The Perfect Pet

by Margie Palatini, Bruce Whatley (Illustrator)

Bird?
Bunny?
Turtle?
Fish? Elizabeth really, really wants a pet, but her parents say NO to all of her ideas. Instead, she ends up with a cactus called Carolyn. And after some very unsuccessful campaigning, to her wonderful surprise, Elizabeth encounters Doug -- surely the most unusual and special pet of all.

Even Carolyn agrees.

Margie Palatini and Bruce Whatley team up for a wacky picture book that handles a topic every parent and child will relate to -- choosing that just perfect pet.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Humor, Family, Writing

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute enough, but I dunno... I just can't relate. And something about the way the girl is drawn is off; she doesn't look like a child in most images.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS
Cute, humorous little take on the child-longing-for-a-pet story. Wasn't a huge fan of the illustration style though they do add to the humor.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth really wants a pet. Try as she might, she cannot persuade her parents to let her get a dog or a cat ...or bird, fish, turtle, etc. When she finds the perfect pet, will her parents let her keep it.

Cute story with cute illustrations and nice accompaniment to our unit on persuasive writing.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie rates this 4 stars. 1 star for the rest of us.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun story. I’m looking for persuasive stories to read to my class, and this one is mildly persuasive. It was funny that the girl in the story had a request all kids seem to have at one point. She wanted a pet. As usual, the parents weren’t too into the idea. In the end, she finally finds one that works for everyone. It’s perfect. Maybe it’s unconventional, but it’s perfect.

[Emma Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the girl is trying to convince her parents to get her a pet. I think it's something a lot of kids can relate to! This book is written in an engaging way with great pictures!

Lexile: 210L
Guided Reading: K
Trait: Organization

[Tori Jimenez · Rating 4 out of 5]

AR level: 2.2
Lexile: 490L

This book was silly and entertaining and showed that the perfect pet for one person isn't perfect for just anyone. Kids are able to relate to the story and laugh as the plot moves along.

Traits: Presentation

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth really, really wants a pet, but her parents do not. They have a reason why each pet suggestion would not be acceptable for their household. Elizabeth finds a bug in the house and decides it would be the perfect pet, and her parents reluctantly agree.

[Jessica Lewers]

This is a fun book that a lot of students can relate to because not a lot of kid's parents allow them to get pets. The story is about a kid who wants a pet and her parents say no, but she then finds an ant.
Age level: 4-8
Lexile level: 750L

[Hamza Mostafa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. The cat in the picture was very cute, and other animals too.
I laughed very much when she got an insect as a pet!
I laughed also when she hugged the cactus that she named Carolyn.

[Makenna Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

ATOS: 1.5
Guided Reading: K
6+1 Traits: Organization and Ideas

I really liked how this story was organized along with the unique take on the idea of pets.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

New (to me) mentor text for opinion writing.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprise ending! Not sure I’d read it aloud to my class.

[Norkett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "perfect" pet was not at all what we expected! The story was a bit goofy at times with all the questions the parents had but the young girl persisted.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute but the illustrations have a creepy 80/90's vibe

[Scott T.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute story :)

[Tristan · Rating 2 out of 5]

GORGEOUS expressive illustrations! But textually? A clunky picture book that is awkward to read aloud. Should've gone through another round of edits.

[Jazmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for theme and summary

[Mandy Robek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story about a child wanting a pet - full of opinions

[Joey Starr · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book the main character is a girl that just wants to have a pet. She asks her parents to get all different types of pets before finally finding the perfect pet. I gave this book 4 stars because it was an enjoyable book and kids can relate to it.
Guided reading: k
DRA Level: 18
Traits: ideas

[Ellista Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who wants a pet but her parents don't want her to. She makes do with a plant and finds a pet, will her parents let her keep it?
Trait: Idea, voice
ATOS: 2.2
Lex: AD490L
Trait: Voice

[Emily Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that highlights organizational writing. Good to read t0 3rd-5th graders.

Lexile: AD210L
ATOS Book Level: 1.5

Six + 1 Traits: Organization, Voice

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great addition to an author's purpose / persuasive writing unit. recommended for 2-4th

[Emma Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This girl’s journey to find the perfect pet is relatable to any child with a pet as well as those who don’t have a pet. The repetition and strong ideas in this book makes for a great story.

Voice
Ideas

LEXILE: AD490L
ATOS: 2.2

[Elizabeth Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Palatini, Margie. The Perfect Pet. Illus. Whatley, Bruce. United States: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. Print. Preschool-Grade 2. The Perfect Pet is about a little girl who is desperately wanting a pet and trying to convince her parents. When all else fails she decides to have a bug as a pet and not tell anyone. Over time the bug gets so big that her parents find out but they decide that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have him as a pet. The thing that stuck out the most for me in
this picture book was the style of Whatley’s illustrations. He uses animation but also ties in very realistic, life-like images. Also throughout the book the pictures are set at different viewpoints and angles, giving the story more perspective. When making this book a part of my class I think I would read it to the kids more for entertainment than make a lesson from it. Also I would read this story at the beginning of the school year to have the students discuss with me or one another what kind of pets they have. It would be a good, short get-to-know-you exercise.

[Chappyfamily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda cute

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perfect pet is a creative book that allows students to look at the situation book as if it was them. Elizabeth wants a pet, badly, although her parents do not. She has to go through convincing and listening to the parents about the cons of having a pet. This realistic fiction books make the children think about what they would do f they had to pick their perfect pet. I recommend this book as for something to base a small unit on. If you are creative you can dig deep and make across the curriculum mini unit out of this book. I would ask students what would be their perfect pet, we would graph the response from all of the students in the class. I could also have the students look up information of their per and write a convincing letter as to why they should get this pet (persuasive writing). Students can look up habitats, etc to bring a science aspect in. For this reason alone, I think this is a great book to introduce a mini lesson.

[Angie Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a good book to read when kids are asking for a pet. However, all I kept thinking was is the bug a bedbug? louse? cockroach? flea? ...... Sorry, I'm bad.

[Sarah Howlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trait: sentence fluency, conventions, and organization.
ATOS: 2.2
Lexile: 210L

This book was so whimsical and fun. I enjoyed the formatting of the book and it would be great for a read aloud. There is a lot of good dialogue and sentence fluency within this book. Might be a good jumping off point to start a lesson on making an argument and providing reasons.

[Catherine Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just had to find a book about pets as that's all I can think about lately. I'm so excited because my puppy just went outside by itself for the first time,hoorah! It's freezing outside! Anyway I digress, *coughs* I love the way the girl in the story interrupts her parents, the illustrations are brilliant and really capture the mood and essence of the need for a pet. Do you remember when you were little (of course you do) and you wanted something badly, you'd interrupt at any given point to beg your parents. This is a funny story in that the ending will surprise you. Enjoy.