Children's Corner: Children Make Terrible Pets

Review:  This one might escape the attention of children due to the fact that it's not as vivid as most children's books, but it's definitely worth seeking out.  Especially if you have a twisted sense of humor like my family.

Lucy the bear finds a little boy in the woods, brings him home, and begs mom to keep him.  Mom reluctantly agrees telling Lucy he will be her responsibility, but warning her that 'children make terrible pets'. While Lucy and the child have lots of fun playing together, she's definitely finding her mother's warning to be true.  She can't train him to use a litter box, or have a proper tea party, or stay out of the mud.  There's also, of course, a language barrier ~humans just make squeaking sounds.  In the end, Lucy learns that perhaps the child is better with it's family, but that doesn't stop her from setting her sights on an even more fantastic pet ~an elephant.

There are some great talking points "What kind of animals make good pets?", "Should we keep wild animals we find?", etc.  While my almost four year old may not be getting all the layers of subtext, it's a book that is amusing for both parent and child, and those are hard to come by.  Peter Brown has another Lucy book, You Will Be My Friend! and I think we will be checking it out soon...

Read an excerpt here.