April is National Pet Month and as a nation of animal lovers we also love to read about our furry friends. Pets come in all shapes and sizes from hamsters to horses so here are just a few of our favourite pet related books.
No one captures the graces and idiosyncrasies of cats quite like the painters, printmakers, and haiku masters of Japan. From the Edo to the Showa period, many artists turned their gaze toward an unlikely subject: their small feline companions. Closely observed portraits in words and ink elevate the everyday adventures of cats: taking a nap on a Buddha statue’s lap, daintily eating a rice ball, courting the neighbour’s cat.
This curated collection of poems, prints, and paintings will leave you inspired to cultivate the serenity and wonder embodied by these creators – and by the cats themselves. Presented as a sweet, jacketed paperback with thoughtful design touches, this volume includes each poem in both English and Japanese.
Cats in Spring Rain – order your copy here.
It’s Easter, and the Easter Bunny has hidden some eggs for Spot to find! There’s lots of fun (and chocolate) to be had for Spot and all his friends as they join the hunt.
Toddlers will love discovering the Easter egg hunt in this classic picture book. With fun flaps to train fine motor skills and an adventure to encourage curiosity and exploration, this is great for early learning and play.
If you loved this, try Where’s Spot?, Spot Goes to the Farm and Spot Goes to School for more lift-the-flap fun!
Spot’s First Easter by Eric Hill- order your copy here
Mike White began walking his SPCA-rescue huntaway, Cooper, at Wellington’s dog parks ten years ago, and since then has become part of a remarkable community of people and their pets.
Written with wit, wisdom and heartbreaking poignancy, How to Walk a Dog is a story anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog will relate to. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will learn some of the secrets of living with a dog.
Illustrated with drawings from acclaimed cartoonist Sharon Murdoch.
How to Walk a Dog by Mike White – order your copy here
When Silas Bird wakes in the dead of night, he watches powerlessly as three strangers take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool . . . who happens to be a ghost.
But then a mysterious pony shows up at his door, and Silas knows what he has to do.
So begins a perilous journey to find his father – a journey that will connect him with his past, his future, and the unknowable world around him.
PONY is a breathtaking and powerful read, perfect for fans of Michael Morpurgo and Hannah Gold and destined to become a future classic.
Pony by R.J. Palacio- order your copy here.
A beautifully moving tale of loss and reaching out to the ones we love.
Our narrator’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage for company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can set about tackling his bucket list, the Devil appears with a special offer: in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, he can have one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week . . .
Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself – and his beloved cat – to the brink.
Genki Kawamura’s If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.
This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles will also love If Cats Disappeared from the World.
If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura – order your copy here.
Discover Thomas Savage’s dark poetic tale of a small town in early 20th century America.
Phil and George are brothers and joint owners of the biggest ranch in their Montana valley.
Phil is the bright one, George the plodder. Phil is tall and angular; George is stocky and silent. Phil is a brilliant chess player, a voracious reader, an eloquent storyteller; George learns slowly, and devotes himself to the business. They sleep in the room they shared as boys, and so it has been for forty years.
When George unexpectedly marries a young widow and brings her to live at the ranch, Phil begins a relentless campaign to destroy his brother’s new wife. But he reckons without an unlikely protector.
From its visceral first paragraph to its devastating twist of an ending, The Power of the Dog will hold you in its grip.
The Power of The Dog by Thomas Savage – order your copy here.