| First off, the book had a funny picture on the cover, and it made me want to look inside. The topic was also interesting; it was about the relationship between humans and their pets. It’s an intriguing subject to read about, especially how animals were first domesticated.
One of the things I liked best was the timeline. It was amusing to read and provided many interesting facts about pets. For example, in 1233 the Pope declared that cats were the Devil’s creations and ordered them to be removed from Rome. The book also had wonderful illustrations. I also learned a few things. For example, I learned that medieval Chinese owned and cared for a lot of fish.
Something I noticed, however, was a bit hypocritical. At the beginning of the book there was an illustration and text about people buying pets, including dogs, in a pet store. But later in the book the authors write that it’s best to buy your dogs from a breeder.
I enjoyed reading the book, although the writing was a bit below my level of reading, and it was a very quick read. I recommend this book for about a grade 3 (age 8) level.
The book would have been better if it had focused more on other pets like rabbits, fish, and reptiles. I also wouldn’t include the “cat person” and “dog person” sections because it uses stereotypes to put people in categories.
This was a great book about a great subject, but there were pros and cons to it. Out of a score of 10, I would give Talking Tails a 7. In a word, this book is conventional.
(Originally
published in the September/October 2010 issue of YES Mag.)
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