pet Dictionary: An A to Z of Animal Companions

by Don Harper

Book Overview

This dictionary introduces young readers to the world of animal companions. It has advice on how to choose and care for your favorite animal. This book is an ideal guide to pets and pet care. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439754593
• ISBN13: 9780439754590
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Tangerine Press
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A great teaching tool!

As children's librarian, I buy every Scholastic picture dictionary that comes to my attention. "Pet Dictionary," cataloging animal companions from A to Z, is a wonderfully illustrated way to learn names of animals, to recognize them, and to determine which makes the best pet suited for your family. This is an ideal book for pre-school children up to middle school. The book pictures and describes four animals per letter of the alphabet, dividing amongst reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and fish. Also the relative size of the animals is shown according to its size with a standing human or a human hand. At random here are some possible pets: Betta fish, about the size of two adult fingers, "is one of the most colorful fish....Two males must never be kept in the same aquarium, because they will fight to the death. Do not place a mirror next to the aquarium, because a male Betta will attack his own reflection" (11). On the two pages of B with him are Angora rabbit, Axolotl (amphibian), Bearded dragon, and Bengal cat, descended from a mating with a wild Asian Leopard. The Jird is part of the gerbil family and "is lively, entertaining, and low-maintenance" (30). They are clean and odorless. A Mynah bird, larger than a human hand, can be taught to talk and learn noises. On the other hand, the parrotlet is a small, beautifully colored bird with an intelligent, curious nature. It bonds with its owner and makes an excellent companion. It can live over 20 years. There are a number of animals that really should not be kept as pets as the book indicates. These belong more in a habitat in a conservation area. These include tarantula, tokay gecko, tree frogs, chameleons, and the like. The first animal illustrated is the Abyssinian cat, a curious, energetic cat who loves to play in water. The last animal is the Zebra finch, which is a flock bird and should be kept with others of its kind and never alone. I very recently learned that rats are kept as pets. The book describes the rat as "intelligent, friendly pets...curious, social, easily tamed but not easy to look after. They do best with another rat of the same sex." On the same page with the rat is the Ragdoll cat. If picked up, it relaxes and produces the "flop factor." The Ragdoll lacks an aggressive nature and is known as the gentle giant and so should be kept indoors. It is so interesting to sit down and read through all the descriptions. I have read this book several times to my four-year-old great-niece, who can now identify most of the animals by name. That's such a good thing!