Great for young or reluctant readers, this chapter book features short paragraphs of text and is comprised of about 50% illustrations. Many of the illustrations are comic book style with speech bubbles. It's a fun take on pet stories, told from the point-of-view of the animal instead of the human. Kids with pets will enjoy the insight into what animals might be thinking.

Note: I received an ARC from the publisher. ( )

My pet human is a sweet graphic novel told from the perspective of a run away cat. The run away cat is very reluctant to give up the freedoms of the streets but wants to train a human to take care of some of his needs. By the end of the book, the cat has ended up caring for his "Pet Human" a great deal and must decide to give up his freedom or his human.
This book is not a traditional graphic novel. Students could attempt to write a story from a dog or other animals perspective. This could also bolster inference skills as it requires to think outside your brain.

Illustrated chapter books are really a great idea to get lower level kids into reading chapter books as well as those who need more than what a wall of text provides. That being said, the story was cute but a bit too simple for older than really young readers. The climax was really quick. This books serves great purpose as an easy predictable amusing beginning chapter book but doesn't have the meat to be a favorite. I would use this mostly as a referral to a reluctant reader or a low level reading student. Cute graphics though, indeed. I think kids will gravitate towards this one.

Because it is fairly simple, the only real curricular connection I can make is to address perspectives and how we each see from a different angle. Students can pick a different animal/object and discuss general life from the perspective of that particular angle. This could be turned into riddles, poetry, and visual projects quite easily. The biggest complication is that it is hard to do read aloud with illustrated chapters as I feel they were designed for individual enjoyment when there are a larger number of images. If I were doing small themes groups and had a lower level reader group doing perspective, I might use it for that. ( )

This was adorable without being saccharine and I declare Surovec the new illustrator of cute cats for kids.

A nameless cat is perfectly happy with his life. He has friends, he has places he can get food, he has his independence. He doesn't need humans. After all, he could only put up with a very special human and he's sure such a human doesn't exist. But then someone moves into the new house....and she has TUNA. The cat simply must have some. He's just staying for the tuna. And the boxes. And the back rubs. And....maybe he doesn't need to leave just yet?

The book is heavily illustrated with black and white pictures and they are all simply perfect. The cat is a deliciously round and cozy cat and the animals and people have definite personalities, even with the simple lines of the art. The layout is a mix of illustrations, speech bubbles, and small chunks of text, perfect for beginning chapter readers and fans of graphic novels.

The humor in this book is much more subtle than, say, Bad Kitty, but it has a charm all its own. It's funny, kooky, and sweet and has a hopeful theme about finding family and friendship in unexpected places. I also appreciated the depiction of a single family home and the different but happy families of the cat's various animal friends.

Verdict: Although it stands on its own, you will also want to recommend this one to fans of Chi's Sweet Home, Bad Kitty, and Miss Annie. Beginning chapter readers will embrace it and cat fans will adore it. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781626720732; Published 2015 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

I bought this because the author is also responsible for the Cat vs. Human blog (which I love). This book is adorably cute, with a stray cat deciding to "adopt" a little human of his own. Although advertised for ages 6-10, I think that it's geared more towards 8 year olds and above with the word choices. Heck, though, I'm 35 and still loved it. ;) ( )