Better Pets

by Leigh Bardugo, Liz Climo (Illustrator)

STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS meets THE BAKERY DRAGON in this laugh out loud picture book about finding the perfect pet, from #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo and internationally bestselling illustrator Liz Climo.

Myrtle has a turtle, Sam has a lamb, and Tony has a pony. But Yvette and Evan don’t have any pets . . . until the Better Pets emporium rolls into town featuring some spectacular possibilities!

The Handbag Hyena laughs at all your jokes, you’ll always be warm with the Knittin’ Kitten, and it will be impossible to have a bad day with the Chin-Up Chinchilla.

Which fabulous, fantastical pets will Yvette and Evan choose? The adoption fair next door may have a different kind of magic in store!

Bestsellers Leigh Bardugo and Liz Climo celebrate perfect pets everywhere in this rollicking tale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Pets, Storytime, Cats, Dogs, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2026

About the author

Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for her newsletter.

She would be delighted if you visited her at LeighBardugo.com and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.

Reviews

[Hannah Whitworth]

Faith went to the Leigh Bardugo event for this and I read it for sillies and laughed so hard I cried

[Kelly Gesker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bardugo and will read anything she writes. But this is her second children’s book and I don’t really understand why except all her beloved fans will buy them.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute. Perfect birthday gift for my little sassy niece

[Carina Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book was all kinds of adorable. It was full of gorgeous color illustrations that I so really loved. Cute pets are very much for me. I am giving it four stars, as I didn't fully love this one, as I wish there had been a little more, but oh, I really adored it even so. Written well too.

This short picture book tells the story of best friends Yvette and Evan. They live in a town where everyone owns a pet. But they do not. And they are not sure which ones to choose. They do not want to pick the wrong one. And then an adoption day for cats and dogs come.

But so does a store, named Better Pets. They visit that one. I so enjoyed the illustrations in this book. The pets were all looking so pretty and weird. This book was full of details. Which I loved looking at. The pets in this store were all different from regular pets. They could all do some magical things. Which was fun to read about and look at. I think that younger children will adore this picture book. There were also rhymes pretty much on all pages, which was cute. Yvette and Evan look at all these better pets, but they are unsure what to get.

This picture book is written by Leigh Bardugo, whom I must always read everything from. It is illustrated by Liz Climo, and she did such a wonderful job. The art was truly gorgeous. I loved the colors and all of the pets. Cats are my favorites, always. There is a white cat somewhere too, like mine, which I loved the most, haha. Better Pets was a short and cute picture book. Easy and fast to read. I only wish it had been longer, as I always do. Maybe a little more focus on the friendship too. But the rest of it was so adorable.

---

This review was first posted on my blog, Carina's Books, here: https://carinabooks.blogspot.com/2026...

[Carly Krewitsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really cute. I loved the illustrations and the rhyming. The illustrations are brightly colored. This book has a very simple premise: everyone has a pet expect Yvette and her best friend Evan. Myrtle has a turtle and Sam has a lamb, etc. Yvette and Evan want a better but don't know which one to choose. A man shows them various pets that he says are better than other pets. Yvette and Evan eventually choose the traditional pets; a dog for Yvette and cats for Evan (Evan gets six cats!) This book was very short. There were a lot of unusual pets including pets that could talk! I especially loved all the pictures of dogs and cats.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordered it to the bookstore, doesn't have a SOS date, read it right when it came in.

Amusing, delightful, and even whimsical, though a tad long!

Maybe it's like 4 to 4.5 stars. I liked it a lot, not knowing what to expect, but wasn't head over heels in love with it. I think it begs successive reads. To that end, I can see it being read many times over, and adults can find new things in it, and kids not tire of it.

[Jack Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did a double take when I saw the author of this book.

This is such a fun story. I love all of the word play with the different "Better Pets" and the illustrations are so much fun. I can see this being a fun book for pet related story times and for anyone trying to pick their best pet. Definitely one that you have to go through multiple times to see all of the fun details in the art.

Thanks so much for the fun package of goodies Macmillan and Roaring Brook Press!

[Joan Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to a book con and attended a panel with the author and illustrator who discussed creativity and collaboration and their own pets. Liz Climo's illustrations are beautiful, colorful and silly. Leigh Bardugo's story is clever, sweet and "punny". I highly recommend to young and old and the pets we all love.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

We had so much fun looking at all the illustrations of the different pets in the story, although our favorite was the Wizard Lizard.
The book is funny and it makes you appreciate the normal things in life, although having a Wizard Lizard would be fun.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly book about better than your average pets. Many of them can do fun, silly things like back you up in an argument, or poop in the pockets of your enemy. The kids decide to just go with the average pets in the end b/c all pets have special things about them. A fun bedtime story.

[Venkatesan Snl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice Book

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just got this in the mail and my son absolutely adores this book! Might even be one of his favorites!! It was a cute read.

[AmandaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun silly read for my 3year olds. They enjoyed the better pets and all the antics they can do. I especially liked the art, the style was perfect for this silly story.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny love letter to pets everywhere!

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best children's books I've read in a long time and I'm obsessed. So funny!

[Alisa Bidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute little story with the message of adopt don't shop ❤️ Read it with my former shelter puppy laying on my legs 🤗

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justice for Evan's rhymes.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cutest read ever, leigh’s quirky humor and imagination pairs quite unexpectedly yet perfectly with liz’s adorable art style

[Gabrielle]

stacking my read book list. i WILL reach this goal

[Becky Segato · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute kids book about how to pick a pet out. Funny, entertaining and whimsical.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute and clever. A perfect picture book for kids that love animals and silly stories.

[layla · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an absolute delight, Leigh's narration was so fun, get it for the kiddos in your life or like, other whimsical adults

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pictures are cute and how can you go wrong with pets.

[Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly book about all kinds of pets. In the end a sweet moral of about getting what is right for you, and it might not be the fanciest or expensive.

[Shireen Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her friend's name should have been Brett the it would be Yvette and Brett don't have pets.
And Evan should have gotten seven pets.

[Kelly]

I don't know who came up with this description - STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS meets THE BAKERY DRAGON - but no.

I liked the story ok but was kind of put off by the illustrations.

[Mama Bearian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute. Lots of puns. Not sure my kids understood them all though.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute

[caitlyn :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so cute!

[Dhruv · Rating 5 out of 5]

A flamboyant vendor rolls the "Better Pets" emporium into town, offering bizarre, magical, and hyper-useful creatures.