Book reviews
© The Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 1997.
My favorite book. Not only does it have a picture of a guinea pig on the cover that looks just like Bob, but it also has the most useful information of any of the books I have read. There are over 120 pages packed full of photos, facts, and resources. The section on behavior was especially useful.
© The Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 2005
This is a really thorough book! It has tons of very useful information! It covers the colors and breeds, grooming and health care, training, things to think about before you get a guinea pig, requirements for owning a guinea pig, showing guinea pigs, guinea pig behavior, traveling with guinea pigs, and much more. It’s a great book!
© The Guinea Pig Handbook by Sharon Vanderlip, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY, 2003
An outstanding book filled with tons of information. The section on health care gets a bit technical and uses words that children would have trouble understanding, but overall, this is a fantastic resource!
© My Guinea Pig and Me by Immanuel Birmelin, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY 2000.
A good book with lots of fold-out pages, lists and charts. I liked the section on playing with your guinea pig. It has instructions about making your own toys for your guinea pig. There’s also information about training your guinea pig.
© Guinea Pigs by Katrin Behrend, published by Barron’s, 1997.
Tons of great information about guinea pigs. Lots of background, and an enormous amount of helpful advice, including how to put your overweight piggy on a diet!
© Guinea Pigs by Virginia Parker Guidry, published by Bowtie Press, Irvine, CA 2004.
A very informative book and easy to understand. It covers everything from the history of cavies to preventing disease to choosing the right vet.
© Guinea Pigs: A Complete Introduction by Margaret Elward, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 1987.
A good book about guinea pigs with a lot of emphasis on the breed standards and showing cavies.
© Animal Planet: Guinea Pigs by Julie Mancini, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 2006.
A very thorough book with a really nice glossary. I like the Guinea Pig First Aid Kit that they suggest you put together, and I like the descriptive photos they use for things like nail trimming.
© Great Big Guinea Pigs by Susan Roth, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, NY, NY 2006.
This is a history lesson about the way guinea pigs used to look during the ice age. The book is based on the several news stories in USA Today, Science Magazine and the New York Times.
Millions of years ago, guinea pigs were huge, weighing almost a ton! They lived in Venezuela and ate grass. Their teeth kept growing like they do now. Very long alligators lived in the same area and ate guinea pigs. Their eyes were higher up on their heads since they spent a lot of time in the water and swamp. They walked upright and had longer tails to help them balance. When the land bridge formed, more predators and competitors moved in, so only the faster, smaller guinea pigs survived. Now, the capybara is the largest rodent in existence.
© The Junior Pet Care to Guinea Pigs by Zuza Vrbova, published by Chelsea House, NY, NY 1998.
This is a pretty good book with excellent information about feeding, trimming, bedding and cages.
© My Pet Guinea Pig by Honor Head, published by Steck-Vaughn, Austin, TX 2001.
This is an easy reader book with lots of great photographs. Good for a younger child who is thinking about getting their first guinea pig.
© Guinea Pigs by Laura Howell, published by Usborne Publishing, London, England 2005.
This book is a book for kids, but it’s more advanced than an easy reader and has more information. It also has internet links on most of the pages for more details and more photos.
© Getting to Know Your Guinea Pig by Gill Page, published by TFH, Dorking, England 2000.
This is a cute book shaped like a guinea pig. It’s a very simple book with basic information.
© 101 Facts About Guinea Pigs by Julia Barnes, published by Gareth Stevens, Milwaukee, WI 2001.
An easy book for young children. It contains some interesting facts about cavies, especially about the different breeds.
© The Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health by Cynthia Kahn, published by Merck, Whitehouse Station, NK, 2007.
An outstanding book, over 1,300 pages long, covering all types of animals and their health issues. The chapter on guinea pigs covers everything from the history of guinea pigs to housing, feed and illnesses.
© The Illustrated Veterinary Guide by Chris Pinney, published by McGraw-Hill, NY, NY 2000.
A thorough health guide for all types of pets. There’s an entire chapter on guinea pigs.
© The Pet Lover’s Guide to First Aid and Emergencies by Thomas Day, published by Elsevier Saunders, St. Louis, MO, 2006.
A first aid book for animals, but primarily for dogs and cats.
