Picture Book Review: Spencer’s New Pet

We received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review Date: October 9th, 2019

Written and Illustrated By: Jessie Sima

Cover Copy

This is the classic tale of a boy and a dog. One of them just happens to be a balloon.

Review

My husband and I had very different reactions to this book and Madeline managed to react in this perfect middle ground between us. It’s a silent movie style (almost) wordless picture book. So the only words are the “Part I” “Part II” “Part III” Act separators, just as the old silent movies would have. The entire thing is drawn in black and white except for the red dog balloon. And the gist of the story is that this boy and this dog balloon are going about their lives, enjoying being best friends, only the boy becomes increasingly aware of every sharp object that the dog gets near and tries desperately to protect the dog from the inevitable “pop!” that is sure to occur if he can’t get him safe again. I personally thought the ending was really funny. I laughed out loud. My husband did not. Madeline landed right in the middle. She enjoyed it, but not to the same degree that I did. I’m not sure what that says about us (aside from the fact that I’m clearly the most cool of the three of us) but I do know that I’m the one writing the reviews and so I say definitely check this one out and watch your kid react to it because it’s a really cute story. It’s fun to make each page seem more dire and point out all the pointy things as you go. It’s great for working on recognizing what’s going on in a given page with our soon-to-be-reader, building her story compression skills.

Kid Ratings

• Font Readability: 10/10
• Kid Engagement: 10/10
• Mommy Engagement: 10/10