A Lid for Every Pot! Who Wants Broccoli? by Val Jones

A HODGEPODGE OF PETS LIVE AT BEASLEY'S ANIMAL SHELTER.

And among the usual mix of homeless puppies, too-big bunnies, cats and kitties, cast-away parrots and overgrown turtles, there is Broccoli. Left as a pup in front of the shelter in a greengrocers' produce box, Broccoli has always lived in the shelter.

Mrs. Beasley loves all the animals, fluffing them and assuring them that they will all find their perfect "forever home" soon.

"THERE'S A LID FOR EVERY POT," SHE PROMISES CHEERILY.

But big, ebullient Broccoli is a hard pot to fit. He wants so badly to be chosen. But in his zeal to be noticed, he tosses his full water bowl up so that it lands on his head, wetting everyone and everything in range, chases his tail furiously, and barks--LOUDLY. Not surprisingly, nobody finds him the perfect adoptable pet.

But one day as he is looking longingly out the front display window in the shop, Broccoli notices a new boy moving in across the street. Oscar is playing with a ball, and he looks lonely, dreaming of a big, fun dog to play ball with in his big new yard, as lonely as Broccoli feels. He can't help himself...

BARK!  BARK! BARK!

Mr. Beasley mops up the spilled water dish spatters and grumbles, moving poor Broccoli into the storeroom to keep him quiet.

"THIS NOISY, MESSY POT WILL NEVER FIND A LID!" HE MUMBLES.

But Oscar hears that bark. And when his mom feels they are settled in, Oscar, ball in hand, leads her across the street to Beasley's Animal Shelter to look for a big, fun dog to play with. But Broccoli is nowhere in sight, and none of the bunnies, turtles, or hamsters look like the pet he wants. Sadly he shakes his head, and they prepare to leave, Oscar accidentally leaving his ball behind. Mr. Beasley absent-mindedly sticks it in the storeroom.

And Broccoli recognizes that ball.

THE BALL! THE BOY! WHAT COULD BROCCOLI DO?

BARK!

It's a made-in-heaven match, as Oscar hears that bark, the sound of a big, fun dog, in Val Jones' Who Wants Broccoli? (Harper, 2015) and boy, ball, and dog are brought together in a happy ending, in which Oscar joyfully plops his baseball cap--his lid--on the head of his new shaggy friend. Jones' story of true friends found is deftly paced to set up its joyful climax, and her characters are well defined, both in words and in her charming artwork, to make this boy-and-his-dog tale a sweetly satisfying one for young readers who have dreamed of finding the perfect pet. Val Jones' first picture book shows she has much promise as a rising author-illustrator.

Exotic Pet: Sparky! by Jenny Offill

"YOU CAN HAVE ANY PET YOU WANT, AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE WALKED OR BATHED OR FED."

Mom has always said no to her daughter's requests for a pet.

No bird. No bunny. No and no again to the trained seal.

But this girl doesn't give up. She cruises the library for ideas, and when the librarian offhandedly hands her the S volume of the encyclopedia, she finds the article on the Sloth. She reads that they sleep in their trees most of the time, eat the foliage, and only drink dew from the leaves.

Definitely a low-maintenance pet!

Her sloth arrives express mail.

MY MOM WAS NOT HAPPY.

BUT A PROMISE IS A PROMISE.

Apparently, low-maintenance in a pet also means low energy. The girl, however, has high hopes for her pet. He's pretty cute lying on his limb, but he sleeps for two days while she camps hopefully underneath his tree. Still, she is sure he can be fun to play with. With infinite optimism, she names her limp new pet Sparky.

But Sparky doesn't play games very well. In fact, he always lets her win--except at Statue. Sparky wins that one going away.

The girl's prissy classmate Mary Potts is not impressed. Her cat dances on its hind legs on cue, she points out. What can Sparky do? she asks.

Challenged, the girl counters that she is planning a Trained Sloth Extravaganza for the next weekend, with Sparky as the star, and invites Mary Potts and the neighbors to the show.

But sloth training requires a lot of patience, she learns.

HE TOOK SO LONG TO FETCH THAT I WENT INSIDE AND HAD DINNER WHILE I WAITED!

... BUT A PROMISE IS A PROMISE!

Mom gets into the swing of the thing and offers deck chairs and cookies and lemonade for the spectators, and the big day finally comes. Will Sparky rise to the occasion? Will he even wake up and move?

Jenny Offill's Sparky! (Schwartz and Wade, 2014) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at pet training that will resonate with kids whose pets don't quite live up to their original expectations. With wry, dead-pan delivery, her little pet owner gives it her all, and wisely seems to come down on the side of valuing Sparky's huge capacity for constant companionability despite his total lack of pet pizzazz.

Artist Chris Appelhans gets into the spirit of this quietly comic tale, limiting his palette to three colors in his understated but charming illustrations of Sparky, who manages to be quite cute while doing absolutely nothing at all until the final page, where he gives his devoted owner, who joins him on his branch, an approving smile. Definitely not a story for fast-break action fans, this picture book has a special appeal to kids who dig ironic, offbeat humor. Kirkus stars their review with this peppy endorsement: "A serene, funny addition to the new-pet genre'."

For more of Jenny Offill's off-beat humor, try her 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore (see review here) and 11 Experiments That Failed.

CHOO CHOO, Stay, I Say!! How to Train a Train by Jason Carter Eaton

"IT'S ONLY NATURAL THAT YOU'LL WANT TO TAKE HOME ALL THE TRAINS, BUT DON'T JUST GRAB THE FIRST ONE YOU SEE.

TAKE YOUR TIME AND CHOOSE THE ONE THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU."

Over the literary ages storybook kids have chosen some weird pets, all right--dragons, giant snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs. (You know those stories, right?) So it's not too much of a huff puff down the mental track to imagine that a train might be the ideal pet for certain kids. Trains come in all sizes and shapes--hoary old steam engines with cowcatchers up front or sleek, bullet-like monorails. But whatever they look like, they need to be watered, washed, and taught how to behave just like any pet. And for that you need a guide book! Enter Jason Carter Eaton's newest, How to Train a Train (Candlewick Press, 2013).

Eaton opens with some advice about approaching a potential pet train.

"IF YOU BROUGHT SOME COAL WITH YOU, NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO OFFER IT.

TRY SAYING, 'MY, WHAT A HANDSOME TRAIN YOU ARE!'

WELL DONE!  HERE IT COMES!!"

Eaton's helpful train training instructions continue, and in no time the pet train is rolling over, listening to sleepytime train stories, and letting the child ride him. Still, trains can be contrary and there are always silly "train tricks" to be gotten through in the process. But good train owners are empathetic with their charges.

"LEARN TO KNOW YOUR TRAIN.  HOW DOES IT FEEL ABOUT BRIDGES AND TUNNELS?" 

Eaton's text catches the slightly quaint retro tone of a child's guide to pet care as he puts his young would-be train owners through their paces, with much assistance from the detailed and dramatic artwork of notable illustrator John Rocco, whose sturdy and comic pictures give this wry fantasy substance and humor. Rocco shows his pet train tracking up the carpet with coal dust, an anxious engine getting a soothing warm bath at the water stop, and a sympathetic child pulling his nervous-Nellie steam engine over a trestle above an intimidating gorge. Combining the concept of trains and pets is a novel approach, and Rocco's many humorous touches throughout make this whimsical takeoff on pet ownership a trainload of fun that will be scheduling a lot of storytime return trips.