Picture Book - Trees Make Perfect Pets by Paul Czajak

Illustrated by Cathy Gendron

2020 Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky

HC 17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.19 - 48 ratings

My rating:  4.5
Endpapers: mossy green

1^st line/s:  "Birthdays are the best days for wishes and on this birthday Abigail wished for a pet."

Dedications:  To Abigail:  Yes, We'll get a dogwood, but you have to name it. - PC
     To green thumbs everywhere - CG

My comments:  I love trees, so I quickly and happily pick up every new book I find that has something to do with them.  This one was adorable, both the premise, the setting, and the illustrations.  This particular tree did seem to grow particularly quickly, but it's a picture book, right?

Goodreads:  Abigail is determined to get the perfect pet.
          So she chooses Fido. He keeps her cool from the sun, stays where she tells him, and even gives her air to breathe. That's because Fido is a tree!
          But not everyone thinks having a tree as a pet is a good idea, though, especially when Fido starts to grow. Will Abigail be able to keep her perfect pet?

PICTURE BOOK - Lucy Loves Sherman by Catherine Bailey

Illustrated by Meg Walters

2017 Sky Pony Press

HC $16.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.96 - 26 ratings

My rating:  4 (I had to take away a point for the red lobster...)

Endpapers"  Cute and simple, 1-inch circles of paler blue on medium blue, with Lucy, Sherman, and her cat's head sticking out of three of the circles.

1^st line/s:  "Lucy loved Sherman from the moment they met."

My comments: Oh my goodness, what a cute story!  Clever and illustrated beautifully!  I do have a problem with it, though, and some people would say, "author's license," but it gives kids misinformation....lobsters are NOT red or orange until they're cooked.  98% of lobsters are a greenish brown until then.  But I still loved it....

Goodreads:  Girl meets lobster. Girl loves lobster. But can girl save lobster?
          That’s the question at the center of this sweet and sassy picture book about Lucy, her shell-y friend Sherman, and the seafood-loving town they inhabit.
          Lucy loves Sherman from the moment they meet at Flotsam’s Fish Market. Oh sure, he’s an eighteen-pound, eighty-year-old crustacean, but he’s also polka dotted. And blurble-y. And he smells like the ocean! Unfortunately, Nana is not hooked on the idea of a pet lobster.
          Things only get worse when Lucy meets Chef Pierre and discovers that Sherman’s fate is on a plate! She must rescue Sherman, even if it means getting into hot water with all the grownups. So Lucy takes action. But will the efforts of one little girl be enough to save Sherman from the bib and butter?
          As humorous as it is inspiring, Lucy Loves Sherman explores an unlikely, yet utterly charming friendship, and the challenge and thrill of finding your voice and being an activist.

MOVIE - Secret Life of Pets

PG (1:30)

Wide release 7-8-16

Viewed end of August, just before returning to Tucson for the last time, with Ella and Tristan

RT Critic:  74  Audience:  62
Critic's Consensus:  Fast-paced, funny, and blessed with a talented voice cast, The Secret Life of Pets offers a beautifully animated, cheerfully undemanding family-friendly diversion.

Cag:  3  Liked it

Directed by Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud

Universal Pictures

My comments:  Cute.  Didn't drive me too crazy. Both the kids enjoyed it.  Really not too bad.....

RT/ IMDb Summary:      For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio.