BookPeople Pets!

In case you’re keeping track of things BookPeople staff love, here’s one more to add to the list – our pets! Pets are great. They love unconditionally, trust us 100%, exhibit unique personalities, provide us endless entertainment & companionship, and are definitely part of the family.

Pets are also great for struggling, emerging, or reluctant readers. For children learning or struggling to read, pets are great listeners – they don’t judge, correct, or interrupt. They just sit, listen, and lend comforting support. If you have a pet free house, reading to a quiet or sleeping baby can also work. Alternatively, many animal shelters and organizations have some sort of reading program. Austin-area residents may want to look into the Book Buddies program at Austin Pets Alive! or the school & library reading therapy dog program offered by Austin Dog Alliance.

To go with the release of Dr. Seuss’s What Pet Should I Get? earlier this month, we put together a list of some of our favorite pet books.

Picture Books
Templeton Gets His Wish by Greg Pizzoli – cat
Octopuppy by Martin McKenna – octopus
What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss – all kinds!
Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina, illustrated by Angela Dominguez – parrot
Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown – kids!
Chowder by Peter Brown – dog
Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day – dog
I Am Cat by Jackie Morris – cats
There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Michael Field – lions
The Maine Coon’s Haiku: And Other Poems for Cat Lovers by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Lee Anthony White – cats
Sonya’s Chickens by Phoebe Wahl – chickens
Bark, George! by Jules Feiffer – dog
Sparky by Jenny Offill, illustrated by Chris Appelhans- sloth
Mister Bud Wears the Cone by Carter Goodrich – dog
Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christain Robinson – dog

First chapter, chapter, and nonfiction
The Story of Diva and Flea by Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi – cat & dog
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling – owls, rats, cats, dragons, and fantastical beasts
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder – dog
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell – dragon
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – dog
Pet Hotel: Calling All Pets! by Kate Finch – cats, dogs, and more
Sniffer Dogs: How Dogs (and their Noses) Save the World by Nancy F. Castaldo – dogs
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney – hamster
My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O’Hara, illustrated by Marek Jagucki – zombie goldfish
Dragonsitter by Josh Lacey – dragon
Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon – goldfish
How to Speak Dog/How to Speak Cat by National Geographic – dogs & cats
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech – dog
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls – dogs
Charlotte’s Web by E. B White – barnyard animals
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass – cat
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate – cat
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo – horse
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – dog
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly – dogs and other assorted animals

Teen
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson – horse
Life of Pi by Yann Martel – a sort-of pet tiger
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – dog
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – horse