Little Kids First Big Book of Pets – Book Review

Book Review
Little Kids First Big Book of Pets
By Catherine D. Hughes
Published July 2019 by National Geographic Kids

Son's Review
(Age: 4 and 1/2)
The best thing about Book of Pets:
The best thing about this book is this. You want to know it? It is the games! The games!

Something interesting he learned:
Something interesting I learned is that squirrels make good pets. *mischievous smile*
(This is blatantly false. The difference between wild animals and pets is detailed, but T and I had great debates about the possibility of a wild squirrel as a pet. T thinks he has convinced me that it is possible.)

What this book is all about:
This book is all about animals. Like it tells about animals. Like dogs and cats and rabbits.

One of the most challenging games.

Mom's Review

Other people's pets.
Floyd says: "I'll eat your spinach
if you take me home, T!"

Little Kids First Big Book of Pets is exactly what it sounds like: an introduction to the topic of pets. Bold photographs, short paragraphs, and basic information make this idea for little kids. If you have a family pet already, some information will be redundant, but it is delightful nonetheless. We don't have a pet, but we do like other people's, and T goes to farm school, so he was happy to tell me, "I know that!" or "That bird is just like Floyd!" as we read. We learned a bit, reinforced knowledge, and had fun. (We skipped the snake section though. I didn't want to learn about them, and I don't find them fun in the least.) The best part for T, by far, was the game at the end of each chapter.

I can think of two situations where Little Kids First Big Book of Pets would be a perfect fit. First, if your little kid loves learning about animals, particularly if you have a pet you'd like to read about. Second, if you have a kiddo who is a bit of a reluctant reader but likes looking at pictures of animals. This is a great one to page through and just enjoy the photographs.

Our experience has been a bit of both, me reading to T about animals, and him looking at the pictures independently. As soon as we opened the mail and pulled out this book, T was flipping through, saying, "Awww. So cute!" to the puppies and guinea pigs. He has been content to peruse Big Book of Pets on his own numerous times since then. When we've read it together, we jump around, reading about the animals he is most interested in (puppies, hairless cats, and enormous dogs), until he eagerly finds the game.

Why we chose this book:
We enjoyed Little Kids First Big Book of Science, so I expected that a similar book about one of our favorite topics (animals) would be a win. A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Floyd says: "I'm not a love bird, T! I'm an Amazon parrot!"