It’s giveaway time! Today, I am showcasing The Pet by Catherine Emmett and David Tazzyman, a hilarious cautionary tale for children (and adults!).
This laugh-out-loud story has all the makings of a classic picture book. It is perfectly set up in the opening two spreads. Meet Digby David, who DEMANDS his daddy buys him a pet. But not just any pet, it must be better than everyone else’s pet. David has masterfully captured Digby’s character in this opening spread. As a parent, I was in stitches right from the start as: Daddy’s hair turned slightly grey, “I’ll call the pet shop right away!”.
The second spread, is where Catherine and David have really got to work creating the perfect foundation for this cautionary tale. It’s our first trip (of many!) to the pet shop. The pet shop owner is immediately weary of Digby’s attitude and gives him a warning about looking after a guinea pig. But Digby’s daddy quickly steps in, offering to pay double to avoid a Digby-meltdown.
Hereon in, everything escalates through expertly crafted rhyming refrains. From Digby’s pet-demands to Daddy’s desperation to keep Digby from exploding. But that’s not the only escalation, the pet shop owner’s warnings do too. My daughter was getting more and more excited with each visit to the pet shop.
Usually we read books with happy endings, but what would become of demanding Digby? The Pet, after all, is a cautionary tale and perhaps one of these days Digby’s latest pet will be too much to handle! Who knows what could happen if you leave your pet gorilla alone for too long…
The Pet is a pure joy to read. Together, Catherine and David have created a character in Digby David that we loved and loathed in equal measure. We adored the escalating rhyming refrains throughout and the ending was simply perfect. We really hope to read more cautionary tales by this brilliant picture book duo!
Published by Macmillan Children’s Books, 13 May 2021
To win a copy of The Pet head over to Twitter or Instagram – good luck!
I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. This voluntary review contains my honest opinion.
Picture Book Perfect 
Sounds cute.. heading to Twitter.
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It’s great fun. Good luck in the giveaway!
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This is great isn’t it?! I think Digby might win my least likeable character ever award, he’s perfect! And such a fun ending!
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Haha absolutely! We should totally have an actual PB award for that 😂
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