Teacher's Pets

by Dayle Ann Dodds, Marylin Hafner (Illustrator)

As a growing menagerie takes over Miss Fry's classroom, students of all species fall head-over-tails for their ever-patient teacher in Dayle Ann Dodds's funny story, illustrated with lively flair by Marylin Hafner.

Monday morning is sharing day in Miss Fry's class, and children may bring in a pet to share, "just for the day." Week after week, a new and wonderful pet comes to "visit" - a crowing rooster, a crawly tarantula, a cricket that does somersaults - but somehow ends up staying for a very long time. Soon a host of classroom critters are mingling happily among the students, and even the parents are pleased with what they see. "Isn't it great," they exclaim, "that Miss Fry loves pets so?" It's clear that the gentle Miss Fry is one teacher the kids and parents will never forget! But what will happen when the school year ends and it's time for all of her well-taught pets to say goodbye?

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Humor, School

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2006

About the author

Dayle Ann Dodds is the author of numerous picture books for children, including THE SHAPE OF THINGS, TEACHER'S PETS, THE GREAT DIVIDE: A MATHEMATICAL MARATHON, and MINNIE'S DINER: A MULTIPLYING MENU. A former elementary school teacher, she lives in Carmel Valley, California.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book about a teacher and her students bringing all kinds of pets to school for show and tell. The illustrations are full of details and color, and are awesome.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

The story is about every student in this teacher's class bringing their pet to school and then forgetting to take it home which I found to be odd. How do you forget your pet?? Regardless, over the next few days each student that brought a pet would ask the teacher if the pet could stay at the school for a few days for whatever reason. The teacher was always kind and let the pets stay. They ended up staying the whole school year it seemed like. Once the school year was over all the pets were taken back home except for one, a cricket. The cricket was gifted to her from one of the students (if I remember correctly) so the teacher took the cricket home and put it in her garden. Now she had a friend in the garden that would sing (chirp) to her when she goes to sleep.

Sweet book.

[Saravanadharsan Premkumar]

Monday morning is sharing day in Miss Fry's class, and children may bring in a pet to share, "just for the day." Week after week, a new and wonderful pet comes to "visit" - a crowing rooster, a crawly tarantula, a cricket that does somersaults - but somehow ends up staying for a very long time. Soon a host of classroom critters are mingling happily among the students, and even the parents are pleased with what they see. "Isn't it great," they exclaim, "that Miss Fry loves pets so?" It's clear that the gentle Miss Fry is one teacher the kids and parents will never forget! But what will happen when the school year ends and it's time for all of her well-taught pets to say goodbye

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book pops the question- can a teacher's pet be an actual pet? Miss Fry has a class that's bringing their pet dogs, pet cats, pet anything, even pet Boas to show and tell. There's even a pet tarantula named Mo, left by one kid with a note asking Miss Fry to adopt him since, says the note, "Miss Fry is the best." Very nicely done, but hardly character development....but then this is a kid's book so why bother with details?
Three stars
PET this on your reading list!

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this humorous, true-to-life glimpse into the trials of elementary teachers. Although the story focuses on an adult main character, it is completely kid-friendly. Classic illustrator with a slightly updated look. Fascinating detail yet appropriately simplistic. Energetic and colorful. Fun to read aloud with a slight refrain and a heart-warming ending. Oh, and dedicated to The Muse, TSH. Thanks, Marylin.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny book. Uses the concept of building a story and using repetition of the same phrases and ideas. Can be used to talk about responsibility or pets at home.

[مليون خاطر]

It is good

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute story and great pictures!