© Guide to Owning a Guinea Pig by Graham Edsel, T.F.H Publications, Neptune City, NJ
A really good book with outstanding photography.
© Pocket Pets by Alvin Silverstein, published by Twenty-First Century Books, Brookfield, CT, 2000
Discusses smaller pets like guinea pigs and rabbits. Written for people who are trying to choose a pet. Some of the websites no longer exist.
© Oh, the Pets You Can Get! by Tish Rabe, published by Random House, NY, NY, 2005.
A Dr. Seuss book that talks about different kinds of pets in Seuss’ typical fun, silly way.
© Complete Idiot’s Guide to Choosing a Pet by Betsy Siino, published by Alpha Books, NY, NY, 1999.
Another book for people trying to choose a pet, but it discusses guinea pigs pretty thoroughly and lists them as all-stars!
© The Essential Guinea Pig by Betsy Siino, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 1998.
This book has a very thorough section on introducing your new guinea pig to your existing guinea pigs. It also explains how to introduce your dogs, cats and other animals.
© Your Happy Healthy Pet: Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Wiley Publishing, Hoboken, NY 2005
Contains a good section on health problems that guinea pigs face and how to treat and prevent them.
© Looking After My Pet Guinea Pig by David Alderton, published by Lorenz Books, London, England 2003
This book is written for kids who are new to guinea pigs. It is thorough, but easy to read with great pictures.
© Guinea Pigs by Dennis Kelsey-Wood, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NY 2000
This book has a great section on litter box training and a good chapter about nutrition.
© Starting with Guinea Pigs by Dietrich Altman, by published Blandford Books, London, England 1997
Great chart on the growth rate of guinea pigs
© The Small Animals Question and Answer Manual by David Alderton, published by Andromeda Oxford Limited, Oxfordshire, England 2001
Contains a thorough list of dangers and has the best sexing guide for determining whether a pig is male or female.
© Guinea Pigs by Elvig Hansen, published by Carolrhoda Books, Minneapolis, MN 1992
A book that covers the birth of guinea pigs. Amazing photography!
© Junior Pet Care: Guinea Pigs by Zuza Vrbova, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NY 1990
A simple book with recipes for guinea pig food
© My Guinea Pig and Me by Immanuel Birmelin, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY 2001
An easy to understand book with a happiness quiz and a pet compatibility chart.
© Becoming Best Friends With Your Hamster, Guinea Pig, or Rabbit by Bill Gutman, published by Millbrook Press, Brookfield, CT 1997
This book discusses guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters, but is not as thorough as some of the other books. It does have a nice discussion about play areas that you can make for your pet out of natural materials.
© Great Pets! By Sara Stein, published by Workman Publishing, NY, NY 1976
This book talks about 60 different types of pets, including guinea pigs. One important thing it says about guinea pigs is that guinea pigs can get fat, just like people, but that it is important not to cut back on the food. Instead, you should get more exercise for your piggy.
© Wackiest White House Pets by Gibbs Davis, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2004
This book lists all of the pets that the past presidents have had in the White House. Some of the presidents had guinea pigs (so they had good taste in pets!). Theodore Roosevelt had 6 guinea pigs: Fighting Bob Evans, Bishop Doan, Dewey Senior, Dewey Junior, Dr. Johnson and Father O’Grady. John F. Kennedy had one guinea pig.
© Zorro and Quwi by Rebecca Hickox, published by Delacore Press, NY, NY 1997.
This is a story from Peru about Quwi the guinea pig. The book explains that in Peru, “Quwi” means cavy in the Quechua language. The Spanish word for cavy is “cuy”. Zorro is always trying to catch and eat Quwi, but Quwi is very clever and always outsmarts Zorro. Finally, Zorro gives up and moves away. The story reminds me of Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote, and Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. It’s a cute and funny story.
© Pee-Wee’s Tale by Johanna Hurwitz, published by SeaStar Books, NY, NY 2000.
Pee-Wee is a guinea pig who was given to a boy named Robbie. Unfortunately, Robbie really wanted a dog instead, and his mother was terrified of any rodent including guinea pigs. Robbie did love Pee-Wee, but while he was at his friend’s house, his parents let Pee-Wee go in Central Park. Lucky for Pee-Wee, Lexi, the squirrel, was there to teach him how to survive in the park. There were all sorts of dangers, like hawks and dogs. Pee-Wee was taught by his mom to read, so he was able to read a newspaper and warn Lexi that his tree (his home) was about to be cut down to make room for a playground.
Pee-Wee never stopped searching for Robbie, and he finally found him one day. However, Robbie had gotten a dog by then and Pee-Wee realized Robbie didn’t need him anymore. It was really sad and made me want to cry. That had to hurt Pee-Wee’s feelings a lot. Pee-Wee was sad, but he decided that the park was a nice place to live and he had made lots of friends like Lexi to keep him company.
If I had been Robbie, I would have kept looking for Pee-Wee! And the mom and dad should have found a safe home for Pee-Wee, instead of letting him go in the park. Tame animals can’t really survive out in the wild. It was a good story, but it made me sad and mad at times.
© Lexi’s Tale by Johanna Hurwitz, published by SeaStar Books, NY, NY 2001.
This is another story about Lexi and Pee-Wee, but this time it is told by Lexi, not by Pee-Wee. Lexi and a homeless man who doesn’t speak English save Pee-Wee from a loose dog. Lexi and Pee-Wee try to help him by finding food for him and by trying to give him a wallet that they found. He gets arrested, though, because the police think he stole it. The story ends really well, though. They found the man’s relatives who had been looking for him. And the man wanted to thank the guinea pig so he bought a female guinea pig and took her to the park to keep Pee-Wee company.
© Jenius and the Amazing Guinea Pig by Dick King-Smith, published by Hyperion, NY, NY 1996.
This story is about a girl named Judy and her pet guinea pig named Jenius. Judy had bragged to everyone at school that guinea pigs are smarter than all other animals, but no one believed her. When her guinea pigs had a baby, she decided to train the guinea pig, Jenius, to do all sorts of tricks. She bragged to everyone about it, and Jenius bragged to his parents about how smart he was. When Judy took Jenius to school, he saw a cat, froze and played dead, so the other kids never got to see any of the tricks. Judy and Jenius both learned a lesson. Never brag about what you can do.
© William and the Guinea Pig by Gill Rose, published by Picture Window Books, Minneapolis, MN, 2001.
This is a story about a boy named William and his guinea pig. The boy doesn’t to share his guinea pig with his sister, or even let her pet him. After a while, William forgets to take care of his guinea pig. When he finally realizes that he hasn’t fed or watered his guinea pig in several days, he runs to the cage and realizes his sister has been taking care of his cavy. He thanks his sister and decides that he will share the guinea pig with his sister after all. William learned that you should share, and that sometimes you have to ask for help when you have a pet.
© Guinea Pigs Far and Near by Kate Duke, published by Dutton, NY, NY, 1984.
This is a story about guinea pigs who travel while they teach you about opposites, like near and far.
© Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue by Udo Weigelt, published by Walker & Co, NY, NY, 2006.
This is a story about a silly guinea pig who believes that the superhero he watches on TV is real. He tries to contact the superhero so that he can prove he exists to his friends (dog, canary and goldfish), but the superhero never arrives. The guinea pig decides to dress up as the superhero and fool his friends, but he falls into the goldfish bowl and nearly drowns. The dog saves him, and the guinea pig realizes that the true heroes are not the ones you see on TV, but the friends who help you when you need it.
© Fluffy Goes to Washington by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2002.
Fluffy is a classroom guinea pig who goes home with a different student each time and he has lots of adventures! This time, he went to Washington D.C. and got to see the White House and the pictures of Teddy Roosevelt’s guinea pigs. He also saw the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian.
© Fluffy’s Spring Vacation by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 1998.
Fluffy explored a beauty shop, saw his reflection in the mirrors, and thought there was a whole herd of guinea pigs in the shop. He also hid inside a suitcase and almost took a ride on a plane, but he was spotted by the x-ray machine and was taken home safely.
© Fluffy’s Funny Field Trip by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2001.
Fluffy got to go with the students to the planetarium and learn about the stars and constellations. He dreamed about teaching a group of guinea pigs about all that he learned.
© Fluffy Saves Christmas by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 1998.
In this story, Fluffy dreams about saving Christmas by delivering all of the presents for Santa. A group of 8 other guinea pigs were the reindeer.
© Fluffy Goes Apple Picking by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2001.
