Review by Booklist Review
It takes a special sort of kid to even entertain choosing a giant insect over, say, a puppy or a pony as a pet, and for those kids, this entry in the Far-Out and Unusual Pets series is just the thing to help them make their case before dubious parents. It first explains how hissing cockroaches are different from your garden-variety squashable kind and makes a fairly compelling argument for them as pets: they'll eat just about anything, and their freak-out potential for friends and siblings is through the roof. Other fascinating insights like how a cockroach can live without its head but will eventually starve after a few weeks might provide some temptation for experimentation but should still help advance the cause of hissing-cockroach ownership. Stock photos mostly show close-ups of the insects not doing a whole lot, but a few interspersed cartoon illustrations crank up the fun level. Some basic insect biology helps this book perform double duty as an entry-level science resource.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-This series offers detailed information on pets ranging from uncommon to truly exotic. Although the tone of the writing can be condescending ("Let's learn what you need to do."), a wealth of information is provided on caring for these creatures. Readers looking for details on history or life in the wild, however, will be largely disappointed. Long blocks of text are broken up by photographs and cartoons or sidebars, sometimes in awkward places. A sometimes-annotated list of websites includes general interest links specific to the pet, though some are personal sites or bad links. While these books are not ideal, they will do the trick for libraries requiring a larger variety of pet books. While books on animals could be successful with no more than adorable pictures, the addition of informative and engaging content results in titles essential to library collections. Gareth Stevens's "Working Dogs" and "Horsing Around" are exemplary. Power Kids Press's "Top Dogs" is a fair choice for libraries requiring material on the most popular canine breeds. Where cat breeds are concerned, Bearport's "Cat-ographies" has the best blend of appeal and information, and is a first choice for collections needing only one series on cats. If further resources are available, Lerner's "The Best Cats Ever" is great for browsing, and Capstone's "Edge Books: All About Cats" covers a wide variety of breeds, as well as breeding and registries. Enslow's "Far-Out and Unusual Pets" has some problems, as mentioned above, but might be useful for libraries needing more books on this subject. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This series touches on how to live with and care for oddball pets. The volumes are enhanced by many photographs and some humorous cartoon illustrations. The authors try hard to invigorate the texts with kid-friendly language ("A potbellied pig is a really cool pet"); it's sometimes a strain. "Far Out!" sidebars give more information. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Far-Out and Unusual Pets titles: Ferrets, Hairless Cats, Hermit Crabs, Hissing Cockroaches, Iguanas, and Potbellied Pigs.] (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
