A Pet for Petunia

A Pet for Petunia

By Paul Schmid

Published by Harper

2011

There are loads of “kid wants a pet” books out there, but this story’s unique twist is that Petunia wants a pet skunk. She begs her parents. She pleads with her parents. She even promised to feed walk and clean the litter box if they let her have a skunk. “They stink!” says her parents, and because Petunia finds this hard to believe, she runs out into the woods, hoping to be eaten by a bear so her parents will finally give in and let her have a skunk (there’s some child logic for you!). Low and behold, she runs into a skunk in the woods and guess what? Her parents were right! Skunks smell worse than anything she has smelled in her “whole entire life.” I won’t reveal the surprise twist at the end, but I heartily recommend this book for storytellers, libraries and home collections. The preschoolers I read this to were glued to the story and wanted me to immediately read it again when I was finished.

Of all the “I want a pet” books I have read over the years, this one smells the sweetest!