Fluffy went to an apple orchard with the class. The farmer held him up to get his own apple, but the branch bent back and sent Fluffy flying with his apple. Fortunately he landed in the teacher’s basket.
© Fluffy and His Friends by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2004.
This is a collection of 5 Fluffy books. Fluffy gets to meet firefighters and learn about fire safety. Next he got to meet the tooth fairy and learn about losing teeth. Then he got to learn how to plan a garden and how to take care of a garden. The last two books are the apple picking and spring vacation books that I already talked about.
© Fluffy on the Go! by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2006.
This is a collection of 5 Fluffy books.
In Fluffy’s School Bus Adventure, Fluffy was supposed to go home with Jasmine but Jasmine forgot. The teacher put Fluffy on the bus that she thought Jasmine was on, but it was the wrong bus. Fluffy got to go home with the bus driver instead. In Fluffy Learns to Swim, Fluffy “fluffy paddled” instead of dog paddled. He got caught on a fishing hook! In another story, Fluffy plants a jelly bean, but he got sticky from the jelly bean and sunflower seeds stuck to him and fell into the hole, too. When the sunflower came up, he thought he grew a jelly bean plant! In Fluffy’s Lucky Day, he learned about St. Patrick’s Day, leprechauns, pots of gold, and pots of corn!
© Little Whistle by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2001.
Little Whistle is a guinea pig who lives in a toy store. His friends are all of the toys. The toys come alive at night. He is always happy when one of them is sold because he knows that toys love to be played with by children.
© Little Whistle’s Christmas by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2003.
Little Whistle, the guinea pig living in a toy store, wrote a letter to Santa Claus for his friends, the toys. The toys wanted to know whether Santa made them. Santa left a note for them, saying that he did make them, and he left presents for all of them, like spare parts. Santa left a nice, warm blanket for Little Whistle, who always got a little chilly at night.
© Little Whistle’s Medicine by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2002.
In this story, Little Whistle helped his friend, the toy soldier, by curing his headache with a doctor kit he found at the store.
© The Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 1997.
My favorite book. Not only does it have a picture of a guinea pig on the cover that looks just like Bob, but it also has the most useful information of any of the books I have read. There are over 120 pages packed full of photos, facts, and resources. The section on behavior was especially useful.
© The Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 2005
This is a really thorough book! It has tons of very useful information! It covers the colors and breeds, grooming and health care, training, things to think about before you get a guinea pig, requirements for owning a guinea pig, showing guinea pigs, guinea pig behavior, traveling with guinea pigs, and much more. It’s a great book!
© The Guinea Pig Handbook by Sharon Vanderlip, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY, 2003
An outstanding book filled with tons of information. The section on health care gets a bit technical and uses words that children would have trouble understanding, but overall, this is a fantastic resource!
© My Guinea Pig and Me by Immanuel Birmelin, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY 2000.
A good book with lots of fold-out pages, lists and charts. I liked the section on playing with your guinea pig. It has instructions about making your own toys for your guinea pig. There’s also information about training your guinea pig.
© Guinea Pigs by Katrin Behrend, published by Barron’s, 1997.
Tons of great information about guinea pigs. Lots of background, and an enormous amount of helpful advice, including how to put your overweight piggy on a diet!
© Guinea Pigs by Virginia Parker Guidry, published by Bowtie Press, Irvine, CA 2004.
A very informative book and easy to understand. It covers everything from the history of cavies to preventing disease to choosing the right vet.
© Guinea Pigs: A Complete Introduction by Margaret Elward, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 1987.
A good book about guinea pigs with a lot of emphasis on the breed standards and showing cavies.
© Animal Planet: Guinea Pigs by Julie Mancini, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NJ, 2006.
A very thorough book with a really nice glossary. I like the Guinea Pig First Aid Kit that they suggest you put together, and I like the descriptive photos they use for things like nail trimming.
© Great Big Guinea Pigs by Susan Roth, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, NY, NY 2006.
This is a history lesson about the way guinea pigs used to look during the ice age. The book is based on the several news stories in USA Today, Science Magazine and the New York Times.
