Reviews

The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses by Zachariah OHora, Lisa Wheeler

shawnareads24's review

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4.0

Told in verse, a young girl researches animals in hopes of finding the perfect pet. As she visits the farm, zoo, forest and pet store, and records her observations, she discovers that pets come with problems.

crystal_reading's review

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4.0

Very fun. Especially loved the poems about the cow and turtle.

snowbenton's review

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5.0

great for STEM!!

pwbalto's review

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5.0

YES. FUNNY. Good poems. And Zachariah Ohora is one of my new favorite illustrators.

beecheralyson's review

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5.0

I loved the way this book combined poetry and more.

bkwrm127's review

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5.0

I LOVED this story-book-of-poems. A little girl who wants a pet is told by her parents to do some research first. She observes farm animals, zoo animals, woodland creatures, pet store pets, and more before finally making her decision... a wonderful, twist ending that I won't share because I don't want to be a SPOILER! Funny, must-read-out-loud-able poems with clever illustrations... this is on my recommend list!

wordnerd153's review against another edition

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3.0

This could lead into a fun research activity where students pick an animal, find out its traits, and explain why it wouldn’t make a good pet.

frankisib's review against another edition

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4.0

A fun poetry book kids will enjoy. Love that it tells kind of a story from beginning to end.

maidmarianlib's review against another edition

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5.0

A fun connected set of poems about a girl doing a scientific experiment to find a pet. Poems are just delightful and come in a variety of forms.

erin_boyington's review

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4.0

A little girl wants a pet, and her parents tell her to go do some scientific research to find out which pet is best.

The story takes place all in rhyme, clever and cute as the budding scientist earnestly makes field observations and takes notes of her misadventures with animals that don't make great pets after all:

Upon closer inspection
I smelled dairy air
as the cow dropped a pie at my feet.


She visits a farm, zoo, the woods, and a pet store in her quest, with poems and observations of each type of animal - most of which prove more troublesome than they're worth. My favorite illustration was of the poem "Bunnies", showing rabbits dressed like soldiers plotting in their warren. A note of warning for parents with sensitive kids: the truth about why the pet shop, which also sells snakes, keeps so many mice may be hard news.

The whole book wraps with a perfect twist ending for this scientifically-minded girl. Shel Silverstein fans will appreciate the humor of the poetry. Wheeler has many other books of poetry for children, including Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children. The bright and bold illustrations are by Zachariah OHora, who has his own books, Stop Snoring, Bernard! and No Fits, Nilson!