Product Details
The House of a Million Pets

The House of a Million Pets
By Ann Hodgman

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Product Description

Ann Hodgman’s basement is home to three guinea pigs, a cage full of birds, a big gray rabbit, a prairie dog, a bulbul (look it up), two little rabbits, a hamster, and twenty-six pygmy mice. And that’s just the basement.Would your parents ever let you have that many pets at once?

If Ann Hodgman were your parents, she’d let you.

Here is the true story of what it’s like to live in her barnyard—er, house—with more animals than you’ll be able to keep track of.
 
Any kid (or adult) who has ever owned or wanted a pet will love these furry, feathered, slimy, and scaly stories.
 
The House of a Million Pets is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #704465 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-09-04
  • Released on: 2007-09-04
  • Original language: English
  • Dimensions: .85" h x 5.58" w x 7.76" l, .75 pounds
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 272 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Animal lover Hodgman ushers readers into her basement barnyard, home to finches and canaries, three guinea pigs, a large three-legged rabbit and two smaller bunnies (one of whom growls), a prairie dog, a hamster and 26 pygmy mice. Also in residence are two miniature dachshunds (one's breath smells like thousands of dead lobsters) and three cats. After introducing her menagerie, the author offers a hodgepodge of anecdotes about past and present pets, plus tips on caring for an assortment of animals. Some of the information shows a light touch: she lists the worst things my dogs have eaten (including a boxed, wrapped and hidden handmade Christmas ornament; underpants; and the head of a dead mouse), discusses names her pets have been given (relatives object to her daughter's naming a hamster Mary) and offers tongue-in-cheek directions for cutting a rabbit's nails in thirteen impossible steps. But only hardcore enthusiasts will be interested in the author's details of cleaning out her mice's cage and ailments of various pets and their treatments by the vet. Those who do share Hodgman's devotion to animals, however, will be swept up by her breezy style (Ducks do not belong inside a house. Most people probably know this already. But it took me six ducklings' worth of training before I learned it myself); for these readers, the book will be a ticket to, er, hog heaven. Ages 8-up. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Hodgman goes way beyond the standard pet story in this anecdotal memoir about her family and its myriad animal members. Owls, raccoons, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, sugar gliders, voles, and pygmy mice are among Hodgman's menagerie. The incredible variety and number of animals both draws and distances the reader; with so many different kinds of critters, it's hard to get to know any of them very well. Extended sidebars, with titles such as "The Worst Things My Dogs Have Eaten" and "How to Cut a Rabbit's Toenails in 13 Impossible Steps" are interesting and entertaining, though, and they showcase Hodgman's wry humor. The episodic nature of the text makes this a natural for reading aloud. Note, however, that many animal deaths occur, and Hodgman includes a very graphic, heartrending description of exactly what happens when you put a pet to sleep. Independent readers will enjoy Yelchin's realistic, expressive animal drawings, which appear throughout the pages. Carton, Debbie

About the Author

ANN HODGMAN is the author of many books for children, but this is the first one she has written about her own life and her own pets. She lives in Washington, Connecticut.

EUGENE YELCHIN studied art and theater design at the Leningrad Institute of Theater Arts. He lives in California.