A Pet for me Poems
By: Lee Bennett Hopkins

This book is a collection of poems about different pets from multiple authors. These poems range from being about kittens cuddling with you, a turtle eating lettuce, and even a tarantula sitting on its owner’s head. I liked this book because the poems all came from different poets and the illustrations that went with the poems were great.
These poems are collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins but they are each written by different poets. Some of these poets include Karla Kuskin, X. J. Kennedy, and Alice Shertle. I personally really liked the fact that this book was a collection of poems and not just from the same poet because it gave variation to what was being read in each poem. Every poet has their own style and way of writing and seeing this from page to page made me more intrigued. It allowed me to read poems of all different styles of rhyme, rhythm, cadence, and other stylistic techniques. I liked seeing the difference in writing each poet had.
The illustrations in this book were amazing. They went right along with each poem and were so colorful. If the poem was about a dog chasing his tail such as in “Puppy Olympics,” the illustrations depicted a puppy running around in circles trying to chase his tail. In another poem it talked about a pet iguana and the illustration showed an iguana just sitting on a kid’s lap. I loved the fact that the illustrations helped go along with the poem so if I didn’t grasp what the poet was trying to explain about the pet, I could just look at the pictures and get a better idea.
I think that the message of this book is how all animals can be pets and they all do different things to make them so loveable. Some people may have a snake as a pet, a goldfish, a dog, a cat, or even a turtle but all those owners love their animals for all the unique ways that make them a special pet. ( )

I would use this book in a kindergarten or first grade classroom to show them what it is like to have a pet and how they can choose a pet and all the pets there are to choose from.

I really enjoyed these poems about pets. The poems were light hearted and described the animal characteristics. The poems explain how and what they eat, act, and feel like. For example, in the “Just fur fun” poem about a gerbil, “I feed him bits of seed.” Another example is from “Pet Snake,” “All he does is hissss.” This poem explains how the snake does not have any fur, wet kisses, and snuggles. The illustrations of the book show soft and vibrant colors based upon the animal. The cat poems are cool and relaxed colors; The dog poems are bright and exciting colors. The animal is also illustrated on the page. These poems are very informative and able to compare and contrast animals and their characteristics. The main idea of this poem book is the fun in having a house hold pet. ( )

This book of pet poetry is An I Can Read Book which will attract many beginning readers. Lee Bennett Hopkins has included a variety of authors for readers to explore.There are a variety of different pets included such as tarantulas, iguanas and hedgehogs. ( )

This is a very good, silly book for beginning readers. There are 20 poems, but very easily able to stop at one and come back again later. ( )