Flubby is Not a Good Pet and Flubby Will Not Play with That by J. E. Morris

It's National Pet Day and I've partnered with Penguin Random House to talk about 5 children's books (I'll be doing this in three posts) with pets in them. The two Flubby books shown with my Isabel are about a lazy cat. Both are great for beginning readers, with simple, easy-to-read words that are somewhat repetitive for the sake of ease. Flubby looks a little like Isabel, doesn't he? There is a real-life Flubby, whose photo is inside the cover of the second book, Flubby Will Not Play with That.

Flubby is Not a Good Pet by J. E. Morris tells the story of Kami's pet cat. Flubby is a chunky cat who doesn't do the things his person, Kami, wants him to do. He doesn't sing like her friend's bird, catch like another friend's dog, jump like a frog, or even run inside when it rains.

But, when it thunders and both Flubby and human are frightened, they need each other.

Cat and other pet owners will totally get the theme that what really matters is the affection between pet and human. The simple words for early readers make Flubby is Not a Good Pet a great book either to read to a small child or for new readers to practice beginning reading skills, especially little animal lovers.

In Flubby Will Not Play with That by J. E. Morris, Flubby's human, Kami, brings him a bag full of toys that she's bought for him but Flubby is not the most energetic cat. He doesn't want to play with the bird or chase the wind-up mouse. He's not interested in the dangling fish and the big mechanical toy terrifies him.

Kami apologizes to Flubby when the bag is empty. There are no more toys for Flubby to try. But when Kami runs out of options and leaves the room, Flubby discovers the empty toy bag is very fun, diving into it head-first.

Another easy-to-read and adorable Flubby book, perfect for little cat lovers. The simple illustrations and Flubby's expressive face are cute without distracting from the text.

I loved both books and I confess I'm probably biased because I'm a cat lover. I've met cats like Flubby. Mine are both energetic and enjoy their toys but some cats are seriously picky and even the two I'm owned by aren't interested in the same things. Bags, of course, are always tempting (like boxes).

My thanks to Penguin Random House for the two Flubby books, which I hope to share with my grandchildren. My eldest granddaughter is definitely a pet lover (she and Fiona kitty became friends during a recent visit) and is already beginning to read at 4 years of age. I wish she was closer so we could read these books together, right away!!!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Amazing Animal Friendships by Pavla Hanackova and Linh Dao

I completely forgot to mention that I'm planning to make this a Children's Week in my Monday Malarkey post, yesterday. This is Post #1 for Children's Week. More to come!

Amazing Animal Friendships by Pavla Hanackova and Linh Dao is a book about animals and plants that have symbiotic/companion relationships, like clownfish and anemones (anemones protect clownfish; clownfish keep the anemones clean), aphids and ants (aphids share nectar with ants; ants protect the aphids), truffles/fungi and the root systems of trees, etc. It also mentions a few similar but harmful or parasitic relationships.

I love the clear, cheerful illustrations in Amazing Animal Friendships and found the information extremely interesting. It's meant for ages 5-9 and there are a few words that I thought children might not understand. Fortunately, there's a small glossary in the back of the book that explains some of those words (one of which I didn't know, myself).

My only complaint about the book is that it's a bit "busy". However, that's also handled well. I'm easily overwhelmed visually, as is one of my children, but in this case the descriptions have helpful arrows, so that it's clear which illustration goes with which description. And, it only took one page of reading before I understood the right way to read the book (top to bottom, left page then right -- similar books are often read across the page spread from left to right and then down, so that's important to know). One of my children loved books that keep your eyes moving, so the busy look won't be a concern for everyone.

American readers should be aware that there are a few British terms, like "ladybird" instead of "ladybug", but nothing that can't be easily looked up online if you're not already familiar with them.

Recommended - A fascinating read with lots of information I don't recall ever reading much about anywhere else (although I did know about companion plants from gardening). I especially recommend Amazing Animal Friendships for nature-loving children.

Side note: I read Amazing Animal Friendships just before we left for vacation in South Africa, so it was fresh in my mind when I saw a few of those relationships at work, most notably birds on the backs of large animals, as you see in the cover illustration.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.