The Cat's Tale

Pet Vet #1

by Darrel Odgers, Sally Odgers, Janine Dawson (Illustrator)

Trump's first job is a hard a cat —who Trump has come to call Cranky Pawsbecause of her nasty disposition — won'ttell them her name or what's happened toher. She's been brought to the clinic by ahelper who doesn't seem to be telling Dr.Jeanie the whole story. Can Trump helpher?

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, Animals

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Darrel Odgers was born in Tasmania. He has been married to Sally Odgers since 1979, and they have two adult children. Darrel and Sally Odgers have co-written several books, including the popular Jack Russell: Dog Detective series.

Reviews

[Matti Karjalainen]

Darrel ja Sally Odgersin "Nappi ratkaisee" (Sanoma Magazines, 2014) kertoo eläinklinikka Lemmikkilekurin palveluksessa olevasta eläinlääkäri Jaanasta ja hänen terrieristään Napista. Napista tulee klinikan E.A. eli eläinavustaja, jonka tehtävänä on auttaa klinikalle tuotuja eläimiä ymmärtämään mistä on kyse. Eräänä päivänä Jaanan avustaja Taavi tuo klinikalle kissan, joka käyttäytyy kummallisesti. Ja niin käyttäytyy myös Taavi. Mistä kummasta mahtaa olla kyse? Siinäpä on Napille selvitettävää.

Lähtökohtaisesti olin aika skeptinen kirjan suhteen, mutta sehän osoittautuikin vallan sympaattiseksi lastenkirjaksi. Helppolukuinen ja mukavasti kuvitettu kirja sopinee parhaiten kakkos-kolmosluokkalaisille, jotka ovat kiinnostuneita eläimistä (eli aika isolle osalle ikäluokasta, veikkaan). Kirjaa täydentävät vielä lyhyet tietoiskut, joissa selvitetään vieraita termejä sekä kerrotaan eläinlääkärin työstä.

"Nappi ratkaisee" menee heittämällä pienimpien vinkkauskoriin, jos sitä nyt ylipäätään tarvitsee erityisemmin vinkata.

[Christina]

Read to my kids in the car in one day. Six year old review: I liked the story because of the animals and characters. I liked that some of the characters were animals. My favorite characters in this story were the cat
and the dog. The best part was learning about the veterinarian and how she takes care of the animals.

[Crissy P]

Picked up and finished this masterpiece in one sitting. A nice 15 minute read about a doctor dog that helps animals at his owners vet office. Reminded me a lot of WishBone on PBS!
(Honestly I do love that they included all the vocabulary and descriptions on the same page. Adult novels should take note!)

[Laura Smith]

Read this to my daughter and it was really cute! She loved the dog’s perspective and how the animals interact. Looking forward to book 2!

[Christine Rains]

Trump the terrier works with Dr. Jeanie at the Pet Vet clinic. It's her job to help sick and hurt animals.

I'm reading this series with my son, and it's super cute. Trump is adorable and lovable. Not only is it fun with a lesson to be learned, it also expands the vocabulary for a child who loves animals. There are neat little sections of definitions, and Trump has her own diagnosis with wise words at the end of each chapter.

[Stephanie]

This is the first book in the Pet Vet series. I bought the series to donate to a toy drive and wanted to first read the books. The story was cute and fun! I enjoyed the unexpected humor and the interactions between animals and animals and humans. And I am learning some new things about animal behavior. These will be a good series for a young reader.

[Kat O'Brian]

I wish there was more description of how Trump got the job as ALO and how he learned everything. It was all briefly summed up in the first chapter and then it seems like a large gap of time is between chapter 1 and 2 which I don’t think kids would even catch on.

Other than that, my kid still talks about cranky paws when we see crazy cats so this book is a memorable one.

[Becky Filipek]

Cute story for kids. Very short. We finished it in about an hour, though we read it over two evenings. My kids really enjoyed it, and my 10 year old breezed through all six in the series in one afternoon. My 8 and 6 year olds will enjoy reading these again on their own.

[Jacob Williams]

Not rating because the book was written for a child, my little sister gave it a 3 but she is a harsh critc. Also if you have any real younglings and thinking about reading this one to them. Look it up first. Very sad, and can be triggering/teach bad behavior.

[June Collins]

(From 7-year-old): this was the first book series I ever read (I got it for her when she was 6; she’s outgrown it now but still reads it). I read it so many times over and over because I love the animals in it.

[Ciera Legue]

I love it and really should have read this book first before reading the second one i own. Oops one small critique is i want to know more about the higgins cat but this story is still absolutely wonderful

[BunnyWolf]

I went through that book really quickly (that's not a bad thing). This book is really good for beginner readers.

[Jess | dapper.reads]

I actually enjoyed that this book uses bigger words but includes definitions for them. This will help tremendously with schooling!

[Anna Davidson]

A lovely lower primary story with themes of teamwork, animal welfare and a dash of mystery. Young animal lovers will really enjoy this series.

[JS]

I've never heard a dog mew. Can Trump really do the? :D

[Carina Martin]

I think five stars because Thomasina was a little bit better and she was so cute 🥰 and she was very nice to Olivia the Vet’s friend. I liked that the ALO is a dog.