Millions of years ago, guinea pigs were huge, weighing almost a ton! They lived in Venezuela and ate grass. Their teeth kept growing like they do now. Very long alligators lived in the same area and ate guinea pigs. Their eyes were higher up on their heads since they spent a lot of time in the water and swamp. They walked upright and had longer tails to help them balance. When the land bridge formed, more predators and competitors moved in, so only the faster, smaller guinea pigs survived. Now, the capybara is the largest rodent in existence.
© The Junior Pet Care to Guinea Pigs by Zuza Vrbova, published by Chelsea House, NY, NY 1998.
This is a pretty good book with excellent information about feeding, trimming, bedding and cages.
© My Pet Guinea Pig by Honor Head, published by Steck-Vaughn, Austin, TX 2001.
This is an easy reader book with lots of great photographs. Good for a younger child who is thinking about getting their first guinea pig.
© Guinea Pigs by Laura Howell, published by Usborne Publishing, London, England 2005.
This book is a book for kids, but it’s more advanced than an easy reader and has more information. It also has internet links on most of the pages for more details and more photos.
© Getting to Know Your Guinea Pig by Gill Page, published by TFH, Dorking, England 2000.
This is a cute book shaped like a guinea pig. It’s a very simple book with basic information.
© 101 Facts About Guinea Pigs by Julia Barnes, published by Gareth Stevens, Milwaukee, WI 2001.
An easy book for young children. It contains some interesting facts about cavies, especially about the different breeds.
© The Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health by Cynthia Kahn, published by Merck, Whitehouse Station, NK, 2007.
An outstanding book, over 1,300 pages long, covering all types of animals and their health issues. The chapter on guinea pigs covers everything from the history of guinea pigs to housing, feed and illnesses.
© The Illustrated Veterinary Guide by Chris Pinney, published by McGraw-Hill, NY, NY 2000.
A thorough health guide for all types of pets. There’s an entire chapter on guinea pigs.
© The Pet Lover’s Guide to First Aid and Emergencies by Thomas Day, published by Elsevier Saunders, St. Louis, MO, 2006.
A first aid book for animals, but primarily for dogs and cats.
© Guide to Owning a Guinea Pig by Graham Edsel, T.F.H Publications, Neptune City, NJ
A really good book with outstanding photography.
© Pocket Pets by Alvin Silverstein, published by Twenty-First Century Books, Brookfield, CT, 2000
Discusses smaller pets like guinea pigs and rabbits. Written for people who are trying to choose a pet. Some of the websites no longer exist.
© Oh, the Pets You Can Get! by Tish Rabe, published by Random House, NY, NY, 2005.
A Dr. Seuss book that talks about different kinds of pets in Seuss’ typical fun, silly way.
© Complete Idiot’s Guide to Choosing a Pet by Betsy Siino, published by Alpha Books, NY, NY, 1999.
Another book for people trying to choose a pet, but it discusses guinea pigs pretty thoroughly and lists them as all-stars!
© The Essential Guinea Pig by Betsy Siino, published by Howell Book House, NY, NY 1998.
This book has a very thorough section on introducing your new guinea pig to your existing guinea pigs. It also explains how to introduce your dogs, cats and other animals.
© Your Happy Healthy Pet: Guinea Pig by Audrey Pavia, published by Wiley Publishing, Hoboken, NY 2005
Contains a good section on health problems that guinea pigs face and how to treat and prevent them.
© Looking After My Pet Guinea Pig by David Alderton, published by Lorenz Books, London, England 2003
This book is written for kids who are new to guinea pigs. It is thorough, but easy to read with great pictures.
© Guinea Pigs by Dennis Kelsey-Wood, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NY 2000
This book has a great section on litter box training and a good chapter about nutrition.
© Starting with Guinea Pigs by Dietrich Altman, by published Blandford Books, London, England 1997
Great chart on the growth rate of guinea pigs
© The Small Animals Question and Answer Manual by David Alderton, published by Andromeda Oxford Limited, Oxfordshire, England 2001
Contains a thorough list of dangers and has the best sexing guide for determining whether a pig is male or female.
© Guinea Pigs by Elvig Hansen, published by Carolrhoda Books, Minneapolis, MN 1992
A book that covers the birth of guinea pigs. Amazing photography!
© Junior Pet Care: Guinea Pigs by Zuza Vrbova, published by T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, NY 1990
A simple book with recipes for guinea pig food
© My Guinea Pig and Me by Immanuel Birmelin, published by Barron’s, Hauppauge, NY 2001
An easy to understand book with a happiness quiz and a pet compatibility chart.
