Perfect Picture Book Friday-Me Want Pet

Posted on by Penny Parker Klostermann

I just received my copy of Me Want Pet! by Tammi Sauer. I won it in give-away on Elizabeth Stevens Omlor’s Banana Peelin’ Blog.

Me Want Pet!

Written by Tammi Sauer

Illustrated by Bob Shea

Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books March  2012

Ages 3-7

Themes: Pets, Humor

 
Me read.
Me love.
Me speechless.
Me kidding.
Me never speechless.
Me thank Elizabeth.
Me awed by Tammi.
Me recommend you read.
 
Synopsis: (from Barnes and Noble) Cave Boy wants a pet more than anything. Can he find one that the whole family will agree on? Cave Boy has lots of things. Rocks. Sticks. A club. But no pet! Cave Boy decides he must have a pet, but his parents object. He brings home animal after animal in hopes of overcoming his parents’ steadfast resistance, but his attempts are unsuccessful—until he finds a Dodo bird that is literally on the verge of extinction. And in a twist ending on a classic concept, Cave Boy and his family discover it’s worthwhile to have animal friends around. With snappy text that is short, fun, and young, Me Want Pet! makes for an ideal read-aloud for the milk-and-cookies set.
 
Opening Lines: “Cave Boy had lot of things. Rocks. Sticks. A club. But no pet. “Me sad,” said Cave Boy. “Want pet.” Cave Boy went to find one. He searched near and far until…a woolly mammoth! Cave Boy rode Woolly home.”
 
Resources: Since this book is just out, I didn’t find resources. But I have ideas.

Use brown lunch sacks and have students draw their cave-person self on the outside. Then do one of the activities below.

  • Have them draw 3 cave pets they would like to have and put them inside the bag. As they pull them out they can share about the pets they drew with parents, siblings, group, or classmates.
  • If you do this with a group of children, have them draw Woolly, Toothy, or Dodo and put it in their bag. As they reveal which pet they chose to draw, use tally marks to count how many children drew each of the pets. Then make up some word problems with the results. For example: If Cave Boy had 7 Woollies, 4 Toothies, and 9 Dodos, how many pets would that be? If they only allowed 5 pets per cave, how many caves would they need for all of the pets to have a home?
  • Alas, I have no lunch sacks to try this…but I found this activity HERE for a hibernating bear which could easily be used for a Me Want Pet! activity. It would be extra cute to glue Cave Boy and a pet or two on the cave and lay sticks and rocks inside and around the cave.

Have children do their own cave drawings on a piece of brown paper. If it is for a classroom of students, it would be cute to have them draw on a large piece of butcher paper with black crayon and create a host of pets they would like to have if they lived in a cave.

This would be a fun activity, also. Tara Lazar had a contest on her blog a while back. She asked that kids draw Cave Boy and a new pet. The contest is over, but HERE is a link to her original post with a couple of drawings on it…and then HERE is a link to the winning drawing and a few more.

Why I Like This Book: Well…the Cave Boy language! Me hooked. Me texting cave-talk since read book…me predict filter  into all areas  communication! You get the idea! If the language had that effect on me, think about the fun kids will have with it. The illustrations! They are so perfectly cavish that I wonder if Bob Shea lives in a cave. If not, how did he get it so right 🙂 And the most important reason I liked the book…the story. Tammi Sauer has nailed (or clubbed) it once again. She took the familiar theme of a child wanting a pet and told it in a fresh way that is humorous and endearing. I looked forward to each page turn. The text and pictures made me fall in love with each animal Cave Boy brought home in hopes that he could keep it for a pet. I was sad right along with him when his parents said, “No can stay.” I found myself rooting for him to find a pet that would meet his parent’s approval. In true Tammi Sauer style, Cave Boy solves his problem with an ending that had me saying, “Me love book! Me read again!”

Susanna Leonard Hill features Perfect Picture Book Friday on her blog. This is a wonderful resource if you are wondering what books to give as gifts, needing material for a lesson, and mainly just perfect for those who love to read picture books. Here is a list of books by category. This is very handy for finding books for lessons in the classroom, or for finding books on a particular topic to discuss with your children at home. Each book listed has a link to a review and information about that book. There is also an alphabetical list if you scroll down past the category list.

35 thoughts on “Perfect Picture Book Friday-Me Want Pet”

  2. What an awesome read aloud for my little ones at school! I really love your idea about using paper sacks and creating word problems. Cross-curricular activities are awesome!!! Thank you, Penny 🙂

    Like

  3. Me too! Me want this book – stat! Me like Bob Shea now. Me found out Bob Shea through Vivian’s PPBF, Dinosaur vs. The Library. Me think your choice is great! Me look in library. Me borrow if me find one!

    Yes, I simply must joined in the fun! Oh, and your activity sounds wonderful, not to mention eco-friendly. Thanks for sharing, Penny! 🙂

    Like

  4. What a cute book and fantastic review…. thankyou Penny loved the cave talk. Your suggested activities are great and reminded me of when at school I used to love making farm scenes on boards using rocks, moss, twigs etc… and putting my cut out animals in it. Can just imagine someone making a cave on cardboard by using twigs and molding with a little wet mud adding moss and sand for the ground with bits of stone and twigs dotted here and there and sticking their little cave men cut outs in… Love, love this kind of thing….lol. Yes I am still a kid at heart!

    Like

    1. Thanks, Patricia. I know there would be lots of possibilities for activities. I don’t know if teachers could stand it or not…but it may be funny to have the kids write 5 sentences in cave-talk. That would go against grammar rules, but would open up a discussion on grammatical correctness. I am a retired teacher and I think I would take it on if I was still in the classroom.

      Like

  9. I have seen this book everywhere lately! I am a fan of Tammi Sauer’s other books, so I am certain I will love this one too. Thanks for the great review, Penny!

    Like

    1. If you haven’t read her books, they are all worth a read (or two…or three). I haven’t read Bawk and Roll yet. It is the sequel to Chicken Dance, which I thought was so clever. I need to find it and read it.

      Like

    1. Thanks, for stopping by to read the review. I study Tammi’s books. She is so talented with her words. Her books should be used as examples for every writing course on picture books…in my opinion.

      Like

  14. I have wanted to read this book for awhile now. Going to buy the thing and then I’ll have it whenever I feel like reading it. (It’s always checked out!) Great review. 🙂

    Like

  18. Me laughing, I think you need me therapy lol. It does sound like an addictive book and I used to adore Captain Caveman so I’m sure to like it. My son actually uses me want etc all the time so he’d love it too.

    Like

Comments are closed.