top of page

Meet The Pets: Presidential Animals from A to Z

  • Writer: Diana Kathryn
    Diana Kathryn
  • Sep 8
  • 2 min read

September 2025


Click The Cover To Order!
Click The Cover To Order!

I'm constantly on the lookout for new books to send to the little people in my life. While strolling the SterlingFest Book Fair this summer, I discovered something delightfully different. Meet The Pets is a fantastic rhyming book that tells it's story in four parts... and the story is narrated by a dog and cat journalist team. I've always been drawn to stories and poetry with animals as a theme, and this book, written by Cathy Collison and Janis Campbell, and Illustrated by Wendy Popko, presses all my happy buttons with the combination of wonderful words and amazing artwork!


POETRY: The first part of the book is a delightful poem that shares on every page, a quick description of a pet owned by our American Presidents. Each animal is represented by a letter in the Alphabet, and the poetry is catchy and fun to read aloud. I was surprised to learn that both President Carter's daughter, Amy, and President Regan were both presented elephants as gifts from Sri Lanka. Of course, they'd never actually hang out on the front lawn of the White House, because they need more space and specialized care, but it was fun to imagine elephants turning up in the rose garden for press conferences.


HISTORY: The second part of of this well-crafted book are smaller, off-set paragraphs that expand on the history of the President, their pet, and a neat little historical factoid. The one that I found most interesting was that there were only two animals either adopted or rescued from shelters, out of all those animals over the years, and there were only two presidents (so far) who didn't have pets at all.


MORE FACTS: The third part is the glossary in the back of the book that lists the presidents and their term years, with extra facts about the animals. It's in this part of the book where we see that the authors and illustrator went the extra mile to make each presidential animal even more interesting. The history is presented in a way that is not only fun, but also memorable.


ARTWORK: The fourth part of the book, but certainly not the least amazing, was the artwork. On each page, not only is there a painting of the featured animal, but also different landscapes that show these animals in places relating to their time as White House animal ambassadors. The watercolor pages are rich and vibrant, and have a three-dimensional feel that makes the book spectacularly enjoyable. The layout of the book is stunning, offering so many different eye-pleasing elements. This is a book young children, especially, will find enjoyable because there is so much beauty to take in while the adult reads the words aloud.


A to Z books are usually fun and educational, but this one is extra-extra special as it introduces readers of all ages to a very entertaining, and widely unknown aspect of Americana. It's a unique approach and because it's so diffferent, it is also very memorable. Children of every age, I'm sure, will enjoy this book over and over again, and I think it would be a fantastic addition to any classroom.



Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
2025 blue background from BookBrush.png
  • Home
  • The Books & More
  • Indie Reads Aloud
  • Pages Promotions, LLC
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Spotify
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • Amazon

DKPWriter.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. DKPWriter.com also participates in the following affiliate programs: Book Cave. Other links may include affiliate codes that afford the site owner a small commission at no additional cost to the buyer.  We truly appreciate your help in supporting this website. We only post affiliate links for products that we use and recommend ourselves.

© 2012- 2025 Diana Kathryn Penn

Pages Promotions, LLC

All Rights Reserved

bottom of page