Sunday, January 8, 2012

Hooks, Gwendolyn Pet costume party : a Pet Club story


Hooks, Gwendolyn     Pet costume party : a Pet Club story         
Stone Arch see Capstone      2011   32p     16.00  978-1-43422-513-9
 elem   Animal stories            Stone Arch Readers: Pet Club          VG      
Andy is planning a Halloween party for his friends in the Pet Club, but when he realizes
his pet fish Nibbles does not have a costume, he wonders how he can dress up a
fish.   Beginning readers will smile as they read this short fiction title
when they meet the characters of the Pet Club.  Pet Club members include Lucy
and Ajax, a rat, Jake and Buddy, a dog, Kayla and Daisey, a cat, and Andy and
Nibbles, a goldfish.  The club is having a Halloween party and Andy and Nibbles
are very excited.  Andy calls everyone from the Pet Club to invite them to the
costume party.  Andy begins to wonder what costume they should wear to the party. 
Andy searches for ideas and comes up with ideas such as lions and spiders, but
Nibbles was not happy with either choice.  When the other Pet Club members
present their costumes at the party, the other members see that Andy and Nibbles
decided to be sharks, making Nibbles very happy.  

The author uses vibrant color graphics to display the story, short sentences for
young readers to be able to comprehend easily, likable characters for young
students to identify with, and easy vocabulary for readers to build upon.  A
short list of story words at the end could help students learn spelling and
reinforce the meaning of the word learned.          Each title in this pet series
introduces students to various pets who help prepare children for life
situations since the stories stress positive character traits. 8 books are
published in this series at the time of this review.   Forba-Mayer, Charleen

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