This was strange. The illustrations and story are not as magical as Van Allsburg's other works. The subject matter is sobering (a hamster passes through the hands of several children who neglect him/mistreat him/leave him out in the snow). While the hamster does find a happy ending, most hamsters in real life do not. This would be a good book to share with children who want to get a small pet - a lesson in responsibility.

There are a couple reasons why I like this book. This book was very fun and interesting to read. When you see the front cover of this book, you automatically think it will be about a story of a hamster and maybe his adventures. But when you read the book, it is technically about a hamster, but the story isn’t as you thought it would be. The writing of the book was very engaging and paced well because in each scenario that the hamster was in, you actual understood and felt as if you were there. You actually feel bad for the hamster and how he was treated. I think the book pushes readers to think about their pets more and to take better care of them. That was the message I got because the poor hamster goes to so many houses and has so many owners who later do not want him and eventually forget about him. I like how you see the hamsters point of view or in this case a pet’s point of view because you never really know what pets think of their owners or where they are because they don’t talk. Something else I love about this book is the illustrations. The colors were very soft and the illustrator made sure to not have a picture fill up the whole page. It was kind of like reading a comic book except you only had two pictures and then on one page you got a paragraph of the story. The main focus was the hamster so when there were humans who came in contact with the hamster, you didn’t really see their face because the illustrator really just focused on the hamster. ( )

The story of a pet store hamster being traded between several undesirable owners and eventually finding the home they desire, free of cages and human owners, wild and free with distant feral relatives.

Poor Sweetie Pie! ( )

I would not call this a feel good book. Or a happy book. It has an interesting ending. I do think though, this is a good concept to explore when your child wants a pet. A hermit crab, a hamster, a rat, a beta- they are all sometimes treated as starter pets. It's important to consider the responsibility and sometimes sad realties of pet ownership. This is a valuable if somewhat sad way to explore if a small animal like a rodent is a good choice for your family. Would I pick it for a random story time? No. Would I consider it as part of the preparation for bringing a pet home? Yes. Content concerns for the tenderhearted- animal over feeding and neglect.