Jeffrey, Laura S. Choosing A Cat.

Jeffrey, Laura S.  Choosing A Cat.  Enslow  2013  48p  $23.93     978-0-7660-4079-3  series: American Humane Pet Care Series.   elem    VG-BNes    

The American Humane Association presents a thorough and informative book for young readers that deals with the selection, housing, diet, handling, grooming, and health of new felines in a family.     Attractive, thorough and informative, this book presents everything that prospective pet owners will want to know about choosing and caring for a cat.  Beautiful full-color photos of a variety of felines complement the text.  The use of white space, colorful headings and photo captions all add to the overall appeal of the volume.  “Fast Fact” and “Pet Pointer” boxes spaced throughout the text provide additional information.  Supplemental features, such as the “life Cycle of a Cat,” a glossary, and bibliographical information, are useful additions.  An index completes the volume.  All in all, this is a very good addition to any pet-care section in an elementary library.    

This book is part of the American Humane Association Pet Care series.  There are six books in the series at this time.  The focus of the series is the selection, care and health needs of a variety of pets.  

Cats as pets                                                --Pat Naismith

Jeffrey, Laura S. Choosing a Dog: How to Choose and Care for a Dog.

Jeffrey, Laura S.   Choosing a Dog: How to Choose and Care for a Dog.   Enslow  2013  48p  $23.93  978-0-7660-4080-9  series: American Humane Pet Care Series elem    VG-BNes   

Elementary students who appreciate animal books will like this new title on choosing a dog.  Beautifully illustrated with color photographs, the book will give students a better understanding of what it takes to own a dog.  The author presents information in a well-written manner on a variety of topics, including the history of dogs, choosing the right dog, taking proper care of your new best friend, keeping your new dog healthy and happy, ways to prevent problems, and the life cycle of a dog.  Within each topic, students are provided fascinating “fast  facts”, interesting “pet pointers”, and color captioned pictures for students to visualize what kind of dog they would like to own. 

Students learn how the American Humane Association has been helping to protect children, pets, and farm animals from cruelty, abuse and neglect since 1877.  The author includes gorgeous color photographs, words to know, recommended books and Internet addresses, and an index.        

Each title in this series of six (as of this review) focuses on a different kind of pet.  Each one discusses the selection, housing, diet, handling, grooming, and health of the pet.  Animals include dogs, horses, birds, cats, fish, and small mammals like rabbits, hamsters, and gerbils.   

Dogs as pets                                    --Charleen Forba-Mayer