5 Picture Books About Pets (That Aren’t Cats or Dogs)

Memoirs of a Hamster, by Devin Scillian and Jim Bowers
Seymour is a typical hamster—he loves sunflower seeds, running on his exercise wheel, and rooting through the wood shavings in his cage. Except that Seymor keeps a journal. As the book opens, he writes, “My life is perfect.” He even tolerates the nose kisses of the little girl who owns him, because she always rewards him with a yogurt drop. But then the family cat begins to plant seeds of existential doubt into Seymour’s head about just how great his life actually is. “You run for miles every night, but you never leave that cage,” the cat observes. “What’s it all for?” His consciousness awakened, Seymour hatches a plot to escape his cage and visit the rumored Valhalla of the sunroom.

A Pet for Fly Guy, by Tedd Arnold
If your child wants to read about a pet that’s so alternative you can’t even find it for sale in pet stores, turn to the delightful Fly Guy books by Tedd Arnold. Fly Guy is the beloved pet of a boy whose name he’s even clever enough to say: Buzz. In A Pet for Fly Guy, Fly Guy realizes he doesn’t have a pet of his own and asks Buzz to get him one. They cycle through the possibilities, from a fly-swatting kitten to a fly-craving frog, until they hit upon the perfect solution.

A Fish Out of Water, by Helen Palmer
Helen Palmer’s 1961 classic is a cautionary tale about proper pet care. Dr. Seuss was Palmer’s husband, and with his permission, she created this easy reader book based on Seuss’s tale “Gustav, the Goldfish,” published in Redbook magazine in 1950. It begins with a boy who buys a fish named Otto from a pet store whose proprietor cautions him not to feed the fish too much, “Never more than a spot.” The boy thinks, heck, the fish looks hungry, and feeds him the whole can of food. The overfed fish outgrows his bowl, then a huge pot, then the bathtub, and keeps on growing from there. The absurdity and the energetic illustrations will entertain, and just might influence an aspiring young pet owner to heed pet-care instructions carefully.

A Boy and His Bunny, by Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy
This charming book begins, “One day a boy woke up with a bunny on his head.” He names his new pet Fred, and heads down to breakfast. They boy’s mom is skeptical about what her son can accomplish with a rabbit perched on his head, but he assures her, “You can do anything with a bunny on your head.” Then he demonstrates reading a book, speaking French, and deep sea diving, all with a bunny on his head.

I Love Guinea Pigs, by Dick King-Smith and Anita Jeram
You probably could guess that Dick King-Smith, the prolific author of Babe: The Gallant Pig and Pigs Might Fly loved pigs, but did you know he also loved guinea pigs? He declares his affection for this perennial starter pet that’s “so chunky and chubby and cuddly” and lists their many virtues. Kids, this might be a good book to give your mom or dad when you’re trying to convince them to say yes to your guinea pig request!