[Kendra]

Kaitlynn and I have been reading this series as a bed time story with a chapter or two each night, we both enjoyed the story. I recommend this for the early reader! A really cute series.

[Whitney]

I liked all the added informational elements to this book.

[Anu-vinkkari]

Herttainen eläinkirja aloitteleville lukijoille. Nappi on nuoren eläinlääkärin lemmikkikoira joka saa tehtäväkseen ryhtyä emäntänsä eläinavustajaksi. Hommaan sen kouluttaa entisen eläinlääkärin papukaija ja kulmilla kuljeskeleva kulkukissa. Homma vaatii tietysti nokkeluutta kärsivällisyyttä ja kielitaitoa, kun Eläilääkäri antaa ohjeet potilaan omistajalle, Nappi tulkkaa ne potilaalle. Nappi myös auttaa itsenäisesti ympäristönsä eläimiä terveysongelmissa. Sarjan ensimmäisessä osassa ongelmapotilas on pahasti loukkaantunut ihmisiä vihaavaa Kärtty-kissaa, joka pitäisi saada toipumaan ja luottamaan sitä hoivaaviin ihmisiin.
Tekstin sekaan on ripoteltu laatikoita joissa selitetään lääketieteen termejä tai vieraita sanontoja kuten "anestesia" tai "täysi laidallinen". Laatikoista löytyy myös tietoa eläinten hoidosta. Hivenen selkokielinen kirja siis, mutta kelpaa varmasti lukemista harjoitteleville tytöille ja pojille. Bonuksena kauniit kannet ja kiva kuvitus. Epäilenpä että eläinlääkärin ammatti saattaa parantaa asemiaan eka-tokaluokkalaisten ystäväkirjoissa jos (ja toivottavasti KUN) sarjaa käännetään vielä lisää.

Tokaluokkaa aloitteleva testilukija luki kirjan vilauksessa tykkäsi kovasti. Siitä yksi tähti lisää.

[Amanda]

This is a great book for elementary aged students who love pets. It is the first book in the pet vet series. You are introduced to the narrator, Trump, a dog who is the animal liaison officer. He can communicate with all the pets and is the go between between the vet and the animals. In this book, the pet he works with is a cat called "cranky paws" and we get to learn this cats story about why he is so cranky all the time. Something I love about this book is that while it is a fiction story, it connects non-fiction in it with the vet terminology. In the book, these words that aren't common for kids are highlighted and explained in easy to understand kid language. Overall great read!

[Mindy]

My daughter and I started reading these Pet Vet books and are enjoying the series! We get to read about animals, which my children LOVE, plus we learn different things about the animals. For instance, did you know that a Tortoiseshell cat is a mixture of brown, black and orange hairs and that they are almost always female? I thought that was pretty interesting. There are also several side notes in the book that help explain certain words that the child might not know! Like what an anesthetic and an antiseptic is! Overall a very quick read and fun book to read with my children!

[Connie]

Cranky Paws is a perfect novel to introduce young children to the life and work of a veterinarian. Cranky Paws has been brought to the vet with a broken leg and several other injuries. No one seems to know how this happened. We meet Trump, a dog who calls himself the Animal Liaison Officer at the clinic. He helps the sick animals at the clinic and helps them to understand their treatment. A cute little story with simple meanings to big and difficult words to help young children understand what happens at a vet’s office.

[Betsy]

This series will definitely fill a need for some young animal lovers I know. The story is "cute"--not remarkable, but terrible, either. I like the resolution at the end and the emphasis on taking care of those in need, be they person or animal. I remember devouring books like this when I was in early elementary school (partly because I, like every other friend of mine, was convinced I was going to be a vet when I grew up...).

[Micah]

I liked Cranky Paws even though I'm allergic to cats. Trump helps lots of animals and he also is a pet of Dr. Jeanie, who helps animals too. When they found Cranky Paws' owner, she didn't even hiss, but she purred.

I liked the last part of this book because something good happened and something good was said, but I don't want to give it away.

[Reviewed by a 7 year old, typed by his Mama]

[Martha Growdon]

This is a really cute book for young readers who enjoy animals as the main characters. It would be an excellent book for kids who are interested in being veterinarians, too! There are little snippets of relevant information and technical word definitions throughout that make the book informative in addition to being a good story. It has pictures mixed in with the text and is a great book for elementary level reading.

[Rochelle]

This book was pretty cute, and seems like a nice series to read. I enjoyed how there was side notes to help explain tough words to the readers, as well as giving animal facts. This would be a great series for kids to read if they own pets, or are thinking of adopting a pet. The mystery of what happened to Cranky Paws is also quite intriguing throughout the story!

[Angela Barakat]

I read this with my daughter.

[Julie]

This is a great book to teach you to have a greatful heart, and to get what you want,
you have to behave!

[Riverina Regional Library]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now

[Josie]

This book made a lot more sense than the last one I read by these authors. This one at least had a coherent story, but I still think there are better books available for this level of reader.