© Becoming Best Friends With Your Hamster, Guinea Pig, or Rabbit by Bill Gutman, published by Millbrook Press, Brookfield, CT 1997
This book discusses guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters, but is not as thorough as some of the other books. It does have a nice discussion about play areas that you can make for your pet out of natural materials.
© Great Pets! By Sara Stein, published by Workman Publishing, NY, NY 1976
This book talks about 60 different types of pets, including guinea pigs. One important thing it says about guinea pigs is that guinea pigs can get fat, just like people, but that it is important not to cut back on the food. Instead, you should get more exercise for your piggy.
© Wackiest White House Pets by Gibbs Davis, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2004
This book lists all of the pets that the past presidents have had in the White House. Some of the presidents had guinea pigs (so they had good taste in pets!). Theodore Roosevelt had 6 guinea pigs: Fighting Bob Evans, Bishop Doan, Dewey Senior, Dewey Junior, Dr. Johnson and Father O’Grady. John F. Kennedy had one guinea pig.
© Zorro and Quwi by Rebecca Hickox, published by Delacore Press, NY, NY 1997.
This is a story from Peru about Quwi the guinea pig. The book explains that in Peru, “Quwi” means cavy in the Quechua language. The Spanish word for cavy is “cuy”. Zorro is always trying to catch and eat Quwi, but Quwi is very clever and always outsmarts Zorro. Finally, Zorro gives up and moves away. The story reminds me of Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote, and Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. It’s a cute and funny story.
© Pee-Wee’s Tale by Johanna Hurwitz, published by SeaStar Books, NY, NY 2000.
Pee-Wee is a guinea pig who was given to a boy named Robbie. Unfortunately, Robbie really wanted a dog instead, and his mother was terrified of any rodent including guinea pigs. Robbie did love Pee-Wee, but while he was at his friend’s house, his parents let Pee-Wee go in Central Park. Lucky for Pee-Wee, Lexi, the squirrel, was there to teach him how to survive in the park. There were all sorts of dangers, like hawks and dogs. Pee-Wee was taught by his mom to read, so he was able to read a newspaper and warn Lexi that his tree (his home) was about to be cut down to make room for a playground.
Pee-Wee never stopped searching for Robbie, and he finally found him one day. However, Robbie had gotten a dog by then and Pee-Wee realized Robbie didn’t need him anymore. It was really sad and made me want to cry. That had to hurt Pee-Wee’s feelings a lot. Pee-Wee was sad, but he decided that the park was a nice place to live and he had made lots of friends like Lexi to keep him company.
If I had been Robbie, I would have kept looking for Pee-Wee! And the mom and dad should have found a safe home for Pee-Wee, instead of letting him go in the park. Tame animals can’t really survive out in the wild. It was a good story, but it made me sad and mad at times.
© Lexi’s Tale by Johanna Hurwitz, published by SeaStar Books, NY, NY 2001.
This is another story about Lexi and Pee-Wee, but this time it is told by Lexi, not by Pee-Wee. Lexi and a homeless man who doesn’t speak English save Pee-Wee from a loose dog. Lexi and Pee-Wee try to help him by finding food for him and by trying to give him a wallet that they found. He gets arrested, though, because the police think he stole it. The story ends really well, though. They found the man’s relatives who had been looking for him. And the man wanted to thank the guinea pig so he bought a female guinea pig and took her to the park to keep Pee-Wee company.
© Jenius and the Amazing Guinea Pig by Dick King-Smith, published by Hyperion, NY, NY 1996.
This story is about a girl named Judy and her pet guinea pig named Jenius. Judy had bragged to everyone at school that guinea pigs are smarter than all other animals, but no one believed her. When her guinea pigs had a baby, she decided to train the guinea pig, Jenius, to do all sorts of tricks. She bragged to everyone about it, and Jenius bragged to his parents about how smart he was. When Judy took Jenius to school, he saw a cat, froze and played dead, so the other kids never got to see any of the tricks. Judy and Jenius both learned a lesson. Never brag about what you can do.
© William and the Guinea Pig by Gill Rose, published by Picture Window Books, Minneapolis, MN, 2001.
