Guinea Pig in the Garage

Animal Ark [GB Order] #20

by Ben M. Baglio (Creator), Jenny Gregory (Illustrator), Shelagh McNicholas (Illustrator)

Mandy Hope asks Rachael Farmer to take care of their neighbor's guinea pigs so that her parents will realize that Rachel is responsible enough to have a pet of her own, only to have one of the baby guinea pigs disappear.

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 1997

About the author

Ben M. Baglio created the brief for two series of children's books - Dolphin Diaries and Animal Ark. Dolphin Diaries features a girl and her family from Florida, who travel around the world as marine biologists and study dolphins. Animal Ark features two children who work together to help animals and solve animal-related mysteries. The books were written by commissioned writers in the UK under Baglio's instruction using the pseudonym Lucy Daniels. Each ghostwriter is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page.

Using his real name he also wrote the book series The Pet Finders Club, featuring a group of three children who search for peoples lost pets.

Reviews

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how there is lots of unobtrusive animal information, and how Dr Emily explains exactly what and why she is doing to James's Blackie when he gets hurt. This is a great series for young readers who like animals and it also shiws politeness, kidness and respect without being preachy about that

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the American Scholastic edition. In the UK, where this was originally published, it was by Hodder under the title of "Guinea-Pig In the Garage." Yes, that hyphen is important. If I was rich, I'd only have the UK editions of this series. It is just baffling, and almost embarrassing, to read Americanisms in a book set in 1996 England. The money is referred to here as "dollars." In England, the money is "pounds." Different countries have different currencies. It's not that hard of a concept.

The real author of this book is Linda Kempton, who wrote many books in the Animal Ark Universe. If you ever want to know who the real author of an Animal Ark book is, just look at the copyright page or the dedication page. Someone will be given "special thanks." The person receiving that thanks is the real author. I have no idea why children's book publishers play these stupid games. Just print the goddamn real author's name on the cover, already.

Goodreads lists two illustrators for this book, but there was only one -- Shelagh McNichols. She did the first thirty or so books in the series. She did people and vehicles much better than animals, sadly. She does a pretty decent drawing of my favorite character Blackie in this book, though. There's a drawing of Blackie and Mandy merrily going down a snow-covered hill in a sled.

This was a decent book, and made a great alternative to the more heavy stuff I'd been reading. However, I did get pretty anxious with this one. Just because it's an Animal Ark book, doesn't mean that a happy ending is guaranteed. Sometimes, heavy shit goes down in these books.

The book does suffer from too many plots going on. Animal Ark books usually have A and B plots, but there was also a third plot about dealing with a harsh winter. Believe it or not, Yorkshire had bad winters in the 1990s (and sometimes still does.) This is not a book that sticks with guinea pigs.

It was common for guinea pigs and rabbits to be kept in hutches in the UK at this time. The view has changed a bit. Personally, I hate hutches. So, caveat while reading this -- don't keep pets outdoors or on porches in hutches.

This is also not a good book to start with in this series. You need to read at least the first two books and Owl In the Office to get a feel for the series and the back stories.

This was one of the few books in the series that mentioned Mandy being adopted, and briefly mentions Mandy's rabbits.

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 4 out of 5]

(LL)
This was great book, as it deals with the very real issue of a child loving animals but not knowing the proper way to care for them, as well as them making mistakes with the animal without realizing they are putting the animal in danger. Animals are a big responsibility, and this books does a great job tackling that.

As an aside: when Blackie, James’ Labrador, got injured and was yelping...I was crying. No shame.

[Shahrun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a bit too old for this one. It was a harmless enough albeit predictable tale. It was full of advice on animal care - except for now you shouldn’t keep Guinea pigs on their own - which is good for animal enthusiastic children. There was also a bit of excitement and drama. The cover bugged me, The guinea pig on front looks like a hamster and the blurb on back isn’t accurate.

[Laceigh Morton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ion

[Beatriz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for kids

[Noelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animal-loving child loves Animal Ark stories, especially this cute tale about Guinea pigs, which is her current obsession.

[Carissa Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me some memories of reading this during my childhood. Will keep this book forever. Good read for young children interested in animals.

[Macaylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

reading through my shelves 🤣

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might have been my favorite Animal Ark book yet! My kids chose this one because of the guinea pigs of course. But I liked how the girl in the story, Rachel, didn't know anything about animals and kept messing everything up. But at the same time she had to confront what she did and either apologize or correct her actions. We need more books for kids where it's ok to make mistakes but to show them following through and doing the right thing. Also because Mandy and James are supporting her and still being friends and helping her. Lovely book!

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite part was when the guinea pig named hero was kept by Rachel. The worst part was when Rachel lost Hero. My favourite character was Rachel because she looked after the guinea pigs so well. there was no worst character because the worst part was created by my favourite character. I learned that most guinea pigs need lot's of attention if they start to get used to it. Auryn 11 years old, 2015

[Urvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only this book, but the whole series was the best I have ever read. Lucy is a great author, as good as Enid Blyton. She has a lot of imagination and her books make me feel like I'm in the book, that I'm in the bushes, watching Mandy and her best friend James help animals with unhappy homes, heal animal's wounds, etc. I feel Mandy's real lucky to have vets as parents. Though I feel bad for her because her parents died in a car accident.

[M'Kenzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh my goodness! this book was great! only one problem... it made me cry because i don't have a guinea pig!

[Katerina Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very scary

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandy helps Rachel Farmer find a missing Guinea Pig.

[Rea]

I really enjoyed this whole series as a child. Back then I'd devour each of the books as soon as I could get my hands on them.

[Taylor Troncin]

Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!

[Kelsey Ruggirello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for younger grades since the vocabulary is easy to read. It's about a girl named Mandy that's suppose to watch the neighbors guinea pigs and one gets lost.

[Katy W · Rating 2 out of 5]

For 8-12 year old animal lovers.