Realistic Contemporary Fiction

 Prudence Wants A Pet  by: Cathleen Daly

Summary:

There's a little girl named Prudence who wants a pet, but her parents won't let her have one. Prudence starts using other things as her pets, twigs, her brother, a tire, etc. Each "pet" she gets, she either loses, does not properly care for, or she finds it a new home. Eventually her parents surprise her on her Birthday with a special gift... a cat, and she takes great care of him.

Evaluation:

This is a realistic contemporary fiction story, as it depicts a child in a situation that many children are able to relate to. More specifically, it's an "animal story"as it's about a little girl who wants a pet. Many children want a pet at some point but are not always allowed to have one. The setting is in a real setting; school, home, the park, etc. 

The illustrations are outline style. They use a mixture of color and line art throughout the story. The illustrations lack a back ground and focus on the main character and her pets.

Activities:

A fun activity for young children would be to have them find an item at home and treat it as if it were their own pet. They could give it a name, walk it, feed and water it, etc.. This will help them to use their imagination and create a story of their own. 

Older children could write or tell their own short story about either a real pet or make believe pet of their own.

Have you ever had an imaginary pet? If so, how far did your imagination go with the scenario?

Personal Thoughts:

I thought this was a cute book. I'm sure many children can relate to this situation, I know when I was a child I wanted a dog so bad and my parents kept saying no, but eventually got me one for Christmas. After I got the dog, I realized why they were so reluctant. Pets can be a lot of work. 

Reference:

Stanley, G., & Henderson, M. (2005). Crazy Horse Young War Chief. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacje.