5 Pet Books for Young Readers

By Sara E. Hoffmann, School & Library Series Managing Editor

You know those kids who always have some kind of wild project going on? A lemonade stand. Starting a neighborhood newspaper. Building the Greatest Fort Ever.

Yep, that was me. And memories of being that kid were what inspired me to write Ana and the Pet Show. (After all, any project involving animals was usually a favorite of mine…and yes, I did once hold a neighborhood pet show in my own backyard.)

Ana and the Pet Show is a picture book that incorporates first-grade sight words (words that make up about one out of every three words that first graders encounter in classroom and library books). It also makes ample use of high-frequency words and includes an activity for kids to help them engage with the text.

But my favorite part of working on this book was writing the story itself. The simple text and pictures follow Ana and her neighborhood friends on First Street as they prepare for and carry out a pet show featuring their own beloved animal friends. As I was working on it, I had in mind all those animal-loving kids out there who—I hope—find much to identify with in the spunky, pet-loving kids of First Street.