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Published: 1 May 2018
Publisher: Dial Books
Category: Childrens/Picture Books
Plum wants a pet. Plum’s dad wants NO pets.
But Plum never takes no for an answer. So she gets the only pet she can: a pet dad. He loves playtime, tummy rubs, and scratches behind the ears.
But he won’t sit or fetch or chase. How will Plum train her perfect pet?
Hilariously relatable and with ultra-cute art, Pet Dad is perfect for kids who love or want pets–or who already have the perfect parents to make up for it.
Rating: 4 Stars
Plum is a young girl who wants a pet more than anything, a feeling that’s surely relatable to a lot of readers. However, her dad does NOT want a pet. What’s she to do? Use her dad as a stand-in!
The following story uses a series of beautiful illustrations to tell the story of how Plum plays with her dad as she would a pet. It’s not quite right, though, because her dad is not a pet. Plum has to learn what’s the right way to treat her dad and what’s better left to animals.
Plum’s clearly a young girl, so her ideas of how to play with a pet are sort of accurate but with some comical twists. The lessons she learns wrap up quickly in the last few pages and are somewhat skewed, but the feeling behind them is the important thing.
I liked the color palette used throughout the book. Not only were the illustrations attractive for both parent and child who are reading Pet Dad, but the flow of colors between Plum & her dad and the other characters (children, adults, ans their pets) was harmonious.
Another aspect I liked was the family dynamic. Plum and her father don’t look much alike. Plum’s mum appears in one picture in shadow, so it’s hard to say if there’s resemblance there other than their hair. I think that Plum is a biracial child, which was a good choice because not only does it benefit kids who look like Plum, but shows other children that there are kids who look different than them but play in similar ways.
Pet Dad is a sweet, nicely written story accompanied by an attractive art style that’s a good story for anytime but especially with Father’s Day coming up.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The Hermit Librarian 