This is a story about a boy named William and his guinea pig. The boy doesn’t to share his guinea pig with his sister, or even let her pet him. After a while, William forgets to take care of his guinea pig. When he finally realizes that he hasn’t fed or watered his guinea pig in several days, he runs to the cage and realizes his sister has been taking care of his cavy. He thanks his sister and decides that he will share the guinea pig with his sister after all. William learned that you should share, and that sometimes you have to ask for help when you have a pet.
© Guinea Pigs Far and Near by Kate Duke, published by Dutton, NY, NY, 1984.
This is a story about guinea pigs who travel while they teach you about opposites, like near and far.
© Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue by Udo Weigelt, published by Walker & Co, NY, NY, 2006.
This is a story about a silly guinea pig who believes that the superhero he watches on TV is real. He tries to contact the superhero so that he can prove he exists to his friends (dog, canary and goldfish), but the superhero never arrives. The guinea pig decides to dress up as the superhero and fool his friends, but he falls into the goldfish bowl and nearly drowns. The dog saves him, and the guinea pig realizes that the true heroes are not the ones you see on TV, but the friends who help you when you need it.
© Fluffy Goes to Washington by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2002.
Fluffy is a classroom guinea pig who goes home with a different student each time and he has lots of adventures! This time, he went to Washington D.C. and got to see the White House and the pictures of Teddy Roosevelt’s guinea pigs. He also saw the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian.
© Fluffy’s Spring Vacation by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 1998.
Fluffy explored a beauty shop, saw his reflection in the mirrors, and thought there was a whole herd of guinea pigs in the shop. He also hid inside a suitcase and almost took a ride on a plane, but he was spotted by the x-ray machine and was taken home safely.
© Fluffy’s Funny Field Trip by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2001.
Fluffy got to go with the students to the planetarium and learn about the stars and constellations. He dreamed about teaching a group of guinea pigs about all that he learned.
© Fluffy Saves Christmas by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 1998.
In this story, Fluffy dreams about saving Christmas by delivering all of the presents for Santa. A group of 8 other guinea pigs were the reindeer.
© Fluffy Goes Apple Picking by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2001.
Fluffy went to an apple orchard with the class. The farmer held him up to get his own apple, but the branch bent back and sent Fluffy flying with his apple. Fortunately he landed in the teacher’s basket.
© Fluffy and His Friends by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2004.
This is a collection of 5 Fluffy books. Fluffy gets to meet firefighters and learn about fire safety. Next he got to meet the tooth fairy and learn about losing teeth. Then he got to learn how to plan a garden and how to take care of a garden. The last two books are the apple picking and spring vacation books that I already talked about.
© Fluffy on the Go! by Kate McMullan, published by Scholastic, NY, NY, 2006.
This is a collection of 5 Fluffy books.
In Fluffy’s School Bus Adventure, Fluffy was supposed to go home with Jasmine but Jasmine forgot. The teacher put Fluffy on the bus that she thought Jasmine was on, but it was the wrong bus. Fluffy got to go home with the bus driver instead. In Fluffy Learns to Swim, Fluffy “fluffy paddled” instead of dog paddled. He got caught on a fishing hook! In another story, Fluffy plants a jelly bean, but he got sticky from the jelly bean and sunflower seeds stuck to him and fell into the hole, too. When the sunflower came up, he thought he grew a jelly bean plant! In Fluffy’s Lucky Day, he learned about St. Patrick’s Day, leprechauns, pots of gold, and pots of corn!
© Little Whistle by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2001.
Little Whistle is a guinea pig who lives in a toy store. His friends are all of the toys. The toys come alive at night. He is always happy when one of them is sold because he knows that toys love to be played with by children.
© Little Whistle’s Christmas by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2003.
Little Whistle, the guinea pig living in a toy store, wrote a letter to Santa Claus for his friends, the toys. The toys wanted to know whether Santa made them. Santa left a note for them, saying that he did make them, and he left presents for all of them, like spare parts. Santa left a nice, warm blanket for Little Whistle, who always got a little chilly at night.
© Little Whistle’s Medicine by Cynthia Rylant, published by Harcourt, NY, NY, 2002.
In this story, Little Whistle helped his friend, the toy soldier, by curing his headache with a doctor kit he found at the store.
