Problem with Pets

• Problem with Pets by Asher Jones on GoodReads

Asher Jones won 3rd place in a grade school limerick contest, and Problem with Pets continues his rhyming trend. You need to read aloud to appreciate the surprising, imaginative, improbable rhymes from an unnamed middle school age (or younger?) blonde urban dude who quickly takes us through the many reasons too many pets never was a good idea to start out with. In real life maybe he only ever had one pet since that was what mom and dad advised, but rhyming through pet pictures and characteristics is a good way to enjoy words, make up rhymes, and not worry too much about the literary outcome.

I love the idea of starting the book with activity questions to do as you read or someone reads to you. So your parent or guardian, grandparent or sitter doesn't go too crazy trying to count accurately, you can find the answers at the end. Very cute, bright, appealing very urban illustrations, too. Problem with Pets is in all caps italic, "slanty writing," as a former coworker would have called it. It's easy enough and large enough to read, but sets a poor precedent for kids creating their own books and is a bit too in your face. Most likely I would have used a different, more readable typeface in sentence case throughout. All in all, an excellent addition to your kid's or your kids' library of short before bed books.

• My Amazon Review: Maybe One Pet is Plenty?