Me Want Pet! written by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Bob Shea




































   

This is a very personal, special review for me. At the end of the best weekend of my life (see SCBWI LA Conference) as I sat in the lobby of a gorgeous hotel waiting for the morning traffic to clear out so I could start my two hour drive home, people came and went, sometimes sitting in the seats next to me. At one point, a lovely, petite woman with a fair amount of luggage sat down to my right, causing me to glance her way briefly. A moment later a man walked up calling out, "Tammi Sauer? Tammi Sauer?" and the woman next to me signaled him over. I whipped my head around and blurted out, "You're Tammi Sauer??? You were at the conference this weekend???" I babbled on about having a book review blog, being a bookseller and reading her books at story time and the like. I expressed (I hope, I was giddy) my appreciation of the fantastic illustrators she is always paired with (Dan Santat Scott Magoon and Bob Shea of Dinosaur vs The Potty) to name a few and as I did so this wonderful creative soul pulled a book out of her bag and gave it to me! I chattered on and she asked my name and signed my book, this book - ME WANT PET! I told her that attending this conference was my birthday present to myself and she told me how, four or five years ago, her mother noticed the brochure for the conference in her home and decided to send Tammi every year (from Oklaholma) as a birthday gift. Wow! While we didn't have long to chat, the meeting did leave a great impression on me and made me appreciate Tammi's books all the more (check out my review of Mostly Monsterly, a fantastic book, for Halloween or any time of year.) But, to really get to know this fantastic lady, read this interview over at 7 Impossible Things by the always wonderful Jules.

Rather than tell you the whole darn story like I often end up doing here, I'm going to give you the bare bones and let you enjoy the marvelous illustrations that Bob Shea came up with for this great book. And let me tell you - I had always suspected that writing a brilliant picture book was an extremely difficult endeavor, but after attending this conference and a few talks about the art and craft of the picture book, I  KNOW that it is remarkably difficult and I appreciate what Tammi Sauer and her peers do even more!

 ME WANT PET! begins, Cave Boy had lots of things. Rocks. Sticks. A club. But no pet. "Me sad," said Cave Boy. "Want Pet." Cave Boy brings home a series of pets, but someone in the family always has an issue with the animal (allergies, size, bathroom habits.) When Cave Boy thinks he has found just the right pet (a Dodo - how cool is that??) he is foiled again, that is, until his cast-off pets save him from a stampede and the whole family cheers, "Phew-ga!" The littlest listeners will especially love this book, with its caveman talk and crazy pets and great illustrations by Shea.














The lovely Tammi Sauer -



Wonderful books by the lovely Tammi Sauer and her cavalcade of creative illustrators -






Source: Gift from Author!!!

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