[Samantha Jorgens · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book, Teacher’s Pets, by Dayle Anne Dodds, Miss Fry allows students to bring anything special on Mondays, which is sharing day. One student decides that his something special is his pet rooster, so he brings him to school and accidentally leaves him there overnight. Soon all of the other students start bringing their pets and “accidentally” leaving them in Miss Fry’s classroom because the parents like it better. Miss Fry enjoys taking care of all of the pets until the last day of school, when she makes the children take all of their pets back home.
I think a notable theme in this book is the innocence of children. The children bring all kinds of animals, such as a goat, a snake, and a monkey, not thinking about if it is appropriate for a school setting. Even though this book is not realistic, as all of these animals couldn’t cohabitate in a small classroom, it illustrates that children can overlook the logistics of the situation and only focus on the bigger picture. I would give this book a 3 star rating because it is a cute idea for a children’s book and has nice illustrations, but I thought it was unrealistic how there were no problems with the animals all living together. There should have been some kind of obstacle that the children worked together to solve, which would have made the story even more interesting.
I remember in 4th grade my teacher told me that I could bring my rabbit to school, and I was so excited to share him with everybody. However, unlike this story, my rabbit only stayed for about 30 minutes. Furthermore, my mom had to be the one to bring him to the school, so she could also take him home. It was so fun showing off my pet to my friends, so I’m sure that is how the class felt when they got to bring their pets. I would recommend this book for a very young age group because of the simple language and story line. It is a pretty silly book, so I think it would fit well in a K-2nd grade classroom.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teacher invites her students to bring their pets in each Monday for sharing day, but by the end of the year, she has a classroom full of "forgotten" animals. As a growing menagerie takes over Miss Fry's classroom, students of all species fall head-over-tails for their ever-patient teacher in Dayle Ann Dodds's funny story, illustrated with lively flair by Marylin Hafner. Monday morning is sharing day in Miss Fry's class, and children may bring in a pet to share, "just for the day." Week after week, a new and wonderful pet comes to "visit" - a crowing rooster, a crawly tarantula, a cricket that does somersaults - but somehow ends up staying for a very long time. Soon a host of classroom critters are mingling happily among the students, and even the parents are pleased with what they see. "Isn't it great," they exclaim, "that Miss Fry loves pets so?" It's clear that the gentle Miss Fry is one teacher the kids and parents will never forget! But what will happen when the school year ends and it's time for all of her well-taught pets to say goodbye?

[Dorothy Carder · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing that I noticed about this book was its' font: it was the perfect size and was pleasing to the eye. The book was based upon the author's own second hand knowledge of a teacher's classroom filling-up with pets from her students bringing them in for show-and-tell and then leaving them in the classroom. It was, as the inside flap read, about a gentle and patient teacher, one that I hope to be. I think this would be a good reminder book for me to read when I do become a teacher to let some things go in the classroom, and instead to be caring and gentle to my students. I think it would also be a lighthearted book to read to a class and especially one for children to read that particularly love pets.

[Jennifer Danko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Rylant applies a simple moral to this great children’s book. Without making it obvious, she lets the children know that is better to face your fears than to walk away from them all together. The pictures are bright colorful. The hues of pink and use flowers everywhere make this book especially attractive for girls. The book is an easy read and great for children who are learning to read. There are only a few words on each page. This creates a less intimidating challenge for beginning readers.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story of a menagerie of pets that visits Miss Fry's classroom. They are too inconvenient at home, so Miss Fry allows her class to leave them in the classroom until the end of the school year. I don't like that it demonstrates parents not taking responsibility for their household pets, but it's a fun story anyway. The animal noises and sheer variety of animals are delightful and the illustrations are engaging.

[Vanessa Holzknecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like a lot of kids love animals and this book is great for kids. I love the idea of all these kids bringing all these different animals to their classroom and just leaving them with the teacher. It's so unlikely and funny. It's just a silly story and you can tell the kids all the different sounds of the animals too. I also liked how in the end the teacher ended up with the cricket as her own pet.

[Laura Pharis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think students would love this book. Their imaginations could run wild thinking about what really might happen if all those animals stayed in their classroom. What would they be doing at night when everyone in the school went home? If that was their classroom, what might they bring to show and tell? The possibilities are endless!

[Patrice Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Bella Cassese · Rating 5 out of 5]

cool