TALKING TAILS

Amusing ink-and-watercolor illustrations from Slavin are integrated into the text of this entertaining look at the history of pet keeping. With information about keeping fish, birds, rodents, horses and ferrets, most of the space is dedicated to cats and dogs. There are several lengthy anecdotes about particular pets—for example, Jasper, a cat that was lost for a year, and Polly, a parrot taken north with the Klondike Gold Rush that survived until 1972. These tales present as fact information that can only be guessed at: e.g., Jasper’s experiences while no one cared for him. Unfortunately, there are no source notes, bibliography or recommendations for further reading. There is a timeline along the bottoms of the pages, but it is not to scale: Sometimes a thousand years will pass in an inch; at other times the inch represents just a couple of years. Although picture-book-sized, this effort is text-intensive, making it an unlikely selection for the younger readers and listeners who are most likely to be attracted by its presentation. Lively fun but useful for light reading only. (Nonfiction. 9-12)